Lasana M. Sekou at CTO awards ceremony, New York, 2007
Lasana M. Sekou (born 12 January 1959) is a poet, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and publisher from the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
Biography
Lasana M. Sekou has authored over 20 books and is considered one of the prolific Caribbean poets of his generation. Dr. Armando Lampe writes that "he's considered the 'Walcott' of the Dutch Caribbean"[1] because of his prolific output, the range of subject matter and unique literary styling, which often includes the use of Caribbean Creole languages, Spanish, French, and Dutch — sometimes in one poem.
Awards and honors include an International Writers Workshop Visiting Fellow (Hong Kong),[10] a James Michener Fellow (University of Miami), a knighthood (The Netherlands),[11] Recognition for literary excellence in the service of Caribbean unity (Dominican Republic),[12] Culture Time Literary Artist of the Decade,[13] the Caribbean Tourism Organization Award of Excellence,[14] and the Sage Cultural Award 2022.[15]
Sekou's poetry and reviews of his works have appeared in Callaloo,[16]The Massachusetts Review,[17]De Gids,[18]Das Gedicht, Prometeo,[19]World Literature Today,[20]Caribbean Quarterly,[2]Postcolonial Text,[21]Jamaica Gleaner,[22][23]Caribbean Review of Books,[24]Boundary 2,[25]Harriet,[26] and Calabash.[27] His poems have been translated into Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Turkish, and Chinese.[28]
Sekou has presented papers and recited his poetry at cultural and literary conferences and festivals in the Caribbean, North and South America,[29] Africa, Europe[30] and Asia. His recitals usually draw large crowds. In St. Martin he is often invited by schools, cultural organizations, and NGOs to recite his poetry and appears regularly on radio and TV discussing cultural, socio-historical, literary, and political issues.
The author's writings are used in high schools and in carnival stage presentations.[31] He is the editor of National Symbols of St. Martin – A Primer[32] and The Independence Papers, Volume 1;[33] and the producer of Fête – The first recording of Traditional St. Martin festive music by Tanny & The Boys.[34][35] Sekou can be heard reciting his own poetry on The Salt Reaper – Selected poems from the flats (Audio CD, 2009) with music produced by award-winning digital arts designer Angelo Rombley.[36][37]
In 2003, Sekou was invited to co-found the St. Martin Book Fair by its founder Shujah Reiph, a leading cultural activist and president of the Conscious Lyrics Foundation.[48][49]
Sekou is an advocate for the independence of St. Martin, which is a colony of France and the Netherlands.[50][51] In the 1994 and 2000 consultative constitutional status referendums that were held in the Southern or Dutch part of St. Martin, Sekou was a leading organizer and speaker for the Independence option as a member of the Independence for St. Martin Foundation, of which his brother and political scientist Joseph H. Lake, Jr., was the founding president.[52]
Works
Fiction
Love Songs Make You Cry (1989)
Brotherhood of the Spurs (1997, 2007)
Love Songs Make You Cry – Second Edition (2014)
Fraternidad de las espuelas (2018)
Poetry collections
Moods for Isis – Picturepoems of Love & Struggle (1978)
For the Mighty Gods … An Offering (1982)
Images in the Yard (1983)
Maroon Lives … For Grenadian Freedom Fighters (1983)
Born Here (House of Nehesi, 1986)
Nativity & Monologues For Today (1988)
Mothernation – Poems from 1984 to 1987 (1991)
Quimbé … The Poetics of Sound (1991)
The Salt Reaper – Poems from the flats (2004, 2005)
Corazón de pelícano – Antología poética de Lasana M. Sekou/Pelican Heart – An Anthology of Poems by Lasana M. Sekou Edited by Emilio Jorge Rodríguez (2010)
Musa desnuda – Selección, introducción y notas Emilio Jorge Rodríguez (2011)
Maroon Lives Tribute to Maurice Bishop & Grenadian Freedom Fighters. Revolution As Poetic Inspiration: Grenada in Maroon Lives (2013). Poetry collection by Lasana M. Sekou; with literary essay by Fabian Adekunle Badejo
Book of The Dead (2016)
Hurricane Protocol (2019)
37 Poems (2020) Second Edition. eBook.
6 Poems by Lasana M. Sekou | 6 Poèmes de Lasana M. Sekou | 6 Poemas de Lasana M. Sekou (2022)
Pamphlet
Big Up St. Martin – Essay & Poem (1999)
Discography
The Salt Reaper – selected poems from the flats. Mountain Dove Records, 2009.
Producer
Tanny & The Boys. Fête – The First Recording of Traditional St. Martin Festive Music. Mountain Dove Records, 1992, 2007.
Edited publications
The Independence Papers – Readings on a New Political Status for St. Maarten/St. Martin, Volume 1 (1990),
Fête – Celebrating St. Martin Traditional Festive Music (1992, 2007),
National Symbols of St. Martin – A Primer (1996, 1997),
Chester York – Making of A Panman (1999),
Gassy – Champion Cyclist (1999),
St. Martin Massive! A Snapshot of Popular Artists (2000),
Where I See The Sun – Contemporary Poetry in St. Martin (2013).
Where I See The Sun – Contemporary Poetry in Anguilla (2015).
Where I See The Sun – Contemporary Poetry in the Virgin Islands (2016).
Critical writing about Sekou
Fergus, Howard A., Love Labor Liberation in Lasana Sekou. House of Nehesi Publishers, 2007.
Florian, Sara, PhD, Caribbean Counterpoint: The Aesthetics of Salt in Lasana Sekou. House of Nehesi Publishers, 2019.
Kuwabong, Dannabang, Rhetoric of Resistance, Labor of Love: The Ecopoetics of Nationhood in the Poetry and Prose of Lasana M. Sekou. House of Nehesi Publishers, 2024.
Rodríguez, Jorge Rodríguez, (editor) Pelican Heart / Corazón de Pelícano – An Anthology of Poems by Lasana M. Sekou / Antología poética de Lasana M. Sekou. Selección, introducción y notas / Selection with Introduction and Notes by Emilio Jorge Rodríguez. House of Nehesi Publishers, 2010.
References
^Lampe, Armando. "Examen de libros por la aparición de Double Play." RMC, 10 (2000), 233–240.
^"Lasana M. Sekou." Welcome to House of Nehesi Publishers [2].
^"Lasana M. Sekou." Welcome to House of Nehesi Publishers [3].
^"Lasana SEKOU | St. Martin of Caribbean Sea. Fall Visiting Writers 2004." The International Writers’ Workshop (IWW). iww.hkbu.edu.hk. Retrieved 2023-03-26. [4]
^"Publisher hopes Sekou’s knighthood encourages more 'to write deeply and creatively' about St. Martin." Welcome to House of Nehesi Publishers, News, 1 May 2004. [5].
^"Lasana M. Sekou." Welcome to House of Nehesi Publishers [6].
^"Lasana M. Sekou." Welcome to House of Nehesi Publishers [7].
^Sekou, Lasana M. “Quimbé 1.” Callaloo, vol. 21, no. 3, 1998, pp. 674–674. JSTOR, Accessed 26 Mar. 2023.
^Lasana M. Sekou, "Liberation Theology", The Massachusetts Review, Vol. 35, No. 3/4 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 540–543. JSTOR.
^"Lasana M. Sekou Twee gedichten." De Gids. Jaargang 153 (1990: 586) – (tijdschrift) Gids, De [8].
^Lasana Sekou (San Martín, 1959). "Tortured Fragments." Prometeo, Revista de poesía. Número 68-69. Junio de 2004. Memorias del XIV Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín [9].
^"Eva/Sión/Es, de Chiqui Vicioso, logra buena acogida internacional." Dario Libre. 11 de Julio del 2007. [18].
^"Cijntje-van Enckevort, Maria Dr. "I Believe: A man puts his 'real and spiritual estate in order,' a book review." Craig Brewin’s Blog, 6 Nov 2018. [19].
Gibbs, Jeanean, ed., Gurus and Griots, Poems and Poets of Africa, of America, and the Caribbean. Palm Tree Enterprises Inc., 1987.
Knight, Franklin W. and Louis Gates, Jr. Henry, eds., The Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography, Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.