World Poetry Day 2021

The World celebrates Poetry Day on March 21st. This day was adopted by UNESCO as World Poetry Day during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999, with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard.

World Poetry Day is an annual occasion to honour poets, revive oral traditions of poetry recitals, promote the reading, writing and teaching of poetry, foster the convergence between poetry and other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and raise the visibility of poetry in the media.

POETRY IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

In Trinidad and Tobago, First Citizens National Poetry Slam Competition is one forum used to highlight poets and their work. As part of the Bocas Lit Festival, this Spoken Word competition has been held annually since 2013.

In 2020, 35 artists competed for prizes totaling $ 80 000, and the winner, Alexandra Stewart, successfully defended her title.

Pieces covered a range of topics including current local and global affairs, domestic violence, racism, corruption, child abandonment, depression, sexism and masculinity.

Other winning performers in this field include Deneka Thomas (2018), Camryn Bruno (2017), Seth Sylvester (2016) and Idrees Saleem (2014).

Our Carnival is another forum to highlight poetry in other forms. Performers such as The Roaring Lion, Lord Invader, Lord Pretender, Lord Kitchener, Calypso Rose, Lord/Ras Shorty, David Rudder are among the hundreds who have used this medium to ply their art form of Calypso or “poetry in song”.

“Robber Talk”, which grew out of the oral traditions of Trinidad, is another expression of our poetry.

Another unique style of street poetry derived from the Oral Traditions and Calypso is RAPSO which is “the power of the word/the rhythm of the word, the truth and the light; the vocal manifestation of the hopes and fears, visions and aspirations of a people struggling for true liberation.”

The late Lancelot Layne is one of the persons credited with the creation of this genre. In the 1980s The term RAPSO was coined by Brother Resistance (also known as Lutalo Makossa Masimba) and his group, the Network Riddum Band. Other artistes such as 3 Canal, Kindred and Black Lyrics are performers in this arena. Blow Away, Get off the Radio, Tonight is De Night, Ring De Bell, Mother Earth, and Handclapping Song, are some examples of this form of musical poetry.

SOME NOTED POETS OF TRINIDADIAN DESCENT WHOSE LITERARY WORKS HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED INCLUDE:

Roger Robinson, performer of dub poetry – a form of spoken word with West Indian roots. His collection, A Portable Paradise, was awarded The £25,000 TS Eliot prize, and The Royal Society of Literature’s £10,000 Ondaatje prize, which goes to a work that best evokes “the spirit of a place”.

Vahni Capildeo comes from a well-known Trinidadian family of politicians and writers, which includes Booker prize-winning novelist VS Naipaul. Her collection, Measures of Expatriation, which explores ideas of belonging and home has won the 2016 Forward prize for best poetry collection.

Pearl Eintou Springer - Actor, poet, artist, playwright, a trained librarian. Founder of National Heritage Library in 1983. Founding member of the Writers Union of Trinidad and Tobago, The Caribbean Theatre Guild, The National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago. In 2002 she was named Poet Laureate of Port-of-Spain for 2 years. Her collection includes Moving Into the Light (2001), Focussed, Godchild, Stories and Poems for Children, Out f the Shadows and Loving the Skin I’m In (2005)

Ramabai Espinet -Trinidadian born poet, writer, teacher, established essayist and critic. Migrated to Canada in 1980. Poetry Collection: Nuclear Seasons (1991). Other published works include Beyond the Kalapani, “Barred: Trindad 1987” The Swinging Bridge (2003). The Princess of Spadina (1992). Ninja’s Carnival (1993).

“There is no Frigate like a book to take us lands away nor any courses like a page of prancing Poetry.” — Emily Dickenson

References

Cain, S. (2016, September 20). Trinidadian poet Vahni Capildeo wins 2016 Forward prize for poetry. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/20/trinidadian-poet-vahni-capildeo-wins-2016-forward-prize-poetry

Calypso. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nalis.gov.tt/Resources/Subject-Guide/Calypso#tabposition_24124

GSMArena. (2021, March 01). Poetry Day Quotes – Best Inspirational Happy World Poetry Day 2021 Quotes. Retrieved from https://gsmarenaspecs.com/poetry-day-quotes/

Moreno, C., Souza, J. D., Fraser, N., Loutoo, J., & Kenzie, R. M. (2020, September 06). 12 challenge champion for Poetry Slam crown. Retrieved from https://newsday.co.tt/2020/09/06/12-challenge-champion-for-poetry-slam-crown/

PEARL EINTOU SPRINGER. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bestoftrinidad.com/profiles/springer.html

Roger Robinson's poems of Trinidad and London win Ondaatje prize. (2020, May 04). Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/04/roger-robinson-poems-of-trinidad-london-win-ondaatje-prize-a-portable-paradise

World Poetry Day. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-poetry-day

American Psychological Association 6th edition formatting by BibMe.org.