George Lamming on BIM
BIM: Arts for the 21st. Century is a revival of the seminal Caribbean magazine, Bim, which was the cradle of those writers who would become the major figures of Caribbean literature in the 20th century.
In collaboration with the BBC Radio programme, Caribbean Voices, Bim’s contributors became household names from Jamaica to the Guyanas: Edgar Mittelholzer, Derek Walcott, Samuel Selvon, Roger Mais, George Lamming, Kamau Brathwaite,... Read more »
November 2011 Feature: Cuba
Cuba in the Caribbean! The next celebration of BIM Arts for the 21st Century
Cuba in the Caribbean (BIM: Arts for the 21st Century Vol. 5 # 1) is described by George Lamming as “cross[ing] a new frontier towards fulfilling the regional enterprise.” In his words, the issue engages us in “ a family conversation with the spanish-speaking island which has provided the Caribbean with its richest intellectual tradition.”
BIM: Arts for the 21st Century indeed feels privileged to present the anglophone Caribbean reader with a range of information that is generally not as well known as it should be. From Felix Varela y Morales to Jose Marti to Fidel Castro, the history surrounding the 1959 Cuban Revolution unfolds.
Moreover, the reader is hard-pressed to deny the success of the Cuban socialist movement, judging by the country's educational achievements, its literary and visual arts, science, music and other aspects of cultural life as represented in this BIM issue.
Cuba in the Caribbean features Cuba's best-known poets, among them, Pablo Armando Fernandez, Roberto Fernandez Retamar, Nancy Morejon, Fina Garcia Marruz and Jose Lezama Lima. The work of Miguel Barnet, famous for his Testimony novel is also highlighted.
The essays are instructive and informative. Of special note is Keith Ellis' Tenderness and Science: The Pillars of Revolutionary Cuba.The historian, sociologist or simply the intellectually curious will find incredibly rich material in essays that span the amazing contribution of Casa de las Americas, the role of women in the revolution and the subject of race before and after this landmark, among other topics.
Cuba in the Caribbean is undoubtedly among the historical and intellectual treasures of BIM: Arts for the 21st Century.