 Lasana
M. Sekou is the author of 11 books
of poetry, monologues, and short stories. He is the leading writer
of St. Martin
and is considered one of the prolific Caribbean
poets of his generation. His newest collection is 37
Poems, published in 2005. Sekou’s other titles include The
Salt Reaper – Poems from the flats (2005, 2004), Big
Up St. Martin: Essay & Poem (1999), Brotherhood
of the Spurs (1997), Quimbé
– The Poetics of Sound (1991), Mothernation
(1991), Love Songs Make You
Cry (1989), Nativity &
Dramatic Monologues for Today (1988), Born
Here (1986), Maroon Lives
- A Tribute to Grenadian Freedom Fighters (1983), Images
in the Yard (1983), For
the Mighty Gods … An Offering (1982), and Moods
for Isis – Picture Poems of Love and Struggle (1978). In 1991,
Sekou produced Fête - The
First Recording of Traditional St. Martin’s Festive Music by
Tanny & the Boys. He is the editor of The
Independence Papers - readings on a new political status
for St. Maarten/St. Martin (1990) and National Symbols of St. Martin - A Primer (1996). Sekou’s poetry, drama, and fiction have
been required reading at York University, Kenyon College, and the University
of St. Martin.
His writings are taught in high schools and dramatized on stage
and in carnival presentations. Sekou has participated in literary
conferences and recited poetry in the Caribbean, the USA, South
America, Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Sekou’s poetry has appeared in New
Directions, Callaloo, The Caribbean Writer, Del Caribe, The Massachusetts Review, De Gids, Revue Noir, Das Gedicht,
Calabash, Prometeo, and ChickenBones
among other journals. His poems have been translated into Spanish,
Dutch, German, and Chinese. Awards and honors include an IWW Visiting
Fellow (Hong Kong Baptist University), a James Michener Fellow (University
of Miami), a knighthood (the Netherlands), Recognition for literary
excellence in the service of Caribbean unity (Dominican Republic),
University of St. Martin Heroes & Heroines Award (Literature),
Culture Time Literary Artist of the Decade, Conscious Lyrics Artist
of the Decade, Jaycees Outstanding Young Persons award, and a Carlos
Cooks Community Service Award. In 2003, Shujah Reiph of the Conscious
Lyrics Foundation (CLF) invited Sekou to co-found the first St. Martin Book Fair as a CLF/House of Nehesi
Publishers project. In the 2005, the book fair entered its third
year. Lasana M. Sekou is an advocate for the independence and unification
of St. Martin, which is a colony
of France and The Netherlands.
PUBLICATIONS
37
Poems (2005)
The Salt Reaper –
poems from the flats (2004, 2005)
Big Up St.
Martin -
Essay & Poem (booklet, 1999)
Brotherhood of the Spurs
(short stories, 1997)
Quimbé - The Poetics of
Sound (1991)
Mothernation - Poems from
1984 to 1987 (1991)
Love Songs Make You Cry
(short stories, 1989)
Nativity & Monologues
For Today (1988)
Born Here (1986)
Maroon Lives - For Grenadian
Freedom Fighters (1983)
Images in the Yard (1983)
For the Mighty Gods - An
Offering (1982)
Moods for Isis - Picturepoems
of Love & Struggle (1978) |
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37
Poems
by Lasana M. Sekou
Price: US$15
Paperback, poetry, literature, 64 pp. (2005)
ISBN: 0-913441-74-0
37 Poems
is … significant, vigorous and radical, … life-affirming
in an age when jaded cynicism often passes for wisdom.
- Dr. Tabish Khair, Aarhus University,
Denmark
Somewhere between the
grace of haiku and the weight of the epic, Sekou has crafted his
most elegant work to date. … These are the poems we should
read to our children, lullabies for this new/old world. Each verse
reaches across topographical, cultural, and emotional divides
and reveals that the heart is home.
- Drisana Deborah Jack, New Jersey City
University, author of The Rainy Season |
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The
Salt Reaper
poems from the flats
by Lasana M. Sekou
Price: US$15
Paperback, poetry, literature, 130 pp. (2004)
ISBN: 0-913441-65-1
The Salt Reaper
… salt for all of us—in the
Caribbean, in “Tortured fragments,” in “Los
otros americanos,” in “abu ghraib,” or “from
a home in kigali/morning prayers in kosovo/a pall pot brew in
kampuchea”—all of us involved in the struggle to find
ourselves in this world …
- Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool,
PhD., from the introduction to The Salt Reaper– poems from
the flats |
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