Publication of the commemorative poetry collection entitled “IKONS: New and Selected Poems” by John Robert Lee
The main purpose of this project is to publish a poetry collection entitled IKONS by the celebrated Saint Lucian poet John Robert Lee. Robert Lee’s poetry chronicles the changing historical and cultural landscape of Saint Lucia, and in particular Castries, where he grew up. Lee’s poetry finds a unique place in Saint Lucian, Caribbean and international literature. He has been described as “undoubtedly the foremost Caribbean Christian writer of his generation. His is a truly incarnational view of faith, anchored in the reality of human experience and expressed in richly textured images of Caribbean landscapes, dress, street life, music, dance and his native Creole language.” In 1993, Nobel laureate Derek Walcott said of his younger contemporary, “Robert Lee has been a scrupulous poet, that’s the biggest virtue he has, and it’s not a common virtue in poets, to be scrupulous and modest in the best sense, not to overextend the range of the truth of his emotions, not to go for the grandiose. He is a Christian poet obviously. You don’t get in the poetry anything that is, in a sense, preachy or self-advertising in terms of its morality. He is a fine poet.”
It is a celebration of Saint Lucian poetry as well as the recognition of the outstanding and longstanding contribution of Lee to the Saint Lucian literary and cultural environment. As well as publishing his own poetry (locally and internationally, in books and periodicals, print and on-line), short stories and reviews of literature and theatre, he has edited and co-edited several volumes of Saint Lucian literature and culture. It forms part of the Msgr. Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre’s (FRC) ongoing contribution to publishing Saint Lucian writers, who in their works promote the traditions of our literature and culture, which support the growth of artists and also national development.
This collection of a limited edition of “IKONS: New and Selected Poems”, celebrates and marks three relatively significant events: Robert Lee’s 75th birthday on May 6th, 2023, the proposed establishment of a home for Saint Lucian artists of various kinds who have health needs, and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Msgr. Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre (FRC). All funds from sale of these books will go to the Adelaide and Frances Home, managed by the family of late founder Augustus Justin. It is proposed that this home will be converted into the home for needy artists.