Greetings members! There have been a couple of changes since our last newsletter. Unfortunately, Myriam J. A. Chancy is unable to accept the Vice Presidency of the ACWWS. She is on leave from the University of Arizona this year, and her research and traveling schedule conflicts with the duties of the position. Fortunately for us, Evelyn Hawthorne has graciously stepped up to the task of being our new Vice President! Dr. Hawthorne, Associate Professor of English at Howard University, received the next largest number of votes in our last election, after Myriam Chancy. Please join the Executive Board in welcoming Dr. Hawthorne aboard.

* * * * * *
Our New Vice President:
A Scholar and Visionary
Opal Palmer Adisa

I am delighted to welcome Evelyn J. Hawthorne, the new Vice President of the Association. Professor Hawthorne is an Associate Professor at Howard University, where she teaches Caribbean, American and Women's Literature, as well as Literary Theory and Criticism. At Howard, Professor Hawthorne has spearheaded a program in Caribbean Studies, and has succeeded in getting the Interdisciplinary Minor in Caribbean Studies at Howard. In addition, Professor Hawthorne teaches graduate courses: Seminal Texts in Caribbean Literature, first semester, and Post-Colonial, Caribbean, Cross-Cultural Theory and Criticism, the second semester. Dr. Hawthorne has done extensive work in Caribbean literature and continues to work ardently on the Howard campus to promote this area of study.

Because of Professor Hawthorne's background and because some of our members might not be familiar with her scholarship and views, I have asked her a few questions to get a more informed sense of who she is.

(Opal)
How did you come to Caribbean Literature? What first interested you about this course of study?

(Evelyn)
Having arrived at some knowledge of African American literature only at the end of my college career, and independently since no such writers were taught in my literature classes, the experience put me on mental alert to seek to find Caribbean writing. When I read Paule Marshall's Brown Girl, Brownstones, well, all lights went on in my literary head. At graduate school, involved in a program that still gave no courses in any literature other than "British and American," I decided to propose independent study for myself in Black literature; and after that was done and having schooled myself in Caribbean literature from books I bought in Jamaica or got from the library, I proposed to the graduate program a dissertation topic in Caribbean literature, on the nationalist writer Roger Mais. Fortunately, the university was not, at this period, very stodgy; it entertained and accepted my idea. Of course, I was on my own, there being NO specialist of Caribbean literature, nor any humanities courses that I knew of, at the university. I was on my own. I was therefore self-taught.

I had always felt the gap between my interests and experiences, and the literary courses that formed my graduate work. Disenchanted, unconnected for sure! I could well understand the feminist text Sexual Politics, published from a dissertation in 1971; I felt that that writer and I had some struggles in common. By then I fully knew that I had chosen well for myself. It goes beyond saying that what I needed to feel most, was that the intellectual energies and time I was spending in literary study would not represent my alienation from the subjects of my study, but instead provide connection, meaning, empathy. I did not want this endeavor to be a useless exercise. My graduate dissertation, then, became a work through which I was re-connecting to my heritage, and becoming an authority on Myself! That, it seemed to me, had to constitute an authentic gesture.

(Opal)
You have lectured on "How to Teach Caribbean Literature." What are some of the important points in this venture?

(Evelyn)
In teaching Caribbean literature, it is very important to me that there be a radical or critical purpose to the teaching. The "text" as aesthetic object is something I try to infuse with the idea that its value lies as importantly in its "cultural work." The text is contextualized in its historical, social, political web of signification. But even beyond that, can the teacher, in teaching a "text," bring more relevance to its human significance; can its teaching expand human consciousness? My present goal is to revise my courses in Caribbean literature for the spring semester, moving pedagogy closer to "taking a stand" - that is, knowing that the teaching is trying to fulfill a more radical function in our contemporary times. We have to "do more" through our teaching than we have perhaps been doing, trapped as we have been in disciplinary boundaries and paradigms and aesthetics. We can do more; so I am revising and revisioning.

