Daniel Maximin

She was one of the most important voices of the anti-colonialist struggle, a pioneer of négritude, poet and feminist activist: Suzanne Césaire. Her aim was to transform the trauma of slavery in her Caribbean homeland into a new, self-confident identity with her poetic-revolutionary essays in the resistance magazine Tropiques. Influenced by French surrealism, especially André Breton, she became the voice of a bold artistic avant-garde in the Antilles alongside her husband, the poet and politician Aimé Césaire, with whom she had six children. Her early silence is a mystery, her early death has led to her being forgotten, completely unjustifiably.

The great poet Daniel Maximin from Guadeloupe, who was a long-time companion of Aimé Césaire, has published Suzanne Césaire’s seven essays in a beautiful volume. In conversation, he paints a vivid picture of Suzanne’s dazzling personality.

Languages: German/French
Moderation: Barbara von Machui
Translation: Peter Reif

In cooperation with the German-French Cultural Circle (dfk) Heidelberg