On the anniversary of Martin Carter’s death, and the 60th anniversary of the publication of To A Dead Slave and The Hill of Fire Glows Red, Gemma Robinson reminds us of the global reach of Carter’s work and its influence on writers and musicians.
In October of this year the University of the West Indies held its 30th annual West Indian Literature conference. This is an international meeting of scholars whose research focuses on the past and present of Caribbean writing, and its theme for 2011 was ‘I dream to change the world: literature and social transformation’. When I told Martin Carter’s eldest daughter and her visiting friend from schooldays the theme, they both looked at each other and said:
if you see me
looking at your hands
listening when you speak
marching in your ranks
you must know
I do not sleep to dream, but dream to