(Opal)
Reading Dr. Hawthorne's vita, and looking at the title of some of her published works, it is evident that she practices what she teaches and the text is both aesthetic and cultural in her criticism. Some of the seminal works that she has published includes: The Writer in Transition: Roger Mais and the Decolonization of Culture (Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.) 1989; "Carib Texts, Colonial Memory: Jean Rhy's Historicities." Ariel. (Sum. 2001); "Self-Writing, Literary Traditions, and Post-Emancipation Identity: The Case of Mary Seacole." Biography 23.2 (Spring 2000) and 'V.S. Naipaul and Jean Rhys: Contrasting Perspectives on Caribbean History." Commonwealth Novel in English 3:2 (1990). Professor Hawthorne's scholarship makes her an ideal advisor for graduate students wanting to explore this field. So I asked:

(Opal)
What advice would you give to young scholars who want to pursue scholarship in Caribbean Studies, but are unsure about how to navigate their research and find support?

(Evelyn)
Look for an institution with a nucleus of scholars in your field and related ones. Today, there are more research tools available, and mentoring from networking (even via websites) does not leave the student out in the cold. Caribbean Studies is a very viable area of study for the 21st Century student.

(Opal)
What would you say is the importance of the bi-annual ACWWS conference, and why scholars interested in the field should attend?

(Evelyn)
I attended the very first conference of ACWWS at Wellesley. To this day, I am still grateful for that experience, because it had forged a new mode of conference in that 'There Were Writers!' present, not solely scholars. That was an invaluable and stupendous idea, and I am so pleased that this continues to be a vital part of ACWWS conferences. The scholar should not write in a vacuum; the live experiencing of the mind, spirit, presence of the writer is very important. And the creative writer should be given her due honor.

(Opal)
Honor also must be paid to Professor Hawthorne for her service and her commitment to this area of study. She is the recipient of a NEH Summer on Caribbean Literature in Three Languages, University of Miami, 1980; has served as the Guest Editor for a Special Issue: Paule Marshall: Brown Girl, Brownstones, Black Scholar, vol. 30:2 (Summer 2000) and contributed, "The Critical Difference: Paule Marshall's Personal and Literary Legacy." Two of her essays, "Caribbean, English: Survey of Life Writing," and "Sistren" will appear in Encyclopedia of Life Writing. London: Edited by Fitzroy Dearborn. And a final question:

(Opal)
You have written extensively and diversely on many Caribbean writers, from Mary Seacole to Roger Mais to Paule Marshall to Jamaica Kincaid. What are you currently working on, which writers? And do you do work on any Caribbean poets?

(Evelyn)
I am now working on women writers' use of history, focused on late 20th Century authors. I have just written a paper for a conference which I hope to develop further, since in it I pose a re-definition of the "public" poet. In this paper I look at the writing of Merle Collins, focusing on how she achieves an imaginative fusion of activist conscientization and an aesthetics forged in community-generated poetics. The paper's title is: "Performance, Oraliture, and the Historical Mythos: Merle Collins' Grenadian Poetry and Fiction." It challenges art-political distinctions, and suggests that Collins fashions an alternative literary practice. Of major importance is the formative significance of historical events --the revolution and the invasion - on her.

* * * * * *
MaComère from
Jacqueline Brice-Finch

MaComère 2001

The 2001 issue of MaComère will be going to press next month for delivery in January 2002. Now that the journal is being indexed by MLA, we have received increased interest from university libraries. Please encourage your university Serials Department to subscribe to the journal.

New Email Addresses for MaComère

The new email address for MaComère is macomere@aol.com. Inquiries about a future guest editorship, subscriptions, submissions, and sales should be sent to this address.

Dr. Renée Shea, Guest Editor of the 2002 issue, can be reached at macomereshea@aol.com.

2001 MaComère Table of Contents

Helen Pyne Timothy
About Our Name

Tributes

Carole Boyce Davies and Meredith Gadsby
Remembering Beryl Gilroy
August 30, 1924 - April 4, 2001: "Reflections by Two Daughters"

Maureen Roberts
Came to Find You, Talking Soft to Me like These Island Whispers

Interviews

Christian Wolff
An Interview with Nalo Hopkinson

Nalo Hopkinson
from Griffone, Novel-in-Progress

Renée H. Shea,
"A Prayer for Haiti":
A Conversation with Writer and Painter, Marilene Phipps

Marilene Phipps
Introducing the Chapel

Creative Writing

Noreen Lois Duncan
Aunt Jim
Violet

Nydia Ecury
The Race at Eventide

Marsha Leconte
Justification of a Battered

Teonilda Madera
Areitos
Brindis
A Child
Eco Envejecido
Remembrances
Tragedy

Angelita Reyes
Postcard to Trinidad
Letter Written Near the North Sea

Mireya Robles
En la otra mitad del Tiempo
Translated by Susan Griffin
The Other Half of Time

Loreina Santos Silva
La Moira Aprieta un Botón en la Computadora Cósmica
Moira Strikes a Key on the Cosmic Computer

Hanétha Vété-Congolo
Longing

Criticism

Linda Craig
Intersections in Ana Lydia Vega's "Pasión de historia"

Irline Francois
The Daffodil Gap:
Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy

Helene Pyne Timothy
Reading the Signs in Pauline Melville's "Erzulie"

Ivelisse Santiago-Stommes
Nación, cultura y mujer: La identidad nacional y las relaciones entre hombres
y mujeres en Soñar en cubano de Cristina Garcia

Suzette Spencer
Shall We Gather at the River: Ritual, Benign Forms of Injury, and the Wounds
of Displaced Women in Opal Palmer Adisa's It Begins with Tears

Selected Works From the 2000 International Conference
of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars

Giselle Liza Anatol
Border Crossings in Audre Lorde's Zami:Triangular Linkages of Identity and Desire

Estrella Betances de Pujadas
El Pasaporte

Jacqueline Brice-Finch
Edwidge Danticat: Memories of a Maäfa

Josefa Lago Graña
Despertar de un sueño: Exilio, hogar y familia en Soñar en cubano de Cristina Garcia

Mary Hanna
Cross Ties and New Bindings: Outsider Voices from Exile to Diaspora

Alfred López
(Un) concealed Histories: Whiteness and the Land in Michelle Cliff's Abeng

Teonilda Madera
Bombillo Rojo en Luna llena

Beverly Nieves
Excerpt from Chapter 4 of Hurricane Comin!

Book Reviews

Ann Armstrong Scarboro
Paule Marshall's The Fisher King

Michelle Brown
Opal Palmer Adisa's Leaf-of-Life

Jennifer L. Glasscock
Elizabeth Nunez's Bruised Hibiscus

Bolekaja Kamau
Edwidge Danticat, ed. The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Diaspora in the United States

Bridget Kevane
Mayra Santos-Febres's Sirena Selena

Ingrid Reneau
Paule Marshall's The Fisher King

Karen Monteleone
Ivonne Lamazares's The Sugar Island

Shawna Moore Madlangbayan
Giselle Pineau's L'âme prêtée aux oiseaux

Recent Publications

Notes on Contributors

* * * * * *
2002 Issue of MaComère
Call for Papers

Multimedia Influences and
Reflections in Caribbean Literature

Critical articles, interviews, creative work, and book reviews are welcome on the interrelationship of music, film, visual arts, and popular culture on individual authors, works, or genres.

Manuscripts may be submitted in English, Spanish, or French.

Deadline: January 15th, 2002

For further information, contact guest editor Renée H. Shea at macomereshea@aol.com or Janet J. Hampton at serina@gwu.edu

Submit manuscripts to:

Dr. Renée H. Shea
9620 Watts Branch Drive
Rockville, MD 20850

* * * * * *
Report from the Treasurer
Tanya R. Saunders

Ithaca College continues to maintain two accounts on behalf of the Association and of its journal, MaComère. Since the last report in April 2001, the College has received $935 (representing 17 membership payments) and expended $582.50 in the name of the Association. As of October 31st, 2001, the balance in the ACWWS account is $8,781.97. A portion of these funds will support the publication of the 2001 and 2002 issues of MaComère. On behalf of MaComère, Ithaca College received $790 and expended $3,139.56 since its April 2001 report to the membership. The MaComère account balance as of October 31st, 2001 is $1,714.83.

Membership in the ACWWS is for the calendar year (January through December). Membership payments for 2001 would be most welcome. 2002 membership payments become due on January 1st, 2002. Please support your Association and its conference.

* * * * * * *
ACWWS
Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars
UAG
Université des Antilles et de la Guyane
GRELCA
Groupe de Recherche et d' étude des
littératures et Civilisations de la Caraibe et des
Amériques Noires
CELCAA
Bowdoin College, Maine, USA

Unveiling the Caribbean
From Diversity to Coherence
Caribbean Women's Aesthetics
Across Boundaries
April, 2-6, 2002 - Martinique

8th International Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars Conference

8ème congrès international des écrivains et critiques littéraires femmes de la Caraibe

Scientific Committee
Le GRELCA, I'UAG
Roger Toumson
Le CELCCA, I'UAG
Lionel Davidas
L'ISEF, I'UAG
Maryvonne Charlery

Bowdoin College, Maine
Hanétha Vete-Congolo

ACWWS
Helen Pyne-Timothy

On-Site Steering Committee

President: Le GRELCA, I'UAG
Roger Toumson

Vice-President, Le CELCAA, I'UAG
Lionel Davidas
Coordinator: L'ISEF, I'UAG
Maryvonne Charlery

Executive Committee of the ACWWS

President
Opal Palmer Adisa

Founding President
Helen Pyne Timothy

Immediate Past President
Carole Boyce Davies

Treasurer
Tanya R. Saunders

Secretary
Meredith M. Gadsby

Archivist
Vicki Silvera

Publications Editor
Jacqueline Brice-Finch

Newsletter Editor and
Assistant Publications Editor
Geta LeSeur Brown

Location
Martinique http://www.martinique.org/discovery.htm

Martinique or Madinina, The Island of Blossoms as the indigenous people used to call her, is currently a French Overseas Department. French and French-based Creole are spoken fluently.

Le Méridien Hotel is going to host the conference. It is situated in Pointe du Trois-Ilet and is a first-class beach hotel.

Le Méridien Hotel is located in the southern town of Trois-Ilets in a paradise-like balnear center. It is 30 km from the capital city Fort-de-France and only 17 km from the airport of Lamentin.

Dates
April 2 - 6, 2002

Description of the Project
This 8th International Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars Conference is organized by le GRELCA and le CELCA, two research centres from l'Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG) in Martinique.

During this 8th International Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars Conference in Martinique, active scholars and students from the world will identify, analyze, reflect and debate on Caribbean Women and their achievements in all sectors of the arts within and without the region. This intellectual activity and exchange will demonstrate the common clusters of properties and similarities - aesthetic, ideological, cultural, symbolic, thematic - in such achievements, especially in the literary area, that present Caribbean women's literary art as coherent and integrated. An understanding of the means by which Caribbean women writers achieve the aesthetic coherences that contribute in effective and concrete ways to the best possible artistic and global development of the region should emerge from the discussions.

During the program, readings and addresses by major Caribbean women writers, cultural performances and film screenings will be featured.

Special emphasis will be put on French speaking Caribbean writers.
Objectives of the Conference

The objectives of the conference are as follows:

1. To further the re-evaluation of Caribbean women's works started by the ACWWS.

2. To identify and acknowledge the ties among Caribbean women writers.

3. To identify and acknowledge the aesthetic coherence among the diversity of Caribbean women writers.

4. To establish the extent to which Caribbean women's works have helped the people of the region in its cultural and intellectual development.

5. To establish the extent to which Caribbean women's achievements can help the region in its global development.

6. To introduce Caribbean women's works to a larger public.

7. To increase awareness as to the existence of Caribbean women's achievements.

8. To encourage and promote Caribbean women's achievements, past and present, in Caribbean women's writings.

9. To encourage literary and evaluative research about Caribbean women's writing and African traditions as reflected in Caribbean women's writings.

Topics
Papers should focus on analyses of a specific Caribbean woman writer, artist and/or scholar in accordance with the description of the project. Papers may also concern two or more Caribbean women writers together and be presented through a comparative perspective.

One of the following topics should be at the core of papers: Such papers should examine the nature and treatments of the aesthetics and styles in relation to literary genres (poetry, drama, novels, short stories).

Formal languages and vernacular in Caribbean women's writings.

Art, style and aesthetics in Caribbean women's writings.

Semiotic, ideological, cultural, aesthetic similarities and dissimilarities in Caribbean women's writings.

Literature and sociology in Caribbean women's writings.

Literature and geography.

Diversity and coherence.

Literature and anthropology in Caribbean women's writings.
Male and female relationships in Caribbean women's writings.

Past and present in Caribbean women's writings.

African traditions as reflected in Caribbean women's writings.

Women and production in Caribbean women's writings.

Special Panel on Slavery
Suggested sub-topics which might be considered could include Slavery/the treatment of the female slave in Caribbean women's writings.

Languages
The language of the conference is French; translation will be provided both in English and in Spanish.

Proposals
Individuals may propose panels or roundtables that they will organize. Such proposals should be at least a paragraph in length and indicate the nature of the material to be presented.

