sx salon 3

February 2011

Caribbean Arts and Culture Online

This third issue of sx salon marks the launch of our Poetry & Prose section, edited by Andrea Shaw. For this first installation, we feature poetry from Kwame Dawes, Lou Smith, and Danielle Boodoo-Fortune, as well as short fiction from Garfield Ellis and Émille Hunt.

As promised last issue, in sx salon 3 we introduce another new feature: the expansion of our Discussion section. In this issue’s discussion—“Caribbean Arts and Culture Online”—writers who have a significant online presence reflect on the past, present, and/or future of Caribbean culture online. Author and blogger Geoffrey Philp opens the discussion by contemplating the benefits and dangers inherent in the “nekkid prose” of blogs. Then, Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert and Ivette Romero-Cesareo reflect on the continuously growing success of their “Pan-Caribbeanist project” Repeating Islands, which celebrates its two-year anniversary this month. Frederic Marc, founder of Latineos, offers a succinct thought-piece on online spaces as rhizomatic, constantly “redefining” Caribbean perspectives and issues. Bringing music into the mix, Edwin STATS Houghton and Rishi Bonneville collaborate on an overview of the new dancehall economy and its implications. Rounding out the discussion, Nicholas Laughlin answers a few questions about his various online projects and situates the Caribbean “infosphere” as a “medium to advance the democracy of ideas.” These five engaging pieces work together to provide a dynamic discussion of Caribbean arts and culture online.

Also included in sx salon 3 are reviews of two anthologies—one fictional, one critical—honoring the art, culture, and spirit of Haiti; a review of Karen Lord’s otherworldly debut novel; Helen Klonaris’s immersion in M. NourbeSe Philip’s thought-provoking Zong!; and a lively discussion of writing and personal history between Typhanie Yanique and A. Naomi Jackson.

A reminder in closing: The 2011 Small Axe Literary Competition is now open for poetry and short prose submissions. The deadline for entries has been extended to May 31.

We hope you enjoy the February issue of sx salon (table of contents below).

Kelly Baker Josephs

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Table of Contents

Introduction and Table of Contents—Kelly Baker Josephs

Reviews

Haiti Noir, edited by Edwidge Danticat—Bastian Balthazar Becker
Haiti Rising: Haitian History, Culture and the Earthquake of 2010, edited by Martin Munro—Alessandra Benedicty
Redemption in Indigo, by Karen Lord—Alisa K. Braithwaite
Zong!, by NourbeSe Philip—Helen Klonaris

Discussion—Caribbean Arts and Culture Online

Into the Fray!—Geoffrey Philp
Repeating Islands: Caribbean Cultures in Cyberspace—Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert and Ivette Romero-Cesareo
Caribbean Art and Culture Online—Frederic Marc
Future Troubles: The New Dancehall Economy and Its Implications—Edwin STATS Houghton and Rishi Bonneville
The Democracy of Ideas: A Conversation with Nicholas Laughlin—Kelly Baker Josephs

Poetry

Kwame Dawes
Lou Smith
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné

Prose