List of Caribbean Poets

So, I've noticed that some of my blog readers search for a listing of Caribbean poets. There might be some lists around, but with many new Caribbean poets emerging, I thought about how fluid the situation is, and that a work-in-progress type of listing might be helpful to readers who are interested in learning more about Caribbean poets. This is where my Caribbean poets, publishers and bloggers come in. I will start this listing, but would love your interaction, so that I don't miss anyone!

Poets will be listed in alphabetical order, with their country in brackets. Poets from the Spanish, French and Dutch-speaking Caribbean will also be included, and this is where I will probably need the most help. As I learn of new poets, I will add them. Here we go:

A

Michael Abrahams (Jamaica)
Opal Palmer Adisa (Jamaica)
Yasus Afari (Jamaica)
John Agard (Guyana)
Lillian Allen (Jamaica)
Phyllis Allfrey (Dominica)
Martin Samuel Allwood (?)
Julia Alvarez (Dominican Republic)
Kofi Anyidoho (?)
Frank Martinus Arion (Curacao)
Maria Arrillaga (Puerto Rico)
Naomi Ayala (Puerto Rico)

B

Michael Bailey (Mbala) (Jamaica)
Edward Baugh (Jamaica)
Vera Bell (Jamaica)
Janeth Benjamin (Jamaica)
Louise Bennett (Jamaica)
Anton Bernard (Trinidad)
James Berry (Jamaica)
Marion Bethel (Bahamas)
Valerie Bloom (Jamaica)
Frank Booi (Aruba)
Hubert Booi (Bonaire)
Danielle Boodoo-Fortune (Trinidad)
Malika Booker
Edward Kamau Brathwaite (Barbados)
Dionne Brand (Trinidad)
Jean Binta Breeze (Jamaica)
Jean Brierre (Haiti)
Beverley Brown (Jamaica)
Stewart Brown (?)
Lloyd Brown (Trinidad)
Wayne Brown (Trinidad)
Julia Burgos (Puerto Rico)
Ruby Bute (St. Martin)

C

Edgar Cairo (Suriname)
Christian Campbell (Bahamas)
George Campbell (Jamaica)
Vahni Capildeo (Trinidad)
H.D. Carberry (Jamaica)
Marie-Magdeleine Carbet (Martinique)
Jan Carew (Guyana)
Peggy Carr (St. Vincent)
Martin Carter (Guyana)
Lourdes Casal (Cuba)
Adrian Castro (Cuba)
Jesus Cos Causse (Cuba)
Aime Cesaire (Martinique)
Brian Chan (Guyana)
Faustin Charles (Trinidad)
LeRoy Clarke (Trinidad)
Michelle Cliff (Jamaica)
Judith Ortiz Cofer (Puerto Rico)
Marie-Therese Colimon (Haiti)
Loretta Collins (Puerto Rico)
Merle Collins (Grenada)
Frank Collymore (Barbados)
Anna Corniffe (Jamaica)
Chal Corsen (Curacao)
Christine Craig (Jamaica)
Dennis Craig (Guyana)
Tico Croes (Aruba)

D

Luis Daal (Curacao)
Cyril Dabydeen (Guyana)
David Dabydeen (Guyana)
Leonard Dabydeen (Guyana)
Fred D'Aguiar (Guyana)
Leon-Gontran Damas (Martinique)
Mahadai Das (Guyana)
Kwame Dawes (Jamaica)
Neville Dawes (Jamaica)
Rene Depestre (Haiti)
McDonald Dixon (St. Lucia)
Carel de Haseth (Curacao)
Norman de Palm (Aruba)
Rene de Rooy (Suriname)
Robin Dobru (Robin Ravales) (Suriname)
Marcia Douglas (Jamaica)
Modeste Downs (St. Lucia)

E

Nydia Ecury (Aruba)
Kalilah Enriquez (Belize)
Gloria Escoffery (Jamaica)
Martin Espada (Puerto Rico)

F


Howard A. Fergus (Montserrat)
Barbara Ferland (Jamaica)
John Figueroa (Jamaica)
Honor Ford-Smith (Jamaica)

G

Richard Georges (Trinidad & Tobago, British Virgin Islands)
Michael Gilkes (Guyana)
Margaret Gill (Barbados)
Edouard Glissant (Martinique)
Anson Gonzalez (Trinidad)
Ita Gooden (Jamaica)
Lorna Goodison (Jamaica)
Grace Walker-Gordon (Jamaica)
Samuel Gordon (Jamaica)
Jean Goulbourne (Jamaica)
Millicent Graham (Jamaica)
Yashika Graham (Jamaica)
Cecil Gray (Trinidad)
Stanley Greaves (Guyana)
Nicolas Guillen (Cuba)
Esther Gumbs (St. Martin)

H

Jamel Hall (Jamaica)
Claire Harris (Trinidad)
Maggie Harris (Guyana)
Wilson Harris (Guyana)
Henry Habibe (Aruba)
Judith Hamilton (Jamaica)
Albert Helman (Suriname)
A. L. Hendriks (Jamaica)
Kendel Hippolyte (St. Lucia)
Charles Borromeo Hodge (Aruba)
Abdur Rahman Slade Hopkinson (Guyana)
Ishion Hutchinson (Jamaica)
Joan Andrea Hutchinson (Jamaica)

I

Arnold H. Itwaru (Guyana)

J

Cynthia James (Trinidad)
Mirlande Jean-Gilles (Haiti)
Amryl Johnson (Trinidad)
Linton Kwesi Johnson (Jamaica)
Evan Jones (Jamaica)
Elis Juliana (Curacao)

K

Ellsworth McGrahahan Keane (St. Vincent)
Paul Keens-Douglas (Trinidad & Tobago)
Anthony Kellman (Barbados)
Jane King (St. Lucia)
Roi Kwabena (Trinidad)

L

John La Rose (Trinidad)
Leon Laleau (Haiti)
Pierre Lauffer (Curacao)
Tato Laviera (Puerto Rico)
Chantelle Lawes (Jamaica)
Joy Lawrence (Antigua)
Easton Lee (Jamaica)
John Robert Lee (St. Lucia)
Ann-Margaret Lim (Jamaica)
Basil Lopez (Jamaica)
Edward Lucie-Smith (Jamaica)
Vladimir Lucien (St. Lucia)
John Lyons (Trinidad)

M

Thomas MacDermott (Jamaica) * He wrote under the pen name Tom Redcam.
Raymond Mair (Jamaica)
Roger Mais (Jamaica)
Belkis Cuza Male (Cuba)
Delano Malik (Grenada)
Rachel Manley (Jamaica)
E. A. Markham (Montserrat)
Jose Marmol (Dominican Republic)
Una Marson (Jamaica)
Jose Marti (Cuba)
Mark Matthews (Guyana)
Tip Marugg (Curacao)
Marina Ama Omowale Maxwell (Trinidad & Tobago)
Michael Bailey 'Mbala (Jamaica?)
Shara McCallum (Jamaica)
Ian McDonald (Trinidad)
Basil McFarlane (Jamaica)
Claude McKay (Jamaica)
Anthony McNeil (Jamaica)
Mark McWatt (Guyana)
Pauline Melville (Guyana)
Ras Michael (Guyana)
Avi Miller (Jamaica)
Jeanette Miller (Dominican Republic)
Kei Miller (Jamaica)
Pedro Mir (Dominican Republic)
Rooplall Monar (Guyana)
Pamela Mordecai (Jamaica)
Yasmin Morais (Jamaica)
Nancy Morejon (Cuba)
Mervyn Morris (Jamaica)
Monique Morrison (Jamaica)
Elton (Elombe) Deighton  Mottley (Barbados)
Mutabaruka (Jamaica)

N

Philip Nanton (St. Vincent)
Jit Narain (Suriname)
Cherry Natural (aka  Marcia Wedderburn) (Jamaica)
Grace Nichols (Guyana)

O

Federico Oduber (Aruba)
Oku Onuora (Jamaica)

P

Herberto Padilla (Cuba)
Yves Padoly (Martinique?)
Walter Palm (Curacao)
George Parfitt (Trinidad)
Gustavo Perez-Firmat (Cuba)
Sasenarine Persaud (Guyana)
Saint-John Perse (Marie Rene Aguste Alexis Leger) (Guadeloupe)
Marlene Nourbese Philip (Trinidad)
Rene Philoctete (Haiti)
Geoffrey Philp (Jamaica)
Marlene Phipps (Haiti)
Joseph Polius (Martinique)
Velma Pollard (Jamaica)
Aida Cartagena Portalatin (Dominican Republic)

