Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles
edited by Thomas Glave contributions by José Alcántara Almánzar, Aldo Alvarez, Reinaldo Arenas and Rane Arroyo
Duke University Press, 2008 Cloth: 978-0-8223-4208-3 | Paper: 978-0-8223-4226-7 | eISBN: 978-0-8223-8901-9 Library of Congress Classification PN849.C32O87 2008 Dewey Decimal Classification 808.89920664
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The first book of its kind, Our Caribbean is an anthology of lesbian and gay writing from across the Antilles. The author and activist Thomas Glave has gathered outstanding fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and poetry by little-known writers together with selections by internationally celebrated figures such as José Alcántara Almánzar, Reinaldo Arenas, Dionne Brand, Michelle Cliff, Audre Lorde, Achy Obejas, and Assotto Saint. The result is an unprecedented literary conversation on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experiences throughout the Caribbean and its far-flung diaspora. Many selections were originally published in Spanish, Dutch, or creole languages; some are translated into English here for the first time.
The thirty-seven authors hail from the Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, Suriname, and Trinidad. Many have lived outside the Caribbean, and their writing depicts histories of voluntary migration as well as exile from repressive governments, communities, and families. Many pieces have a political urgency that reflects their authors’ work as activists, teachers, community organizers, and performers. Desire commingles with ostracism and alienation throughout: in the evocative portrayals of same-sex love and longing, and in the selections addressing religion, family, race, and class. From the poem “Saturday Night in San Juan with the Right Sailors” to the poignant narrative “We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?” to an eloquent call for the embrace of difference that appeared in the Nassau Daily Tribune on the eve of an anti-gay protest, Our Caribbean is a brave and necessary book.
Contributors: José Alcántara Almánzar, Aldo Alvarez, Reinaldo Arenas, Rane Arroyo, Jesús J. Barquet, Marilyn Bobes, Dionne Brand, Timothy S. Chin, Michelle Cliff, Wesley E. A. Crichlow, Mabel Rodríguez Cuesta, Ochy Curiel, Faizal Deen, Pedro de Jesús, R. Erica Doyle, Thomas Glave, Rosamond S. King, Helen Klonaris, Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Audre Lorde, Shani Mootoo, Anton Nimblett, Achy Obejas, Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Virgilio Piñera, Patricia Powell, Kevin Everod Quashie, Juanita Ramos, Colin Robinson, Assotto Saint, Andrew Salkey, Lawrence Scott, Makeda Silvera, H. Nigel Thomas, Rinaldo Walcott, Gloria Wekker, Lawson Williams
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Thomas Glave is the author of the short story collections Whose Song? and Other Stories and The Torturer's Wife, and the essay collections Words to Our Now: Imagination and Dissent (Lambda Literary Award, 2005) and Among the Bloodpeople: Politics and Flesh. A founding member of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG), Glave has been Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor at MIT, a 2012 Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge, and Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of Warwick. He lives in Birmingham (U.K.).
REVIEWS
-- Rachel Pepper Curve
-- Michael G. Cornelius Bloomsbury Review
-- Harry E. Baldwin Frontiers
-- Richard Labonte
-- Emily Raboteau American Book Review
-- Cathie Koa Dunsford Asia and Pacific Writers Network
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Desire through the Archipelago / Thomas Glave 1
Lulú or the Metamorphosis (1995) / José Alcántara Almánzar, Dominican Republic 13
Property Values (2001) / Aldo Alvarez, Puerto Rico 21
Eroticism (1992) / Reinaldo Arenas, Cuba 34
Three Poems: Saturday Night in San Juan with the Right Sailors (2004), Almost a Revolution for Two in Bed (2004), Tropical Fever (2003) / Rane Arroyo, Puerto Rico/US 51
Three Poems: Transactions (2001), San Francisco - New Orleans (2001), The Image Saves (1994) / Jesús J. Barquet, Cuba 53
