New Talents
Once writers and intellectuals reaffirmed their cultural legacy, as consequence of the mixing of many cultures, a new literary panorama emerged. Most of the first generation writers published their books in London or New York. Some literary publications like Bim, founded in Barbados 1942, began to publish works of authors that have spend all their lives in the islands. Then came a new generation of authors, that thanks to the advance in communications, saw at last their works published.

The 1950’s placed, definitively, Caribbean literature in the world literary scene, thanks mainly to three novels that were the model for later publications. The first was “In the castle of my skin” (1953) by Lamming, where he explores de British colonialism decline in Barbados, and the awakening of new ambitions among the members of a small rural community. In “The Lonely Londoners” (1956), Selvon describes the troubles of a group of men that migrate to London from Trinidad, and the cultural impact they experience in the great city. In “The Mystic Masseur” (1957), Naipaul draws a bittersweet portrait of the incompetence and presumptuousness of colonial Trinidad. Each novelist, in his own way, analyzes the meaning of British colonialism, and intends to explain the contemporary Caribbean identity.

During the 1970’s and 1980’s, the small, English speaking islands began to produce high quality literature. Those years witnessed the consecration of writers like Derek Walcott (St. Lucia), Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua) or Caryl Phillips (St. Cristobal). Now, all the islands, even those of small population, have, at least, an internationally known writer.

During the 1990’s, two authors, with themes closely link to this region, have been recognized officially. In 1992, Derek Walcott was granted the Nobel Prize of Literature. His magnificent book “Omeros”, a recreation of the Homeric legend, situated in a small fishermen community in St. Lucia, made him known throughout the world. A year before, Martinique novelist Patrick Chamoioseau obtained the Goncourt prize, for his complex novel “Texaco”.

The Animated French Literary Scene
Equally surprising is the literary production of the two Overseas French Territories -Martinique and Guadeloupe- that has nothing to envy their Anglophone neighbors. The white poet from Guadeloupe, Saint-John Perse was granted the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1960. On the other side, Aimé Césaire wrote in 1939, “Back to My Native Land”, a surrealist epic.

At present, at both islands is an animated literary activity, with Parisian authors now closely watching. An interesting fact is that most of the prominent authors are women, with works about femininity around the eternal debate of the French/Caribbean identity. Maryse Condé, Simone Schwarz-Bart and Gisèle Pineau, are the three outstanding.

Foreign Influences
It’s hard to say which are the most common themes in this region’s literature. However, there are some relapsing worries. Many Caribbean authors keep examining in their works, the positive and negative aspects of the relations between the islands and the European powers.

The American influence, from tourists to CNN, is an aspect very much present in many novels, whose authors try to define the borders where the islands own culture starts and ends. In this context, the language used in these books is in itself, a fundamental aspect. Many writes enrich it introducing local Creole or patois elements. In the French speaking islands, Chamoiseau and Raphael Confiant are the leaders of local Creole, challenging the power of “official” French.

The present Caribbean writer is conscious of the frailty of his native island, in an age where massive tourism and uncontrolled development mean a threat for their way of life. When receiving the Nobel Prize, Derek Walcott talked about it: “How quick could all disappear. The present situation puts us further apart from the places we want to be impenetrable, the green secrets hidden at the end of an awful road, promontories to watch lonely beaches instead of hotels, and the figure of a fisherman smoking and drawing an interrogation sign with the smoke”

Guadeloupe
“And after all, this was a land with green hills and clear water, under a brilliant sun.”
SIMONE SCHWARZ-BART
(Between Two Worlds)

Two Women Writers
The small and mountainous island of Dominica is the birth place of two famous women writers.
After some years of bohemia in Europe between wars, Jean Rhys spent many years in anonymity till 1966, when she published “Wide Sargasso Sea”, a novel that catapulted her to fame. Years before, in 1953, Phyllis Allfrey had already published a book that also was a great success, The House of Orchids. Though being from the same generation, these two writers never met.