CELEBRATING LAMMING... BIM: Arts for the 21st Century Patron and Consultant Editor George Lamming Editors Curwen Best Esther Phillips Managing Editor Gladstone Yearwood Editorial Board DeCarla Applewhaite Hilary Beckles Curwen Best Marcia Burrowes Mark McWatt Trevor Marshall Esther Phillips Andy Taitt Board of Management Hilary Beckles Janet Caroo Gale Hall Sheron Johnson Celia Toppin Maurice Webster Gladstone Yearwood International Advisory Board Heather Russell-Andrade / USA Kamau Brathwaite, Barbados / USA Stewart Brown, U.K. Austin Clarke, Barbados/Canada Carolyn Cooper, Jamaica Kwame Dawes, Guyana / USA Margaret Gill, Barbados Lorna Goodison, Jamaica Lennox Honeychurch, Dominica Anthony Kellman, USA/Barbados Sandra Pouchet-Paquet, USA Design Leaf Design Inc. Cover Concept Paul Gibbs, Educational Media Services, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Publishing Services Legin Holdings Inc. BIM: Arts for the 21st Century Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, he University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, P. O. Box 64, Bridgetown BB11000, Barbados Telephone: (246) 417-4776 Fax: (246) 417-8903 BIM: Arts for the 21st Century is edited collaboratively by persons drawn from the literary community, who represent the creative, academic and developmental interests critical for the sustainability of the best Caribbean literature. BIM: Arts for the 21st Century is published by the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister, Government of Barbados. All material copyright by the authors and/or the University of the West Indies. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in BIM: Arts for the 21st Century are the responsibility of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors, Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, The University of the West Indies or the Office of the Prime Minister, Government of Barbados. BIM: Arts for the 21st Century will appear twice each year and will publish creative works, essays and critical expositions that meet the needs of the literary and artistic community. It accepts submissions that focus on literary, artistic and cultural phenomena within the Caribbean and its diaspora. BIM accepts and publishes academic articles that are of high quality, but which are not too heavy with jargon to the exclusion of the wider reading public. BIM accepts non-academic contributions of high quality, including book and other reviews, poetry, short fiction, photographs and cartoons. In future issues, it will also accept digital art, electronic sound and digital video files, and critical comments on these. In all cases submissions will be subject to scrutiny by the editorial committee. Manuscripts should be forwarded in double-spaced format, preferably with an accompanying electronic text file in Microsoft Word format. Endnotes are preferred. Photos should, at a minimum, be 300 dpi in quality. Submissions should contain the name of the author and title of the contribution on a separate page, but the author’s name should not appear on subsequent pages of the actual manuscript. Correspondence should be sent to: The Editor, BIM: Arts for the 21st Century, Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, P. O. Box 64, Bridgetown BB11000, Barbados. CELEBRATING LAMMING... CONTENTS Message from the Prime Minister. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 Foreword. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 Lamming and BIM .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Kenneth Ramchand 8 Birds of a Feather. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. George Lamming 16 The Truth About Oranges .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Mark Jason Welch 26 The Bargain .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Karl Sealy 28 The Politics of Lamming-tations. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Linden Lewis 30 Arrival. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..Esther Phillips 51 Tides .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Dana Gilkes 52 Extract from In the Castle of my Skin.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. George Lamming 54 The Sovereignty of the Imagination.. .. .. .. .. Essay by George Lamming 56 The Blues, Differently. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..Linda Deane 86 Jazz in the Castle .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Heather Russell-Andrade 88 Lesson. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Esther Phillips 94 Locations of Lamming .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..Curwen Best 96 Pig Money .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Elizabeth Walcott 112 CELEBRATING Images of Women .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Margaret Gill 116 Extract from Conversations .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. George Lamming 120 LAMMING... Extract from Pleasures of Exile .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. George Lamming 128 VOLUME 1 No.1 MESSAGE FROM THE PRIME MINISTER The Right Honourable Owen S. Arthur Prime Minister of Barbados It is with a feeling of indescribable pleasure that I welcome this special edition of BIM Magazine. As a young boy at Coleridge and Parry School, I remember the early BIM and the world of great writing and ideas that it opened up for us. We looked up to the great Caribbean writers and poets to whom we Barbadian youths were introduced as the paragons of great creative writing. Among them was Frank Appleton Collymore whose deathless verse, prose and “rhymed ruminations” in BIM thrilled us to the core. As a child in the parish of St. Peter, I responded with unreserved empathy to his poem which began: Like all those who live on small islands I must always be remembering the sea . BIM was ‘Colly’, and through this magazine which appeared twice a year in my youth, Colly made words sing for us in Wordsworthian style. He was a supreme wordsmith who shared his love of literature with the students of Combermere School through his teaching at his alma mater for over 50 years. Through BIM Magazine he opened to us young Barbadians of humble birth the vast treasures of Caribbean literature created by those towering talents he helped to nurture. I need only remind you of their names – George Lamming, Vidia S. Naipaul, Derek Walcott, Edward ‘Kamau’ Brathwaite, Samuel Selvon, Roger Mais and Timothy Callender – to indicate what a treasure trove BIM was to us ‘baby boomers’ of Barbados and the wider English-speaking Caribbean. I make bold to say that no other generation of Caribbean citizens has been so fortunate as mine for we grew up with BIM Magazine, which entertained, enlightened and educated us in a way no other reading material could because it was our own people speaking to us. VOLUME 1 No.1 BIM Magazine has had its fair share of triumphs and challenges (like all of us born after the World War II). It has nurtured Nobel Prize winners, but it has had a precarious hold on life. It was a boon to BIM when John Wickham took up the challenge after Colly’s death in 1980, but John’s own passing created a void that we felt might never be filled. Happily, however, after a hiatus of eleven years, I am pleased beyond measure to welcome this special new edition, which is being produced in honour of the incomparable Barbadian novelist George William Lamming who reached the venerable age of 80 this year 2007. May this volume be the catalyst for a steady stream of literary gems from a new generation of talented fiction writers, poets, essayists, cartoonists, biographers and film critics. BIM Magazine has always signified creativity and, as you the editors re-launch this signature publication of the English-speaking Caribbean, I offer you my sincere best wishes and I hope that your tenure may be long and rewarding. You are reviving a Caribbean icon and you are honouring a writer who, we hope should soon be a recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature. May your creative labour be crowned with unending success and I look forward to many more years of pleasurable reading of the new BIM Magazine. GOD BLESS! Owen S. Arthur Prime Minister of Barbados VOLUME 1 No.1 Reprinted from BIM Vol 5 No. 57 (Nov 97) VOLUME 1 No.1 FOREWORD During the decades when West Indian literature rose to international prominence, it was BIM, one of the seminal Caribbean journals, that gave support to this burgeoning of literary and cultural expression. E. L. Cozier was the first editor ofBIM , which was then taken over by teacher, writer and artist, Frank Appleton Collymore, who served as editor of BIM from its first year of publication in 1942 until 1974. BIM then appeared with unpredictable regularity over the decades and was last published in 1996. Throughout the decades of its publication BIM provided an avenue for expression, mainly to aspiring writers, but also to more established artists. Although the original BIM was predominantly a literary magazine, it was also engaged in a broader project. It created an avenue and a space for other artistic expressions from painting, to cartoons, to experimental writing. The early editions of BIM tended to feature artists mainly from Barbados, but it soon evolved into a breeding