Somebody Has to Cry (1998) / Marilyn Bobes, Cuba 57
Three Poems: Young Faggot (2003), The Magical Real (2003), Surrender (2003) / Faizal Deen, Guyana/Trinidad 153
The Portrait (1998) / Pero de Jesús, Cuba 158
Tante Merle (1999) / R. Erica Doyle, Trinidad/U.S. 173
Whose Caribbean? An Allegory in Part (2005) / Thomas Glave, Jamaica/U.S. 177
More Notes on the Invisibility of Caribbean Lesbians (2005) / Rosamond S. King, Trinidad 191
Independence Day Letter (2004) / Helen Klonaris, Babamas 197
De un pájaro las dos alas: Travel Notes of a Queer Puerto Rican in Havana (2002) / Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Puerto Rico 202
Of Generators and Survival: Hugo Letter (1990), From Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982) / Audre Lorde, Grenada/Barbados/U.S. 233
Out on Main Street (1993) / Shani Mootoo, Trinidad/Ireland 252
Time and Tide (2002) / Anton Nimblett, Trinidad 261
We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? (1994) / Achy Obejas, Cuba 268
The Hunter (1999) / Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Cuba 281
The Face (1956) / Virgilio Piñera, Cuba 290
Dale and Ian (1994) / Patricia Powell, Jamaica 296
Genesis (2003) / Kevin Everod Quashie, St. Kitts 304
Bayamón, Brooklyn y yo (1987) / Juanita Ramos, Puerto Rico 308
The Mechanic (1998) / Colin Robinson, Trinidad 316
Haiti: A Memory Journey (1996) / Assotto Saint, Haiti 320
Johnnie, London, 1960 (1960) / Andrew Salkey, Jamaica/Panama 325
I Want to Follow My Friend (1994) / Lawrence Scott, Trinidad 336
Man Royals and Sodomites: Some Thoughts on the Invisibility of Afro-Caribbean Lesbians / Makeda Silvera, Jamaica 344
Jerome (1993) / H. Nigel Thomas, St. Vincent 355
Fragments of Toronto's Black Queer Community: From a Life Still Being Lived (2005) / Rinaldo Walcott, Barbados/Canada 360
Mati-ism and Black Lesbianism:; Two Idealtypical Expressions of Female Homosexuality in Black Communities of the Diaspora (1996) / Gloria Wekker, Suriname 368
On Homophobia and Gay Rights Activism in Jamaica (2000) / Lawson Williams, Jamaica 382
Glossary 389
Contributors 393
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who has a disability that prevents you
from using this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the disability coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles
edited by Thomas Glave contributions by José Alcántara Almánzar, Aldo Alvarez, Reinaldo Arenas and Rane Arroyo
Duke University Press, 2008 Cloth: 978-0-8223-4208-3 Paper: 978-0-8223-4226-7 eISBN: 978-0-8223-8901-9
The first book of its kind, Our Caribbean is an anthology of lesbian and gay writing from across the Antilles. The author and activist Thomas Glave has gathered outstanding fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and poetry by little-known writers together with selections by internationally celebrated figures such as José Alcántara Almánzar, Reinaldo Arenas, Dionne Brand, Michelle Cliff, Audre Lorde, Achy Obejas, and Assotto Saint. The result is an unprecedented literary conversation on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experiences throughout the Caribbean and its far-flung diaspora. Many selections were originally published in Spanish, Dutch, or creole languages; some are translated into English here for the first time.
The thirty-seven authors hail from the Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, Suriname, and Trinidad. Many have lived outside the Caribbean, and their writing depicts histories of voluntary migration as well as exile from repressive governments, communities, and families. Many pieces have a political urgency that reflects their authors’ work as activists, teachers, community organizers, and performers. Desire commingles with ostracism and alienation throughout: in the evocative portrayals of same-sex love and longing, and in the selections addressing religion, family, race, and class. From the poem “Saturday Night in San Juan with the Right Sailors” to the poignant narrative “We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?” to an eloquent call for the embrace of difference that appeared in the Nassau Daily Tribune on the eve of an anti-gay protest, Our Caribbean is a brave and necessary book.
