Time for Saint Lucia’s Poet Laureate

Anyone can get a good sense of Saint Lucia’s history through its poetry. Poetry records the sensibilities, aspirations, and turbulences in the life of a nation. It also provides solace in times of grief and pain. Countries normally look to their poets in times of national tragedy. Poetry has been a savior to many during this pandemic. Additionally, poetry keeps nations honest by critiquing national hubris and irrational bureaucratic formations.

I believe it was George Odlum who correctly observed Saint Lucia has “more Nobel laureates than any country in the world per square mile.” When Derek Walcott won the prize in 1992, the New York Times took note and published an article that tried to determine what was so special about Saint Lucia that it was able to produce two Nobel prizewinners.

There is no doubt that this is an incredible feat that borders on the miraculous. There are countries with larger populations and numerous institutions of higher learning that have not won a Nobel Prize. This is no reason to say we do not need a university. On the contrary, we should be asking: What could we have achieved if the pursuit of higher education were not a Sisyphean project for most young persons in Saint Lucia?

Just a few months ago, in January, we celebrated Nobel Laureate Week in honor of our renowed economist Sir Arthur Lews and our legendary poet. A poet laureate would complement our yearly celebration and highlight the importance of poetry and the creative arts. Just recently, Jamaica announced its new poet laureate, Olive Senior. The other islands with poet laureates are Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.

Saint Lucia is good at producing first class poets, and we do so without any formal system in place to foster their growth. We have a formidable roster of poets in whose works have been acknowledged by respected publishers. Additionally, many of our poets, whom we see and sometimes socialize with, studied at universities throughout the world. Many are called upon to participate in international poetry festivals and, during the pandemic, many are reading for international audiences.

It is unfortunate that we have not established the office of poet laureate in Saint Lucia. We have talented poets in Saint Lucia, among them: John Robert Lee, Kendel Hippolyte, Jane King, Vladmir Lucien, Adrian Augier, McDonald Dixon, George Goddard, Modeste Downes, Irvin Desir, George ‘Fish’ Alphonse, Virginia Archer, Anthony Avril Jr, Glen Charlery, Travis Weekes, Marcian JnPierre and Alscess Ismael. This list does not even include more than a half dozen Saint Lucian poets who reside in other parts of the world. Most recently, Canisia Lubrin won the Windham Campbell Prize in Canada. From the list above it can be seen that Saint Lucia has considerable poetry capital.

Poetry is one of the oldest art forms, dating back to 2100 BCE, with the epic poem Gilgamesh. In the Christian tradition, poetry is central. There is poetry in Genesis and Exodus. When St. Paul gave his famous Mars Hill sermon in Acts 17: 22-31, he quoted Greek poetry. Hence, poetry has a deep connection to the sacred, and to the world.

Establishing an office of poet laureate would do wonders for the art of poetry in Saint Lucia. Given what we have achieved without an official person promoting poetry, I can only imagine what could happen. I envision poetry incubators where young Saint Lucians would be coached by some of the especially gifted in our midst. This will result in pupils with sharper analytical and linguistic skills: foundations for academic and career success. Furthermore, students from other countries could come to Saint Lucia to attend workshops. I foresee a master-class in poetry tied to Nobel Laureate Week. I look forward to the announcement of Saint Lucia’s first poet laureate in 2021.

This article first appeared in the May 2021 edition of the STAR Monthly Review. Be sure to get your printed copy on newsstands or view it here: https://issuu.com/starbusinessweek/docs/star_monthly_review_-_may_31_2021