Hi
Thanks so much for visiting my poetry website. My name is Celia Alexandra Sorhaindo and I was born in The Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies; a small, mountainous, volcanic, “Nature” island (often mistaken for The Dominican Republic). I left Dominica when I was 8 years, lived many years in the UK and returned home in 2005.
My poems have been published in Verse Daily, Illuminations: An International Magazine of Contemporary Writing, Magma, Lolwe, Wasafiri Magazine, Mslexia, Rattle Magazine, Anomaly, The Caribbean Writer, Moko on-line Magazine, BIM, Interviewing The Caribbean Journal, Susumba’s Book Bag, PREE Magazine, New Daughters of Africa (An international anthology of writing by women of African descent) and Disaster Matters: Disasters Matter (a student text book anthology).
I am co-compiler of Home Again: Stories of Migration and Return, published by Papillote Press in 2009 and my first poetry pamphlet collection, Guabancex, was also published by Papillote Press in 2020. Guabancex was longlisted for the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize and is available from Inpress books and also Amazon and BookShop. Read more about Guabancex here.
My first full-length poetry collection Radical Normalisation, was published in UK by Carcanet Press on 29th September 2022 (US publication date 24th November 2022).
I am also a 2016 Cropper Foundation Creative Writers Workshop fellow and a Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop 2017 fellow.
You can find out more about me and my writing here:
More about Radical Normalisation
DASSSA interview
Interview questions from Opal Palmer Adisa
ACalabash interview with Andy Caul
Kahini interview with Jordan Hartt
Geoffrey Philp Blog
Black Eskimo Podcast with David B Dacosta
Badass Black Girl Vlog with M.J. Fièvre
Miami Book Fair Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation
On this website you can read the latest versions of some of my poetry and information on other events I have participated in.
Artist Statement
The act of communication through words, was one of the major development steps of the human race but using our voices is sometimes discouraged. This silencing can come from all over; people we know well or not so well; people who want to govern, instruct, control or erase our voices; even those we view as “our own tribe”, they too can decide our opinions are somehow invalid and bully us to “be quiet”.
For me, poetry is a sacred and courageous act of introspection and connection; first with various aspects of self, and through self, hopefully connection and communication with others. Even though the “I” in my work is never wholly autobiographical “Me”, or not me at all, or the poems not necessarily from personal experience, my poetry seeks to investigate through words, my authentic or imaginary voice(s); my curiosities, my questions, my truths/delusions; whatever I observe from where I stand or want to investigate through my lens. I believe writing and reading poetry can be radically transformational acts.
I once read on this blog post that Paul Valery claimed, “A poem is never finished, only abandoned”. This is how I feel about my poems, that like me, they are continuous works in progress and I am forever updating them with new insights; as I grow and change, my poems seem to want to as well. I can also identify with this poem by Naomi Shihab Nye How Do I Know When a Poem Is Finished? . 🙂
Finally, I also love hiking and photography (another great way to re-connect with my island), some of my images can be seen here Tropical Ties Flickr Album
FaceBook alter ego’s here:
Personal Page
Tropical Ties Dominica Literary Ruminations
Keyword PhiloSophies
Instagram @tropicaltiesdominica
Thanks again.
With Love
101 Φ ∞ x Δ 😉
Contact Details:
Email: celia.sorhaindo@gmail.com
Phone: + 1 (767) 285-3267
Postal Address: PO Box 2349, Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies