Yvonne Canham-Spence

Storytelling and/as memory making; poetry as practice, poetry as method; inter Caribbean migrations, (African) diasporic subject formation and (African) diasporic spaces; poetic inquiry; knowledge production.

My research explores the ways in which Santiagueros tell stories about their everyday lived experiences in relation to the Santiago de Cuba Carnival (SdCC) in Eastern Cuba. I investigate the idea of a dialogic relationship between the stories and the SdCC: how these stories can be constituted as memories ‘stored’ and regenerated in the SdCC, both in the imagining and performance of it and in thier telling they 'regenerate the SdCC. I explore notions of embodied archiving through/as the stories Santiagueros tell in relation to the SdCC and I consider the possibilities these acts of storytelling and joymaking offer as moments of visibility and belonging and how this may challenge and disrupt grand narratives of national identity and unity. Using original poetry I explore themes that emerge from the stories: migration(s), joy making and memory, and  (African-Caribbean) diasporic 'encounters' in the SdCC.

My research is funded by Techne.