Ode to the Caribbean woman

Austin Clarke and Drisana Deborah Jack, two Carribean writers in diaspora, discuss the role of the black Caribbean woman in their work. Bas Heijne chairs the discussion. English spoken.

20060124135926

Information

Date and time Saturday 21 January 2006 22:55 tot 23:45 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - kleine zaal

Austin Clarke from Barbados and Drisana Deborah Jack from St Martin, two writers in diaspora, discuss in their work the role of the black Caribbean woman. In spite of her oppressed position, she is strong, proud and confident. For both writers their native island remains an important source of inspiration. Deborah Jack presents her new collection of poems and Commonwealth Writers Prize- winner Austin Clarke reads from his recently published novel Mijn leven in schande (The Polished Hoe). Bas Heijne chairs the discussion. English spoken.

Drisana Deborah Jack

(St. Martin, Netherlands Antilles) is a poet and visual artist. Her work currently deals with trans-cultural existence, memory, the effects of colonialism and mythology through re-memory. Salt, the sea and hurricanes reoccur as metaphors in her body of work. In her poetry and visual art she tries to go beyond the parameters of style and genres. Her literature is as much music, dance and art as it is text. For her artwork, which is an expression of a personal and cultural history, she uses paint, video, photography, sound and poetry. She has published two poetry collections, The Rainy Season (1997) and Skin (2006). Her visual art has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. Her poetry has appeared in The Caribbean Writer and Calabash and has recited her work in the Caribbean, United States, South Africa and the Netherlands. Deborah Jack is an Assistant Professor of Art at New Jersey City University.
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Austin Clarke

(1934) from a young age wanted to flee the Caribbean island of Barbados where he grew up. The British education he received was helpful in this. After finishing his education he taught at a country school, and then left for Canada to study economy and politics. As a freelance journalist he made documentaries about the black population of North America and England for the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation. He was awarded the Commonwealth Writers Prize for his novel Mijn leven in schande (The Polished Hoe) (2005). In this novel the character Mary- Mathilda tells the story of her life as a mistress of a plantation owner and the collective experiences of a society that was formed by colonialism and slavery. In his work Clarke evokes the sensuality of the tropics and the tragic wealth of this island culture.
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Bas Heijne

(Nijmegen, NL, 1960) writes essays, short stories and plays, and is a columnist with the daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad. He published the novels Laatste woorden (Last words) and Suez and received the Henriëtte Roland Holst Prize in 2005. In 2011's Moeten wij van elkaar houden, het populisme ontleed (Do We Have to Love One Another? Populism Dissected) Heijne shows how globalisation and individualism pave the way for populism. Angst en schoonheid (Fear and Beauty) was published in 2013, an essay about Dutch writer Louis Couperus, whom Heijne admires. In the same year his documentary about Couperus was broadcast. In 2015 he hosted the five-part documentary De volmaakte mens (The Perfect Human). In 2016 his essay Onbehagen – nieuw licht op de beschaafde mens (Discontent - new light on civilized man) was published. In 2017 Heijne received the P.C. Hooft Award for his essayistic works.
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