Abstracts and Proposals
Abstracts and proposals should be written in both the participant's native language and/or in French. You should underline five (5) words most relevant to your paper. Proposals may be sent electronically to the address below.

Deadline for Abstracts and Proposals
Abstracts and proposals will be accepted from October 15th, 2001 to January 10th, 2002.

The Conference Paper/Panel Proposal Form is at the end of the Newsletter.

All abstracts should be sent to:

Professor Hanétha Vété-Congolo
Bowdoin College
Department of Romance Languages
and Literatures
7800 College Station
Brunswick, ME 04011-8478
mvete@bowdoin.edu
Phone:(207) 725-3826

ATTENTION: Please note that participants must be members of the ACWWS by the time they submit their proposals in order for their proposals to be considered.

Special emphasis on French speaking Caribbean writers.

Invited writers will include those from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Bermuda, Curacao, the US and Canada.

Air-Lines (from the USA)
3 major airlines travel to Martinique:
American Airlines via Puerto Rico
Air-France (from Miami)
BWIA via Antigua

Accommodations
Le Mériden - a first-class beach hotel in Trois-Ilets - is where most of the conference will take place. The Mériden is offering a special conference rate up to January 1st.

The exchange rate fluctuates and prices will be translated into the exchange rate at the time you make your reservation.

Rates
Double US$ 100
Single US$ 99
Local tax:0.75 Cents

When making your booking, specify that you are attending the ACWWS conference. You must make your booking with a credit card.

Contact Madame LAMIC
email:hvfdf@wanadoo.fr
Phone: 596 66 65 53 (direct line)
Phone: 596 66 00 00; Fax: 696 66 00 74

Reservation Deadline:
The reservation deadline for Le Mériden Hotel is January 1st, 2002. After this deadline, reservations will be made only on request.

Please make reservations as soon as possible as the hotel will dispose of the rooms attributed to the conference on January 1st, 2002. Please, do not send hotel reservation requests to the conference conveners. Conference attendees must make arrangements for accommodations directly with the hotel.

Participants may also stay at La Pagerie which is located at Pointe du Bout (about 5 to 7 mn from Le Mériden). It is within walking distance.

Single, US$ 65 + tax, Breakfast included
Double, US$ 80 + tax, Breakfast included
Phone: 596 66 05 30
Fax: 596 66 00 99
email:karibea@martinique-hotels.com

Transportation
Trois-Ilets is a coastal town located in the South-West of Martinique. It may be reached by road or by boat. By road, it is 20mn away from the capital city, Fort-de-France, where a boat can be taken. By boat, the trip is only 10mn from Fort-de-France to Trois-Ilets.
Any taxi driver can take you to Trois-Ilets by road for US$ 25.00. Any taxi driver can take you to Fort-de-France for US$ 20.00. Boat rates from Fort-de-France to Trois-Ilets: US$ 3.00.

Arrangements with the hotel manager must be made for pick up at the Trois-Ilets waterfront.

Those intending to go by boat should inform the co-ordinator three weeks in advance: mvete@bowdoin.edu for boat schedules.

Contact Persons for Information

Helen Pyne-Timothy
email:timoehp@trinidad.net

Hanétha Vété-Congolo
Bowdoin College
Department of Romance Languages
and Literatures
7800 College Station
Brunswick ME 04011
email:mvete@bowdoin.edu

* * * * * *
Conference Guest Artists and Writers

Suzanne DRACIUS is a 50 year-old Martinique writer who divided her life between Martinique and Paris. Since 1982, she is back in her native homeland where she teaches French at I'UAG. She divorced Creolist Pierre Pinalie and is the mother of one son. She wrote one novel to date: L'autre qui danse (1989) and numerous short stores among which De sueur, de sucre et de sang and La Montagne de feu. She also wrote poetry such as Nègzagonal (1992), a poem in Creole.
Suzanne Dracius is a critical contributor to Caribbean women writings and explores themes such as male and female relationships, female relationships, identity, métissage and literary marronnage.

For more information on Suzanne Dracius: http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ile.en.ile/paroles/dracius.htlm.

Velma Earle POLLARD is a 64 year-old Jamaican woman with an impressive career. In 1992 she won the Casa de Las Americas Literary Prize.

