I contacted Maria Damon at the Unviersity of Minnesota about the dedication of Brathwaite's poem "Esplanade Poem." She replied: "ah...esplanade. we had invited Brathwaite to a symposium, Poetry as Theory/Theory as Poetry, and when at the relatively last minute he decided not to come, he sent this poem instead to be printed and distributed w/ the symposium program. I was thrilled to be acknowledged in a KB poem, but the poem itself shed dubious light on the nature of the dedication, esp as he makes the fat ugly tourist couple from minnesota. but of course he's right, that is what many of them are. there's great interview w/ KB up at the Rain Taxi site right now, by Joyelle McSweeney, on Born to Slow Horses..."

Here is the link to that interview: http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2005fall/brathwaite.shtml

Laura