Contributing Writer
Safiya Sinclair is a Jamaican-born poet and writer who has been making waves in the literary world with her debut collection of poems, How to Say Babylon. The book, which explores themes of identity, race, gender, and colonialism, has been praised by critics and readers alike, and has earned Sinclair several awards and nominations, including the Whiting Award, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection.
Sinclair’s poetry is a way of reclaiming her voice and challenging the stereotypes and expectations that have been imposed on her by society. She grew up in a Rastafarian family in Montego Bay, Jamaica, but she says that she has shed her Rasta roots, not as a rejection of her culture, but as a personal choice to embrace a more diverse and complex worldview. “I think Rastafari is a beautiful religion and philosophy, but it was not for me,” she says. “I felt constrained by some of the doctrines and dogmas, especially as a woman. I wanted to explore other ways of being and thinking, and poetry was my outlet for that.”
She now lives in Los Angeles, California, where she continues to write and teach poetry. How to Say Babylon is a reflection of her journey from Jamaica to the United States, and her attempt to bridge the gap between two cultures that have a fraught and violent history. She says that the title of the book is a reference to the biblical term for a corrupt and oppressive empire, which Rastafarians use to describe the Western world. “I wanted to interrogate what Babylon means to me, as someone who has lived in both places,” she says. “I wanted to question the assumptions and prejudices that we have about each other, and to find a way to say Babylon that is not just a curse or a condemnation, but also an acknowledgment of our shared humanity.”
Sinclair is humbled and grateful for the acclaim that her book has received, and hopes that it will inspire more people to read and write poetry. She says that poetry is a powerful form of expression that can challenge the status quo and create social change. “Poetry is not just a hobby or a pastime, it is a necessity,” she says. “It is a way of speaking truth to power, of healing wounds, of celebrating joy, of imagining new possibilities. Poetry is how we say Babylon, and how we say ourselves.”