Among much other poetry she has published Crown Point and Other Poems (Peepal Tree Press, UK.1988); Shame Trees Don't Grow Here in 1992 (Peepal Tree Press, Leeds); Homestretch in 1994 (Longman House, Harlow). Her recently published poetry is The Best Philosophers I Know Can't Read or Write (Mango Publishing, UK, 2001).

Velma Pollard also writes short stories. They appeared in focus (1983); De Moedervlek Suite, (Ineke Phaf ed. (1987); Daughters of Africa (Margaret Busby ed. 1992; and The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories (Steward Brown and John Wickham eds. 1999).

Madame SUZON is the best-known female folk and traditional dancer in Martinique. A 54 year-old lady today, she started dancing at the age of 13 in the 1950s with the late Loulou Bois-Laville, the best-known male traditional dancer and singer from Martinique. Her modern, jazz and classic instructor was American national Rony Olne, former dancer with Alvin Alley.

Madame Suzon, as she is known in Martinique, her true name being Suzon Sainte-Rose, owns Le Grand Ballet de Martinique, a dance company that honors Martinican folk dances, music and songs throughout the world.

Le Grand Ballet de Martinique has performed on all five continents and holds constant tours throughout the world

Today, Madame Suzon writes her own poetry and songs. She will, in the near future, release a CD gathering together her songs.

Madame Suzon is not merely a dancer and a businesswoman. She has taken concrete endeavors in favor of the young population of Martinique that earned her national recognition and several public and State awards. Thus, she was awarded the French National prize, Le Médaille d'Or du Travail. It was the first time that a Martinican was presented with such an award. This award is given by Le Ministre du Travail, (Work Ministry), for creative achievements. Such laureates are models for the French Nation. She also received from Le Ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports de la République Francaise (Youth and Sports Ministry of the French Republic) the Médaille de la Jeunesse et des Sports. This award is given to those working in favor of the cause of French youth.

Madame Suzon was recently nominated for La Médaille du Chevalier de l'ordre et du Mérite, the highest distinction a French national can receive from the government.

Elizabeth NUNEZ is a CUNY distinguished Professor of English at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. She received a Ph.D. (1977) and M.A. (1971) in English from New York University, and a B.A. degree in English from Marian College in Wisconsin. She is the author of four novels: Discretion (Ballantine, Feb. 2002); Bruised Hibiscus (Seal Press, 2000), which won an American Book Award in 2001; Beyond the Limbo Silence (Seal Press, 1998), which won a 1999 IPPY Award-Independent Publishers Book Award in the multicultural fiction category; and When Rocks Dance (Putnam, 1986 and Ballantine, 1992). Nunez is co-editor of the collection of essays Defining Ourselves: Black Writers in the 90s (Lang). Her essays and short stories have appeared in anthologies and magazines. Nunez is the director of the National Black Writers Conference, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1986.

* * * * * *
On Martinique
Hanétha Vété-Congolo

This 8th International Conference of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars takes place in Martinique or Madinina, the Island of Blossoms. This is the original name of this beautiful Caribbean island, now inhabited by European and African descendants. Martinique currently contains 380,000 inhabitants.

Her surface of 1080km2 ranks her third among all Lesser Antilles Islands. She can be divided into three major regions according to landscape. Rain and mountains bless the north of the Island. It is the realm of rain forests. The mangroves, typical of tropical climates, are in the region of central plains. The Mornes - rolling hills of Martinique - in the southern parts of the country will fill you with joy. The highest of these Mornes is the Montagne du Vauclin, an extinct volcano on the Atlantic Coast.

The first inhabitants of the Island of Blossoms came from the southern part of the American continent between 3000 and 2000 BC. Archaeological artefacts have been unearthed and informed on the Pre-Columbian period. There were two pre-ceramic periods, the first of which started sometime around 2000 BC. Hunter-gatherers then migrated northwards. The second pre-ceramic period began around 100 BC and concerns the Arawak Civilization with origins in present-day Venezuela.

When Belain Desnambuc arrived from Saint Christopher to take possession of the island Martinique in the name of France in 1635, the Arawak had long been exterminated by the Caribs. The latter had moved north from Guyana. By 1660, they were either exterminated or driven out by the French. However, it is not until 1674 that the island becomes a colony with civil and military administration. Regarded as France's main outpost in the Lesser and Greater Antilles, it served as the mother country's administrative center until 1774.

