watchensee

My heart is full from a poetry-filled week leading up to World Poetry Day! 🥲💗

It was a profound honour to be shortlisted for the ’s Edward Baugh Prize this year. Though I didn’t place in the end, I received honourable mention and encouraging feedback from the judging panel. A big thank you to everyone who reached out with congratulations, read my poem “Act of Penitence”, and voted for me for the People’s Choice Award 🫶🫶

This moment feels like a major milestone. In 2024, and I entered the competition together. Neither of us made it to the shortlist that year, and I look back on those poems and cringe HEAVILY. 💀 This year, Jomo placed second and I was shortlisted! Ketch kin teet!! 😁 (Slide 1). I’ve been quietly reading and writing many poems for my MFA, encountering those inevitable moments of doubt, and this recognition makes those unseen hours all the sweeter.

I also got to judge UWI ’s Poetry Clash alongside & , witness our Poet Laureate .dawes read at his alma mater, and die of laughter at poet philosopher ’s performance for Kingston Poetry Week (Big up for organizing! 💫)

It all culminated at the NLJ Poet Laureate Prize Award Ceremony under the theme “Replenishment”, where we witnessed legends, like & , share the stage with emerging voices. Y’all. Remember this name: Gabrielle Campbell. Scroll to Slide 7 for a snippet of her performance, or check out ’s YouTube. I was blown away.

Thank you, poets and poetry, for this replenishment. The empire continues to bomb innocent people, the climate crisis continues to worsen, and oppression continues to dig its talons into our world, but we must keep going. We must keep writing and chronicling these times, for it is how we will hold onto our humanity.

Exactly one year ago, I pitched my first exhibition review to . I had no idea it would lead me to Milwaukee, meeting their team and fellow contributors, and experiencing ’s “Original Order Order Original” at .

Getting a glimpse into Milwaukee’s visual art scene was such a gift. We explored the stunning structure of Milwaukee Art Museum (their floor dedicated to Haitian and Folk art was a highlight). .co introduced us to the magic of risograph printing and all its unique colours. And we took in Bettina’s work: her tinkerings, experiments, and the extensive catalogue she built even after a devastating fire razed her Brooklyn studio.

As I hoped, the people were the best part. Everyone I met had such unique backgrounds and creative practices. Those winding conversations about art writing, process, the balancing act of creative life, and everything in between—reminded me why I love this work.

is so much more than an art magazine. I’ve felt that in all my interactions with their editorial team, and this trip was no different. I’m grateful to be part of this community advancing contemporary art from the South and Caribbean.

Many thanks to and for making this special trip possible 🙏

——

Slide 3: “Untitled”, 1981 by Donald Judd
Slide 4: “Saint Francis and the Christ Child (Sen Franswa ak Ti Jezi)”, 1946 by Hector Hyppolite
Slides 8-9: “Original Order Order Original” Opening

⚠️ Work in Progress ⚠️

I’ve been pretty quiet here lately. With everything going on here in Jamaica and in the world, posting on social media feels vain, absurd even. Between school and work, I’ve also felt like I’ve been mostly under a rock this year. The writing life is a slow process and can feel very solitary sometimes, but I realize there were so many sweet moments to be grateful for the last few months.

This summer, I: visited Barrinton Watson’s home, got published in , met the legendary Lorna Goodison, performed my poetry, witnessed friends launch cool things like , turned 30, got interviewed on the radio, finally made it back to mtl, had post-party bagels again, saw dear friends, took in nice art, nyaam mango to my heart’s content, cuddled with my cats, dug deeper with my craft, and so much more that can’t be captured by a carousel of pixels.

Excited to see what the last few months of 2025 has in store.

One week later and the Calabash tabanca is hitting 🥲

What better way to celebrate the end of my first MFA semester than : the best likkle festival, in the best likkle village, in the best likkle parish, in the best likkle country!

From getting to witness and meet authors whose work has shaped my own, to late night craft chats with + .ziii, to getting to read on the open mic segment, Calabash never fails to fill my cup.

