Wanted: Poems for the new Bahamian book of poetry | SOUALIGA NEWSDAY

February 23, 2025

SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - Calling “All poets and spoken word artists from The Bahamas, including Bahamians studying or living abroad, to submit up to five poems” for a new poetry book to be published by House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).

“Where I See The Sun – Contemporary Poetry in The Bahamas” is the working title for the planned book. An exciting range of subjects and writings styles are encouraged, said HNP president Jacqueline Sample. The submission deadline is July 12, 2025.

The publishing guidelines for the new anthology are found at HNP’s Facebook https://rb.gy/j17ii4, or can be requested at houseofnehesipublish@gmail.com. The editors of “Where I See The Sun – Contemporary Poetry in The Bahamas” are Lasana M. Sekou and Marion Bethel.

Sample said, “HNP is happy to work with Marion Bethel—the award-winning Bahamian author, attorney, film producer, and human rights advocate—in widening the outreach about the book project throughout the Bahamian archipelago.”

The Call for Poetry guidelines state, “Judging is anonymous; all poems submitted will be forwarded to the editorial board or committee without names for critical review and selection.”

HNP looks forward to receiving poetry submissions from young and senior poets, spoken word artists—including rappers—as well as both published and unpublished writers. “I hope the new book project will be seen as an exciting opportunity for publication,” said Sample.

“The new anthology will certainly add to the already solid offering of Bahamian literature,” said Dr. Rhoda Arrindell, a Howard University lecturer in Caribbean literature and former assistant professor of Caribbean Literature and Writing and Rhetoric at the University of The Bahamas.

“We’re confident that the collected poems will represent the nation’s vibrant and evolving literary landscape, inclusive of a range of literary activities—whether institutionally recognized, widely known, or not,” said Sekou.

Among the well-known writers published by HNP are Kamau Brathwaite (Barbados), Amiri Baraka (USA), Marion Bethel (The Bahamas), George Lamming (Barbados), Nidaa Khoury (Israel/Palestine), Charles Matz (USA), Drisana Deborah Jack (St. Martin), Chiqui Vicioso (Dominican Rep.), and Tishani Doshi (India).

Sekou is the editor of the Where I See The Sun anthologies of contemporary poetry in St. Martin (2013), Anguilla (2015), and the Virgin Islands (2016).