Introduction


 Our "Emerging Scholars" editorial board consists primarily of a group
of students from the doctoral program in Caribbean Studies in the
English Department at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. From
the beginning our main purpose was to recognize and promote work
done by graduate students in Caribbean literature and linguistics. We
received many provocative submissions and were excited to see that
our call for papers traveled around the world, prompting responses
from the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Europe.
 Deciding what papers to publish was not an easy task-we certainly
battled over some that were difficult to turn down, but a choice had to
be made in the end. We wrestled with some essays because of what
some read as the politics behind a piece or because one reader claimed
an essay lacked focus while another found its wider emphasis
fascinating. These debates about which ones to include challenged us
to re-read, to reconsider in a new light some texts which we had at first
either embraced or altogether rejected. Though challenging at times,
this process was filled with refreshing moments and has ultimately
proven to be encouraging and rewarding. Occasionally we turned to
the authors for clarification about key points in their essays and were
always impressed by their professionalism and their openness to
explanation and dialogue. Thus, we are proud to present a truly
collaborative collection of work representing the efforts of emerging
scholars from many parts of the world.
 Our contributors have turned to the novel, theatre, poetry, and
language for their research. They deal with the works of established
authors like Una Marson and Louise Bennett and with the more
contemporary like Michelle Cliff and Cristina Garcia, showing the
diversity of thought and interest among the emerging scholars and
presenting what we hope are fresh new insights and perspectives into
the work by Caribbean writers. The poetry, essays, and reviews