From 1660 onward, Martinique enters the sugar cane race and imports countless numbers of African slaves. The abolition of slavery will arrive, but not until 1848. On May 8th, 1902, Martinique is not spared calamity as Mount Pelée explodes in an eruption that destroys the town of Saint Pierre. 30,000 people loose their lives and Fort-de-France replaces Saint Pierre as the capital.

There are many areas of cultural and touristic interest in Martinique among which the following: Martinique is surrounded by water and thus offers famous and most enjoyable beaches. In the North, these beaches bear brown sand due to the volcano. Peace and voluptuousness emanate from the dark sand beaches of Martinique. As to the southern beaches, their sand is brighter, almost of an immaculate whiteness. They are the most frequented. Sainte Anne, on the Caribbean coast of the south is well endowed and blessed by nature. La Pointe du Marin or les Salines are both captivating indeed. Trois-Ilets is another region of the coastal south where many beautiful beaches can be found.

The town of Fort-de-France, the capital city, is an area of interest in itself. The Bibliothèque Schoelcher, named after 19th Century abolitionist Victor Schoelcher and the Saint Louis Cathedral are architectural monuments that are worth the visit. La Savane, in the heart of Fort-de-France, facing the Baie de Fort-de-France is a leisure park where Martinican people can be met and souvenirs bought. Le Musée départemental de la Martinique can be visited as well. It features archaeological finds from Arawak and Carib times. The musée Régional d'Histoire et d'Ethnographies exhibits artefacts pertaining to the history of Martinique.

In Trois-Ilets, do not forget to pay a visit to the pottery and to La Maison de la canne, a museum dedicated to ruma and sugar. Le Domaine de la Pagerie, in the same town, is the place where Empress Josephine was born. Visit this museum.

The town of Saint Pierre, erased in 1902 by the eruption of the infamous Mount Pelée, is a coastal village full of history. There you could visit the Centre d'Art Musée Paul Gauguin in memory of French painter Paul Gauguin.

Visiting a distillerie, a rum factory, is an experience not to miss, as Martinique is one of the best rum producers in the world.

Please pay your membership for the calendar year 2002. You must be a current ACWWS member and must have paid your dues in order to register for the conference.

ACWWS Membership: US$ 50.00
Students:US$ 25.00

Conference Fees:
USA + Puerto Rico US$100.00
Caribbean US$ 50.00
US Students US$ 50.00
US Publishing Houses US$300.00

Europe 50 Euros
French and European
Publishing Houses 90 Euros

Please, when registering, notify us whether you will attend the trip to the North Caribbean Coast of Martinique and the reception on April 5th. Participation in the trip to the Coast costs US$ 30.00.

Cultural Events
Several evening events are planned among which a trip to the North Caribbean Coast of Martinique.

Checks should combine conference registration fee + membership fee + cost for participation in the cultural trip and should be made payable to: Ithaca College - ACWWS.

Mail checks to:
Dr. Tanya R. Saunders
Assistant Provost
Ithaca College
307 Job Hall
Ithaca NY 14850
USA
email:tsaunders@ithaca.edu

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About Geta LeSeur

Geta LeSeur's articles "Read Your History Man: Bridging Racism, Paternalism and Privilege in Paule Marshall's The Chosen Place, the Timeless People" appeared in The College Language Association Journal, Summer 2001 issue and "Story and Ritual in Simone Schwartz-Bart's Bridge of Beyond and Mama Day" was published in Palara, Fall 2001. A book review of Simone Alexander's Mother Imagery in the Novels of Afro-Caribbean Women is forthcoming in African American Review.

At the Midwest MLA Conference, LeSeur chaired and delivered a paper on the topic "Translating Resistance in African and Afro-Caribbean Letters." The focus of her paper was "Calypso Women in Opal Adisa's novel, It Begins with Tears."

The Committee for the International Exchange of Scholars (Fulbright) appointed her to a three-year term on the Southern Europe Peer Review Committee. It meets annually in Washington, DC.

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No One is Safe and Many are in Pain: September 11th, 2001
by Opal Palmer Adisa,
Oakland, California

Not in the habit of watching television or listening to the news to start my day, I would not have been aware of the events of September 11th if my cousin had not called me shouting into the phone, demanding that I turn on the TV. Jolted awake, but still blurry-eyed, I turned on the television to images that looked very much like something from any of the many disaster movies with which this society has become obsessed. I was watching and listening, but none of it was making sense. I kept the TV on while I showered and got dressed, still confused, struck dumb. My stomach felt hollow; I glanced at the clock and realized I would be late for my 9:30 class.

