A tribute to Martin Carter in words and music

Activity: Recital
Host: Moray House Trust
Date: Thursday 26th January 2017

‘Do Not Stare at Me’: Spoken Word performed by Nicasey Gordon
‘This is the Dark Time My Love’ performed in Hindi and English by Amar Ramessar (Indus Voices), Alana Warde and Joyce Bamfield.

Moray House Trust paid tribute to Martin Carter with a recital of some of his poems, readings, spoken word and songs. Martin has long been celebrated as our greatest poet. In truth he was much more. He was – and is – the enduring voice of our nation’s conscience. Long after they were written, his words illuminate pathways into our young nation’s psyche.

‘I Come from the Nigger Yard’ recited by Francis Quamina Farrier
‘Old Higue’ sung by Gavin Mendonca
‘This Race Business’ read by Kojo Mc Pherson

In the 1990s, Stewart Brown observed Carter at a reading of his poems in Central London: “…he read to an audience which included many exiled Guyanese – few of them, I’d guess, regular attendees of literary events. As he read from those poems that audience began to recite them with him – not to read them from a book but to recite them from memory; they were etched in the memory banks, a part of their being, fundamental to their identity as Guyanese people. Few poets of our time.have made such an impact on the consciousness of a people.”

Extract from an interview with Martin Carter by Peter Trevis, read by Lloyd Marshall

The programme began with some of Martin’s early poems from the 1950s in a range of formats; ‘Looking at Your Hands’, ‘Death of a Comrade’ etc. It included extracts from his editorials for Thunder, his address to the Eighth Convocation Ceremony and a short story re-published in Kyk.

‘Looking at your hands’ sung by Paloma Mohamed

Moray House Trust extends warm thanks to those who participated in the event.

‘Out, out the fire’ read by Russel Lancaster

[Photos courtesy of Jermana de Freitas]

Video Clips:

1: Looking at your hands
Looking at Your Hands’ recited by Francis Quamina Farrier. This clip is from ‘A Tribute to Martin Carter in Words and Music’ at Moray House Trust in January 2017.
You Tube Clip: https://youtu.be/Mz0bGPYkb84

2: Do Not Stare at Me
Martin Carter’s ‘Do not stare at me from your window, lady’ rendered in spoken word form by Nicasey Gordon accompanied by Marvin.
You Tube Clip: https://youtu.be/aB2ujkqw7K4

3: Old Higue
Gavin Mendonca gives “Old Higue” a creole rock makeover.
You Tube Clip: https://youtu.be/3GT1FVeTR60

4: This is the Dark Time, My Love
Captain Lloyd Marshall recites Martin Carter’s ‘This is the Dark Time, My Love’
You Tube Clip: https://youtu.be/dycFbm5q5zs

4b: This is the Dark Time, My Love
Amar Ramessar, Alana Warde and Joyce Bamfield give a stirring rendering of the poem in Hindi and English
You Tube Clip: https://youtu.be/0JX1gzA2m2w

5: You are involved
‘You are involved’, Martin Carter’s talismanic poem, performed by Francis Quamina Farrier, one of his contemporaries.
You Tube Clip: https://youtu.be/I4r8nHqeuyI

6: This Race Business
Imagine a community of people, in which everybody is of the same racial stock.’ Kojo Mc Pherson reads Martin Carter’s piece, originally printed in Thunder in 1955 and then in Kyk-over-al in 1993.
You Tube Clip: https://youtu.be/84MbfcZzLXI

7: A Free Community of Valid Persons
Sara Bharrat reads extracts from Martin Carter’s famous address to the University of Guyana’s Eighth Convocation in 1974.
Part One: You Tube Clip: https://youtu.be/OiItMVqyqDA
Part Two: You Tube Clip: https://youtu.be/H30r5_m9wNo