Music for Exile, a collection of poems by Trinidad-born Nehassaiu deGannes, is scheduled for release in February by Tupelo Press from Massachusetts.  

The Canada-raised poet/actress, who lives in New York City, said many of the poems were inspired by her years living in Toronto, Philadelphia and Providence, Rhode Island.  

deGannes attended college in those three cities. Though acting has taken up most of her creative time recently, "To Find, To Be", one of her latest poems, was a finalist at the Montreal International Poetry Prize Competition in September.  

For deGannes, there is satisfaction in both forms.  

"A poetry highlight has been studying with the brilliant activist, poet and healing force, Ms. Sonia Sanchez. An acting highlight was the standing ovation at the  
first student matinee of 'Romeo & Juliet' at The Stratford Festival of Canada," said deGannes. "I was playing Lady Capulet in Stratford Festival's oldest and largest theatre where I had sat in the audience growing up, mesmerized but seeing few if any actors who looked like me on that stage. When the students leapt to their feet, it hit me! Here I was, a black woman inhabiting a stage that at one time had seemed bent on excluding me."  

Though she was born in Trinidad and Tobago, deGannes has roots in Dominica, Grenada, Guyana and St. Vincent. She moved with her family to Canada at three years-old and remembers learning about the great Caribbean writers from her grandmother.  

Living in the United States, she revels in a diverse setting.  

"I live in Brooklyn now, right on the border of Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. Right outside my door is the Caribbean, as well as all of cosmopolitan New York," she said. 

Written By Howard Campbell