CARIFESTA PROVIDES HOPE FOR CULTURAL INDEPENDENCE


Writers know



much too little



of each other
From DARRYL DEAN in one part of the Caribbean,
GEORGETOWN: are often similar to the prob-
A CUBAN woman journal- lems of those in another part
ist covering Carifesta '72- of the Caribbean.
the Caribbean Festival of
Srtsremarked to e t^hat Elie Stephenson, a writer
although the islandsof th from French Guiana drew
Caribe n were relatively attention to one of the special
close together "we don't. problems of writers in the
know much about writers region by referring to his.
and artistes in neighboring own ease of having to have
and artistes in neighboring his book published inParis.
The journalist, Senora Nati The French'- speaking
Gonzales Freire, theatre writer raised a poit not
critic' of "Bohemia" maga- often discussed among West
id in aaa Indian writers : editorial in-
zin public Havan, fluence f Metropolitan book
might have spoken for most publishers.
of the writers and artistes at Stephenson, suggested that
Carifesta.' it was impossible for the
Seaor Luls Swardiaz. a Caribbean writer to attain
Cuban poet and leader of his complete editorial independ-
country's contingent to Carn- ence if his work was pub-,
festa, also told me that the lished in a metropolitan
works of the leading poets country where consciouslyi
in the region (outside of or unconsciously the work
Cuba) were unknown in was subjected to foreign
Cuba. values and concepts.
Cuban ,writers here for
Carifesta were astonished to COMMON PROBLEMS
learn that the works of most
of the leading writers of the Writers in Festival City
Commonwealth Caribbean here are meeting day and
were published outside the1 night to discuss their corn-
region. mon problems.
And they had another sur- Often, they meet at the
prise when they learned that canteen at Festival City or
the' leading writers in the at one another's homes here.
region lived abroad. Writers are ,hopeful that
At the opening of the the cross-fertilisation of
festival Guyana's Prime ideas-the direct result of
Minister Forbes Burnham their rapping sessions-will
told writers and artists of bring them closer towards
the regiol that "concomitant solving their common prob-
with poli~al independence lems, Lennox Brown, Trini-
there ha becomee obvious dadian playwright here told
the need for and the empha- me.,
sis on artistic and cultural An optimistic Brown saw
indePendence. the exercise as a "cultural
"It is time now," he said, federation."
,for us to rule the waves in 'With the renewed thinking
he Caribbean, not only in about West Indian writing.
political terms, not only in here, Carifesta provides
economic terms, but also in fresh hopes for the cultural
cultural terms." independence of the region.
west Ildian writers here He said: -"A lot has been
have recognized the problem: said about this situation but
With the pervading spirit it does not make it less ex-
of tgetherness at Carifesta traordinary. I am- always
wters at the festival are 'very conscious about this."
gettin together for rapping
sessions to deal with such
problems.
Ad it certainly will be no
disappointment if the
big thipg writers at the
nyt val do is to talk to one
another.
r they are discovering
tha the problems of writers
that th