Contributors: José Alcántara Almánzar, Aldo Alvarez, Reinaldo Arenas, Rane Arroyo, Jesús J. Barquet, Marilyn Bobes, Dionne Brand, Timothy S. Chin, Michelle Cliff, Wesley E. A. Crichlow, Mabel Rodríguez Cuesta, Ochy Curiel, Faizal Deen, Pedro de Jesús, R. Erica Doyle, Thomas Glave, Rosamond S. King, Helen Klonaris, Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Audre Lorde, Shani Mootoo, Anton Nimblett, Achy Obejas, Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Virgilio Piñera, Patricia Powell, Kevin Everod Quashie, Juanita Ramos, Colin Robinson, Assotto Saint, Andrew Salkey, Lawrence Scott, Makeda Silvera, H. Nigel Thomas, Rinaldo Walcott, Gloria Wekker, Lawson Williams
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Thomas Glave is the author of the short story collections Whose Song? and Other Stories and The Torturer's Wife, and the essay collections Words to Our Now: Imagination and Dissent (Lambda Literary Award, 2005) and Among the Bloodpeople: Politics and Flesh. A founding member of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG), Glave has been Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor at MIT, a 2012 Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge, and Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of Warwick. He lives in Birmingham (U.K.).
REVIEWS
-- Rachel Pepper Curve
-- Michael G. Cornelius Bloomsbury Review
-- Harry E. Baldwin Frontiers
-- Richard Labonte
-- Emily Raboteau American Book Review
-- Cathie Koa Dunsford Asia and Pacific Writers Network
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Desire through the Archipelago / Thomas Glave 1
Lulú or the Metamorphosis (1995) / José Alcántara Almánzar, Dominican Republic 13
Property Values (2001) / Aldo Alvarez, Puerto Rico 21
Eroticism (1992) / Reinaldo Arenas, Cuba 34
Three Poems: Saturday Night in San Juan with the Right Sailors (2004), Almost a Revolution for Two in Bed (2004), Tropical Fever (2003) / Rane Arroyo, Puerto Rico/US 51
Three Poems: Transactions (2001), San Francisco - New Orleans (2001), The Image Saves (1994) / Jesús J. Barquet, Cuba 53
Somebody Has to Cry (1998) / Marilyn Bobes, Cuba 57
Three Poems: Young Faggot (2003), The Magical Real (2003), Surrender (2003) / Faizal Deen, Guyana/Trinidad 153
The Portrait (1998) / Pero de Jesús, Cuba 158
Tante Merle (1999) / R. Erica Doyle, Trinidad/U.S. 173
Whose Caribbean? An Allegory in Part (2005) / Thomas Glave, Jamaica/U.S. 177
More Notes on the Invisibility of Caribbean Lesbians (2005) / Rosamond S. King, Trinidad 191
Independence Day Letter (2004) / Helen Klonaris, Babamas 197
De un pájaro las dos alas: Travel Notes of a Queer Puerto Rican in Havana (2002) / Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Puerto Rico 202
Of Generators and Survival: Hugo Letter (1990), From Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982) / Audre Lorde, Grenada/Barbados/U.S. 233
Out on Main Street (1993) / Shani Mootoo, Trinidad/Ireland 252
Time and Tide (2002) / Anton Nimblett, Trinidad 261
We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? (1994) / Achy Obejas, Cuba 268
The Hunter (1999) / Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Cuba 281
The Face (1956) / Virgilio Piñera, Cuba 290
Dale and Ian (1994) / Patricia Powell, Jamaica 296
Genesis (2003) / Kevin Everod Quashie, St. Kitts 304
Bayamón, Brooklyn y yo (1987) / Juanita Ramos, Puerto Rico 308
The Mechanic (1998) / Colin Robinson, Trinidad 316
Haiti: A Memory Journey (1996) / Assotto Saint, Haiti 320
Johnnie, London, 1960 (1960) / Andrew Salkey, Jamaica/Panama 325
I Want to Follow My Friend (1994) / Lawrence Scott, Trinidad 336
Man Royals and Sodomites: Some Thoughts on the Invisibility of Afro-Caribbean Lesbians / Makeda Silvera, Jamaica 344
Jerome (1993) / H. Nigel Thomas, St. Vincent 355
Fragments of Toronto's Black Queer Community: From a Life Still Being Lived (2005) / Rinaldo Walcott, Barbados/Canada 360
Mati-ism and Black Lesbianism:; Two Idealtypical Expressions of Female Homosexuality in Black Communities of the Diaspora (1996) / Gloria Wekker, Suriname 368
On Homophobia and Gay Rights Activism in Jamaica (2000) / Lawson Williams, Jamaica 382
Glossary 389
Contributors 393
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who has a disability that prevents you
from using this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the disability coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE