Heron's Canoe

"Heron's Canoe" is the English translation for the Carib name of a constellation that lies in the region of Ursa Major, significant to Amerindian myths of origins, which Mark De Brito's poem connects to other myths of origin, particularly those of West Africa that reached the Caribbean in the submerged belief systems and religions of the African slaves. There has been a very significant growth of social involvement in and respect for the African-derived religions of the Caribbean: Orisha, Santeria, Voudun, Cumfa; and de Brito is one of a number of poets and novelists whose work explores the existence of a distinctive Caribbean cosmology as the root of a nativist Caribbean literary aesthetic. Inspired by writers such as Wilson Harris, de Brito also explores what has been covered over in the Caribbean heritage, in particular the buried legacy of Amerindian (Taino) mythology.

Author Biography: Mark De Brito was born in London in 1963, the child of immigrant parents from Trinidad. His degree came from the University of Bristol and he also studied at the Guildhall School of Music. He received a New London Writers award for his first collection, Bigistong. He is a published translator of African poetry and author of a libretto for a dance-theatre piece, Orunmila Sought Divination Before Leaving Heaven, first performed in London in 2000 with Cuban dancers and Yoruba drummers. He is currently engaged in further research into Orisha in Trinidad.