I arrived at 9:40 to find students sitting there quietly waiting for me; no one was talking. You have all heard the news about the World Trade Center, I said more as a statement, rather than a question. They nodded, some replied yes. It was clear in that moment that I was not going to follow the syllabus, but rather provide an opportunity for students to talk, and when I said as much, there was an audible sigh of relief. A few students were from New York so had concerns for their families. Mostly, they were bewildered and wanted to know what the attack meant. We talked, or rather, I allowed them the space to voice their thoughts, while I cautioned them about jumping to hasty conclusions. At the end of the class, I told them to pray or chant, dance or howl at the moon, whatever form of expression they used to invite peace, compassion and love into the world. I also suggested that they ask for guidance for our leaders so that they would respond in a just and sensible manner to these events. My afternoon class was a repeat of the morning.

My own children, at least the two younger ones, were scared and wanted to know about flying on planes again, inquired about relatives in New York whom we had visited in July, and my son lamented that they had bombed his favorite building, the World Trade Center, that we had toured. After we watched some of the events replayed again and again, I decided to turn off the TV as it was all too much. I could not take anymore. I felt myself slipping, weary limbs, heavy heart, throbbing head, inertia setting in. That night before I went to sleep I said a special thanks for all I had, that I was safe, and so were all of my relatives in New York. I prayed for all those who had lost their lives and those who survived them.

Since I didn't teach the next day, after dropping my children to school, I returned home and sat in front of the TV for two hours before I told myself to get up and move. To do something. And I did. I turned off the TV and went to work in my garden, pruning, replanting and sweeping. It was while there that the poem below came to me.

terror will not find me
immobilize in front of the tv
i move into prayer
not for self and thy family self
but for love
a witness of forgiveness
a fragrance of understanding
a smile of kinship
a prayer for those
for whom praying
is a request
not an offering to life

terror find me
in my garden
imploring the soil
to continue to be kind

Wednesday, for my "Life Stories; Creative Writing" class, I began by telling students to breathe, to let the tension and fear and doubt float from their bodies and to continue breathing. I urged them to feel empowered and to know that they have a responsibility to help make the world right. I chanted, "I am peace, we are peace, and invited students to join me, letting the words fill their bodies like a balloon inflated with air. Then I instructed them to write, non-stop for fifteen minutes, using that phrase as an entrée to their writing. I wrote along with students, then we went around the room sharing. There was not one dry eye by the time we were through. Men and women alike read and cried and had to pause to catch their breaths and continued on and released all that they were feeling. A student who was from New York, and who still had not heard from all of her relatives, said it was too much, too painful and asked to be excused. But we continued sharing, writing, talking, releasing.

As educators we have a choice during this time of uncertainty, confusion and paranoia to either be the professor and to follow the syllabus as we conceived it, in the quiet of our office, before the semester began or to make changes to accommodate this current crisis. I have revamped an entire syllabus, "Ethnicity in the Media" from looking at the historical portrayal of African Americans, Asian American, American Indian and Chicano in the media to an examination of the current events. News? Propaganda? Hype?: What's the Correlation? As a result, we viewed Under Siege last week, and were startled at the parallels between that movie and the recent incidents. It would appear that some of our present leaders are using the same screen-writer for their speeches. In my Caribbean Literature class, I showed students Life and Debt, an insightful (painful for me) documentary that explores globalization, with Jamaican as the case study. It exposes the devastating impact of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

I have not shied away from this issue. I have told students, up front, that in some instances I am biased. I loudly supported Representative Barbara Lee, the lone, sensible voice of opposition, and urged students to send her letters and emails of support, and to copy their correspondence to the president. I told them to get involved, to have talk-ins, to get information from other sources than the networks, to probe, to interrogate, to not simply accept all that they hear, but to deduce, critique, question. I continue to bring in material I get from the Internet, from other sources to share with students, and I have placed a folder on reserve in the library in which I had asked them to add things to share with each other. We are moving forward and learning from each other. This past week, I read them Suheir Hammad's, "A Palestinian Woman Poet Living in New York," incredible poet about this event. I had picked up Hammad's poetry collection, born Palestinian, born Black, (Harlem River).