Q

Victor D. Questel (Trinidad)

R

Jennifer Rahim (Trinidad)
Rajandaye Ramkissoon-Chen (Trinidad)
Claudia Rankine (Jamaica)
Norberto James Rawlings (Domincan Republic)
Roberto Fernandez Retamar (Cuba)
Eric Roach (Trinidad)
Reina Maria Rodriguez (Cuba)
Jacques Roumain (Haiti)
Heather Royes (Jamaica)

S

Andrew Salkey (Jamaica)
Veronica Salter (?)
Pedro Perez Sarduy (Cuba)
Dennis Scott (Jamaica)
Lasana M. Sekou (St. Martin)
Olive Senior (Jamaica)
A.J. Seymour (Guyana)
Philip Sherlock (Jamaica)
Tanya Shirley (Jamaica)
Hazel Simmons-McDonald (St. Lucia)
Louis Simpson (Jamaica)
Jonathan Small (Barbados)
Malachi Smith (Jamaica)
Michael Smith (Jamaica)
Bruce St. John (Barbados)
Fr. Lambert St. Rose (St. Lucia)
Michael Stephenson (?)
Virgil Suarez (Cuba)
Patrick Sylvain (Haiti)

T

Harold M. Telemaque (Trinidad)
Fabian Thomas (Jamaica)
Ralph Thompson (Jamaica)
Guy Tirolien (Guadeloupe)
Trefossa (H.E. De Ziel) (Suriname)

U

V

Antonia Valaire (Jamaica) aka Christina Williams
H. A. Vaughan (Barbados)
Pedro Velasquez (Aruba)
Chiqui Vicioso (Sherezada) (Dominican Republic)
Vivian Virtue (Jamaica)

W

Derek Walcott (St. Lucia)
Rudolph Wallace (?)
Mavric Webb (Jamaica)
Christina Williams (Jamaica) aka Antonia Valaire

X

Y

Mirta Yanez (Cuba)
C. Dale Young (?)

Z

Comments

Modeste Downs is from St. Lucia. I met him Friday afternoon at a local pub in Castries. A brilliant writer! His newly published book Phases is a work of art!
Poet Modeste Downs is from St. Lucia. I was lucky enough to meet this brilliant writer in a local bar in Castries on Friday. His newly published book "Phases" is a work of art, well worth searching for.

I feel truly blessed for meeting him.
Yasmin Morais said…
Jonathan,

Thanks for stopping by and providing that update on poet Modeste Downs. I look forward to reading his works. I really appreciate the feedback from readers like you, which will make the list of Caribbean poets as current as possible. Best regards.
Jian Mei said…
Hey its really a great and nice idea with regards to this article, hope its gonna generate new ideas..
Yasmin Morais said…
Hey Jian,

Thanks for your feedback. The hope is that, with time, the list will be an up-to-date resource for Caribbean poets, publishers, and persons interested in Caribbean poetry. Thanks again for stopping by the site and viewing this post.
Jian Mei said…
Hey the article was really interesting and also quite an informative one specially as its related to the Carribean Society, which I just love the most..Hope so you'll come up with more such matter in near future..
candaceameni said…
Tanya Shirley is Jamaican. She recently had some work published.
Yasmin Morais said…
Candace, thanks for your feedback on Tanya Shirley. Also, congratulations! You are the winner of Ishion Hutchinson's Far District, just for being the first person to comment in October. Please send me your contact information as soon as possible so that I can mail you the book.
Dear Yasmin, thanks for such an important article. Some days ago i read some Caribbean poems & i liked it very much. So, i want to translate some of the poems in Bengal. If there are no problem, could you please give me some poems (at least 3poems) of each poet listed in your article? I have some collection but that are not enough, only 4 or 5 poet's poems. So, i will be highly pleased if you give me & i think it will be a good work if i complete the translation for my countryside as well as you.
Again thanks for your resourceful article.
Yasmin Morais said…
Thanks for checking out the list of Caribbean poets that I compiled. Regarding the translation of poems by Caribbean poets into Bengali, I think that you would have to try to contact individual poets on the list for their permission to translate their poems. I am okay with allowing translation of my personal poems, so feel free to contact me at Lucene35 at yahoo.com if you are interested in translating some of mine. I can't give you permission or speak for the other poets and there will certainly be copyright issues involved. You may google some of the poets to find out their contact information via websites, Facebook, etc. Good luck with your translation project. This is good exposure for Caribbean poetry and poets. Best wishes
Unknown said…
You may add Leonard Dabydeen, author of Watching You, A Collection of Tetractys Poems, Xlibris Publishers, ISBN 978-1-4691-4802-1. Google: Leonard Dabydeen for more...
Yasmin Morais said…
Leonard,