Big up to .dawes, , and team for creating this special space 🙌

& ty to .rm for capturing my open mic moment ☺️

Artsy April moments 😇

1. “Tun Up Di Mic” event at w/ , Dr. Alexis Samuels, and Kim Robinson-Walcott. Thank you Nadja for organizing + for the invitation!
2. and I cooking 🧑‍🍳
3. The ’s “Classical Harmony” concert. Always a joy to hear them perform and witness my former violin teacher Mr. Woodham in his element!
4. Reading at “Tun Up Di Mic”, photo creds to the lovely 📸
5. screening of “Grassroots”, their documentary on artivism. V excited about the work , , and are putting in!
6. Dr. Carolyn Cooper in conversation with Zadie Smith at the launch
7. Vibing w/ , .zd, , . Video creds 🙏
8. Lovely vibes at the .marylitfestjamaica book launch w/ : .garvey +
9. Millicent Graham’s reading at was incredibleeee 🥹 Big up every time
10. w/ , , , and fourth friend whose name I need to find out did an amazing rendition of Millicent’s Kendal sonnets

What an honour to be invited to twice last week: as a workshop facilitator for “Words on the Street”, a student-organized experience for other students to dive into their creative writing, and as a featured poet for “Love Affair with Literature”, an annual event by celebrating literature.

Without any prior planning, .graham, , and I all mentioned the navel string in our readings. Such an uncanny coincidence, but a reminder it is these rituals that bind us as Caribbean people ☺️

At “Words on the Street”, I loved connecting with the students and giving them feedback on their work, but more importantly, giving them pointers on how to workshop each others’ work. These are the emerging voices of the Caribbean right here! Thank you for the invitation 🙏

I would normally post a video of my reading, but actually a very exciting collaboration emerged from this that I’m excited to share with you all in the near future 👁️ Watchensee for that!

Swipe to the end to see my sweet thank you gift from 🥹 V excited to dive in ~

New year, new writing 😇 My exhibition review of PORTENT by Laura Facey (), curated by Melinda Brown () is now live on !

PORTENT is remarkable in scope and scale, and I enjoyed diving into its world, contextualizing it in the Caribbean art context, and pondering the questions it asks of us in all its post-colonial beauty and messiness.

Endless gratitude to my peers at for your feedback, and to for trusting me with this piece and being incredible to work with 🙏

Link in my bio; do check it out, but more importantly go check out PORTENT before it closes end of February 🙂‍↕️

Life update 💫 Ya girl is starting her Master of Fine Arts (Poetry) in January at ! 🥳 I’ll be exploring Caribbean situatedness from a Chinese Jamaican lens with the guidance of their stellar faculty.

I’m honoured to be a recipient of the .dawes Mapmaker, Washburn, and MFA Merit Scholarships which have helped make this dream possible 🙏

Performing my poetry for the first time in 2019 was exhilarating. There was something unique about that feeling I knew I wanted to pursue.

While I’ve always been creative, making it a career always felt terrifying. But working in web3 art with and being involved with the past few years showed me the creative path is viable. Telling other artists’ stories gave me a deeper desire to tell my own.

What made me decide to finally take the plunge? watchensee for an essay on that 👁️

This past year, with the help of several people and communities I’ve gradually reoriented my life towards my writing and the MFA felt like the right next step to lay a strong foundation.

Does this mean I’m leaving Jamaica? Nah, it’s a low residency programme so I can stay based here.

Does this mean I’m saying goodbye to marketing? Nah, I’ll still be balancing a few freelance projects while in school.

I’m forever grateful for everyone I’ve crossed paths with who has challenged me, my work, and my line of questioning. Thank you to the writers from Papine Writing Collective, , , , , , , and . I couldn’t have gotten to this point of belief in my craft without you.

If you’ve been tracking with me here over the years: thank you. Your eyes and ears on this work is what makes it real and and worth creating.

I shudder at being called an expert
Me? I haven’t put in that effort
Automatically disqualifying myself
Because I’m not someone else

I’m not who they think I am.

What about all those times
You did something right?
No. Your only recollections
Are times you required correction

But maybe you’re not the only one
Making it up as you go along
Everyone is an impostor
And that means you belong

Acrylic on canvas (2020)