Michelle
Cliff (1946-2016) was a remarkable writer who claimed many identities
she was taught to despise: Lesbian, Black, Woman, Jamaican. She wrote
powerful novels, essays, stories, and poems that make us rethink what
it means to love, to hope, and to have community. She also carved
space for same-sex loving and diverse sexualities in the Caribbean by
representing our desires fiercely and by being deeply rooted in
place. She continues to inspire us to write our stories, our sense of
self, in fire.
“A
theory in the flesh means one where the physical realities of our
lives – our skin color, the land or concrete we grew up on, our
sexual longings ― all fuse to create a politic born out of
necessity.
― Michelle Cliff, “Claiming An Identity They Taught Me To Despise”
― Michelle Cliff, “Claiming An Identity They Taught Me To Despise”
“Who
can say how many lives have been saved by books?”
―
Michelle Cliff, Everything Is
Now: New and Collected Stories
“It
was Zoe, and Zoe alone, I thought of. She snapped into my mind, and I
remembered no one else. Through the greens and blues of the
riverbank. The flame of the red hibiscus in front of my grandmother’s
house.”
―
Michelle Cliff, If I Could Write
This In Fire
The
Caribbean IRN invites submissions
of tributes to Michelle Cliff that honor Cliff and reflect the
intersections of her work,
particularly Caribbean experiences and contexts of same-sex desire,
women, transgender people, and the many shades of Blackness.
Submissions
are encouraged in any form: collages, poetry, photography, short
videos, songs, short stories, social media posts, and/or visual art.
Submissions will be reviewed and curated by Co-Directors of the
Caribbean IRN—Rosamond S. King & Angelique V. Nixon.
Selected
works will be published online as part of Love
| Hope | Community: Sexualities and Social Justice in the Caribbean,
a joint project of the Caribbean IRN and the journal Sargasso
that
reflects on the struggles/movements for sexual justice in the
Caribbean. The
special issue of the print journal was recently published by
Sargasso:
Journal of Caribbean Literature, Language, and Culture
in July 2016.
The
corresponding multi-media collection by the Caribbean IRN will be
published online in January 2017.
Email
your complete submission to caribbeanirn@gmail.com
with subject heading “Cliff Tribute Submission” by 15 September
2016, along with a 100-word bio.