Thanks so much for your comment and for joining the site. I have updated the list to include your name. This is exactly the sort of collaboration needed to highlight Caribbean poets and their poetry, and what I had in mind when I created the list. I will be sure to check out your collection.
Rachael said…
Hi someone just posted this link and I scrolled through your list. Great attempt and initiative. I hope we can speak at some point. There are so much more names to add, some noteworthy like Anson Gonzalez and Leroy (or LeRoi) Clarke, both from Trinidad & Tobago as well as the upcoming practitioners in the field. Hope we can connect soon.

Regards,
Rachael
http://purifiedbeautifulsoul.blogspot.com/
Yasmin Morais said…
Rachael,

Thank you so much for your comment. You are right that there are so many more names to add, and I thank you for letting me know about the ones you mentioned. The list is by no means exhaustive, and I rely on readers to let me know about poets I might not have included. I will definitely check out your blog and try to make contact. Regards, Yasmin
Anonymous said…
My name is Aldre Reid. Im in in grade 6 at the Harrison Memorial Prep school in Jamaica. Im so happy you made this list or I whould have been killed by my teacher.
Yasmin Morais said…
Hi Aldre,

Thanks for your comment. I am so glad that you found the list helpful. I don't think your teacher would have killed you though:)

Continue to enjoy reading poetry.

Regards,

Yasmin
Anonymous said…
This is a great idea.Here are a few more

Jamaica

Pamela Mordecai
Grace Walker- Gordon
Millicent Graham
Ann- Margaret Lim
Tanya Shirley
Raymond Mair
Yashika Graham
Avi Miller
Anna Corniffe
Jamel Hall
Samuel Gordon

St. Lucia
Vladimir Lucien
Yasmin Morais said…
Thanks a lot for the information on additional poets that I missed. I appreciate this very much because there are so many poets writing in the Caribbean and it is easy to miss them. I will update the list.
Antonia Valaire said…
Wise Wurdz, Richie Innocent, Ras Takura

also note christena is the correct spelling and not christina
Yasmin Morais said…
Antonia, thanks for your comment and the suggestions for other poets to add. Quick questions: 1) do you have the full names of these three poets that you suggested? I think it would be great for me to add their real names too so that people can search for them re their bios, other publications, etc. 2)Also, which "Christena" are you referring to? Is she a poet that I have listed already? If you have the full name for her, please let me know and I will make the correction. Thanks again for your input.
Antonia Valaire said…
Yasmin Morais Thanks for responding. yes Christena Williams listed before also known as Antonia Valaire.

The other poets :

Wise Wurdz (Everton Gary Lawrence) Dubpoet, Jamaica
Richie Innocent (Richard Robinson) Dubpoet, Jamaica
Saccheen Laing Writer/Author, Jamaica

Lionesse said…
I found this list about 5 years ago while researching curriculum content for our homeschool. I bookmarked the page and that lap top crashed and I have trying to find this ever since, searching various related terms, but nothing popped up on google. Then today I googled Caribbean winter poems and your post Nature by HD Carberry came up, I clicked and said yes! this is the site with the list of Caribbean poets I have been looking for. Thank for this great resource!!!
Yasmin Morais said…
Thanks so much for your comment, and apologies for the delayed reponse. I am so glad that you were able to find the list again through H.D. Carberry's poem, and that you find the list useful. Appreciate your taking the time to check out the blog. Happy holidays!

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