1. Professor Goffe

2. she / her

3. London + NY (Queens / Manhattan)

4. Dark Princess

5. Wrote a book on climate crisis in the Caribbean and Afro-Asian ecologies called DARK LABORATORY.

2. she/her

3. Manhattan, NY

4. The Pagoda, Get Millie Black

5. I went to the beach

2.She/her

3.Harlem, New York

4.A Small Place

5.I mainly just worked 24/7 on top of summer class/

I grew up and still live in Corona, Queens!

I'm very excited to read The Black Jacobins and A Small Place.

This summer I climbed a mountain in the Puerto Rican rainforest El Yunque.

2 - She/her

3 - Queens, New York

4 - Dancehall Reader

5 - Became a first-time auntie!

1. What was the Bwa Kayiman Ceremony? How does ceremony play a role in Bailey’s poems?

2. Who is the Goddess of the Sea? Does she have many forms? In which poems does she make an appearance?

3. Cite examples from the footer that runs along the bottom of the page in italics that form a sense of continuity across the poems. How does the voice change? Would you consider it one poem itself?

4. The formatting of “La Divina Pastora, Mother of Miracles,” shifts our orientation of the page because of the layout. Discuss how the poem itself becomes a type of alter to the Black Madonna figure across various cosmologies found in the Caribbean.

5. How does pleasure and Black vitality show up through the motif of worship in the poem “Dancing at the Shrine in Harlem?” What connection do you see between the contemporary scenes and the historic setting of the Haitian Revolution? How do the poems time travel through this connected voice of the Caribbean Sea?

Discussion questions will be posted on Padlet and Brightspace. They are not required, but recommend as a guide for your reading. 

1. Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place is the basis for the film Life and Debt (2001) by filmmaker Stephanie Black which critiques the role of the IMF and the World Bank on Caribbean economics and politics. How do you see debt, both material and emotional, playing a role in Jamaica Kincaid’s book considering the political climate in 1988?

2. How and why did Jamaica Kincaid come to use this pen name?

3. What role did the local library play for Jamaica Kincaid as a young girl in Antigua. How does this differ from an institution like the Mill Reef Club?

4. Provide examples of green or eco-tourism. Is it possible for the tourist economy in the Caribbean to not be extractive?

5. Kincaid describes the economic influence of Lebanese landlords and Syrians in Antigua. How does this merchant history from the Middle East impact the African Caribbean experience today across many islands?

2. When and why did the first Chinese laborers arrive in Jamaica? How was the institution of Chinese indentureship in the Caribbean different than chattel slavery?

3. Do you view you view The Pagoda as a trans novel or not? Considering that it was written in the late 1990s, discuss pronouns for the main character and how Lowe negotiates his sexual identity.

4. How do you define “passing” and “crossing” as regards the performances of gender? Lowe describes the “stench of puberty.” Discuss what shifts for the character at this age in Kwangtung.

5. The Pagoda’s title suggests the centrality of architecture and building for community and also archives. Explore the Jamaican Chinese magazine by the same name. What do you notice about how the community represents itself to itself?

1. In Get Millie Black, how does the show complicate our understanding of violence and protection in Jamaican society? How do scenes depicting queer and trans communities—particularly those living in the gully—challenge conventional narratives about crime, morality, and survival?

2. Considering Marlon James’ previous novels (A Brief History of Seven Killings, Book of Night Women, how does Get Millie Black continue or depart from his literary exploration of gender, sexuality, and national identity? What does the move to television allow him to express differently about Jamaica?

3. What does Get Millie Black reveal about the current state of transgender rights and visibility in Jamaica? How do the characters’ lived experiences mirror or resist real-world struggles faced by Jamaica’s trans and queer communities?

4. The “gully queens” occupy a space that is both literally and socially underground. How does the show’s portrayal of the gully serve as a metaphor for visibility, belonging, and exclusion in Jamaican society? How does space itself become political?

5. Both Marlon James’s work and Get Millie Black resist easy categorization—blending detective fiction, political critique, and queer narrative. How might this formal “codeswitching” be read as a strategy of survival and critique, especially for communities that have long been rendered illegible or unsafe within dominant heteronormative Jamaican culture?

2.     Choose one song featured in the film and analyze how it deepens the meaning of the scene it accompanies. How does the soundtrack function not just as background music but as social commentary on Jamaica in the 1970s?

3.     The film portrays Ivan becoming a folk hero through media circulation. How does the movie portray the relationship between violence and celebrity? What visual cues or editing choices highlight the spectacle of his rise?

4.     Pick a specific moment when the camera lingers on Kingston’s streets, markets, or communities. How does this sequence reveal the social, economic, or political realities shaping the characters’ lives? Why couldn’t the story be told the same way without these details?

5.     Consider the scenes involving the church and the pastor. How does the film critique institutional authority through these interactions? Point to a moment when the pastor’s behavior or dialogue reveals larger systemic power dynamics at play.