Readings by Cyril Dabydeen (1996)

Dr. Sandra Paquet of the University of Miami English Dept., a Caribbean scholar, introduces Guyanese-Canadian poet/novelist/teacher/critic Cyril Dabydeen, who was Poet Laureate of Ottawa, Canada, from 1984-1987. Dabydeen speaks about poetry and literature and then reads from his poetry collection, Coastland: "Vosnesensk," "Ojibway," "Taurus," "Train," and "Green Land." He tells an anecdote about planting trees in Ontario. Dabydeen continues his readings from Coastland: "Lenin Park, Havana," "The Fat Men," "How To Save a Life," "Lady Icarus" (about an Ecuadoran woman who was repeatedly deported from Canada but kept making her way back, and who died during an escape attempt), and "Elephants Make Good Stepladders." He reads the poem "Acrobat" (also from his collection, Coastland), then two poems from Stoning the Wind: "Cock Fight" and "Looking For Ghosts." He tells anecdotes about poet Sam Selvon and Ernest Hemingway, and ends the program with the poem "Sir James Douglas, The Father of British Columbia. (What a Little Molasses Can Do.)''