This volume brings together prominent writers from the English, French, Spanish, and Dutch speaking Caribbean in an examination of creolization and its impact upon the region s literary production. It is especially noteworthy for the broad spectrum of Caribbean nationalities it includes: writers from Cuba, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Panama, Suriname, and Tobago. Together, they are engaged in redefining Caribbean identity and esthetics, and their reflections on this process trace the evolution of a dynamic regional literature...

Reflections of Loko Miwa is th first novel for Lilas Desquiron, one of few Haitian women writers to gain international recognition. The country's complex social and political situation is the setting for the story of two women ordained by the spirits of Vodou to be marasa (twins) in spite of their birth into unrelated families of different classes. Desquiron's intricate narrative shifts among characters, bringing diverse perspectives to bear on the dramas of class prejudice.

The novel is a very personal account of a young woman's adherence to folk beliefs and resistance to prejudices...

Gisele Pineau was born, and spent the first fourteen years of her life, in Paris. Her parents, originally from the island of Guadeloupe, were part of the massive transplantation of Antilleans to the metropole after World War II. Most had left their homeland hoping to improve their lives and their children's prospects. Born French nationals, all theoretically enjoyed equal footing with the Parisian French. The color of their skin, however, meant a far different reality for Pineau's family and their fellow emigres. They lived on the outskirts of the city and on the margins of French society...