It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like.....

Dear readers,

Where did the year go? I know like me you can't believe that Christmas and 2018 are almost here! I want to take time out to thank you for your continued readership of the blog. So many of you took time out to reach out with comments, provide information on poets I was not aware of, and upcoming writing workshops.

Some of you commented on poems that brought back pleasant childhood memories. Caribbean poetry is beautiful, and new and talented poets are adding their voices to that of our more well-known writers.The popularity of Caribbean poetry is evident in the over 200,000 page views that this blog has had over the last 7 years from many countries.

In 2018, I hope to continue the book give-aways from previous years. I also would like to have quarterly guest posts for which I am hoping to be able to pay a small honorarium, so please stay tuned.

Have a Merry Christmas, and best wishes for 2018!

Poetically yours.

The Drawing Room Project - A Poetry Workshop

The fourth retreat of the Drawing Room Project, a poetry workshop, is scheduled for November 10-13, 2017 in Good Hope, Trelawny, Jamaica. Olive Senior will facilitate the workshop.

Based on their experiences at the Calabash Festival, poets Millicent Graham and Joni Jackson co-founded the Drawing Room Project and the first retreat was held in 2008.

Here is a link to more details in the Jamaica Gleaner:

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20171010/drawing-room-project-now-senior-year-annual-poetry-retreat-attracts.

Poets of the Caribbean is 7 Years Old!

Poets of the Caribbean is celebrating 7 years! Thanks to all the readers who have subscribed, commented, and told me about Caribbean poets I had not heard of. Thanks so much for your continued readership and engagement.

To mark the anniversary, I would like to give away a copy of Ishion Hutchinson's latest collection, House of Lords and Commons: Poems, to the first person who posts a comment.

Happy National Poetry Day!

It's National Poetry Day. Read a poem, write a poem, share a poem!

Thanks to all my wonderful readers who have been following Poets of the Caribbean and leaving engaging comments. 227,039 page views and counting....

Belize Writers' Conference

Thanks to a comment from Elizabeth, who found my blog while searching for Afro-Caribbean writers' groups, I heard about the upcoming Belize Writers' Conference. So, mark your calendar! See the link below for details:

https://www.pw.org/conferences/belize_writers_conference

This sounds like an exciting conference. As I get more details, I will pass them along.

Law and Poetry

Hello dear readers!

It has been quite a while since I last posted on the blog, so I'm furiously trying to catch up. I hope you have been enjoying poetry here on this blog and elsewhere. So much has happened since I last posted, including, sadly, the passing of Sir Derek Walcott, but also the good news of Lorna Goodison being appointed Jamaica's first female Poet Laureate.

I have been hunkered down for the past three years with another passion of mine - the law, and have been pursuing a grueling LLB program. Thankfully, I just finished writing my last three exams, and God willing, I am hoping in August I will have good results.

Now that my LLB program is out of the way, I will be more active on the blog, promoting the work of Caribbean poets, especially newer ones. I am so thankful to a reader who took the time to post a comment which included names of Caribbean poets I did not have on my list. I am so grateful to readers who bring to my attention amazing poets throughout the Caribbean. Thank you also to the other readers who posted very thoughtful comments on my post. I appreciate your patience regarding my delayed responses.

If you live in Canada, I hope you are enjoying the Canada Day celebrations, and to my United States readers, Happy Fourth of July!

Walk good!

Congratulations, Lorna Goodison

I am so thrilled that Lorna Goodison was recently appointed first female Poet Laureate of Jamaica. She is the second person to hold the post. Poets of the Caribbean sends her heartiest congratulations! Lorna Goodison is one of my favorite poets, and she has been featured on the blog in the past, and in particular, her well-known poem, The Bedspread, which describes the ordeals of Winnie and Nelson Mandela under the Apartheid regime.

For more details, see here. Check out also a previous post on her work.

So well-deserved, Lorna.

Leonard Dabydeen's Musings on Sir Derek Walcott

In honor of the late Sir Derek Walcott, I am sharing, with Leonard Dabydeen's permission, his musings on Sir Derek. This was first printed in Guyanese Online.

https://guyaneseonline.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/musings-of-sir-derek-walcott-001-pdf.pdf.

Walk good, and rest in peace, Sir Derek!