Calazaza's Delicious Dereliction

In her polyphonic poems, Suzanne Dracius creates protagonistsusually calazazas, light-skinned mulatto women with red or blond hairwho fight like Amazons against racial and gender discrimination. Draciuss voice is leaping and exalted, often sexually charged, and infused with allusions to Greek and Roman mythology. Nancy Naomi Carlson has translated Draciuss Exquise drliction mtisse, poems written in French yet including some Creole versions, and with Creole expressions sprinkled throughout. In French, this book was awarded the prestigious Prix Ftkann, whose judges cited the poets richness of language, with varied linguistic registers.