Lasana M. Sekou

Lasana M. Sekou has authored over 20 books and is considered one of the prolific Caribbean poets of his generation. Dr. Armando Lampe writes that "he's considered the 'Walcott' of the Dutch Caribbean" because of his prolific output, the range of subject matter and unique literary styling, which often includes the use of Caribbean Creole languages, Spanish, French, and Dutch — sometimes in one poem.

Sekou's titles, such as the critically reviewed The Salt Reaper – poems from the flats along with 37 Poems, Nativity, and Brotherhood of the Spurs have been required reading at Caribbean, North American, Italian, and United Kingdom universities. The author is himself a graduate of Howard University (MA, Mass Communication, 1984) and Stony Brook University (BA, Political Science/International Relations, 1982).

The author's writings are used in high schools and in carnival stage presentations. He is the editor of National Symbols of St. Martin – A Primer and The Independence Papers, Vol. 1; and the producer of Fête – The first recording of Traditional St. Martin festive music by Tanny & The Boys. Sekou can be heard reciting his own poetry on The Salt Reaper – Selected poems from the flats (Audio CD, 2009) with music produced by award-winning digital arts designer Angelo Rombley.

In 2003, Sekou co-founded the St. Martin Book Fair with Shujah Reiph, a leading cultural activist and president of the Conscious Lyrics Foundation.

Sekou is an advocate for the independence of St. Martin, which is a colony of France and the Netherlands. In the 1994 and 2000 consultative constitutional status referenda that were held in the Southern or Dutch part of St. Martin, Sekou was a leading organizer and speaker for the Independence option as a member of the Independence for St. Martin Foundation, of which his brother and political scientist Joseph H. Lake, Jr., was the founding president.

Sekou founded House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP) in his dorm room at New York's Stony Brook University in 1982, which has published his books (and others) since that time. He remains active as HNP's projects director since establishing the small press in St. Martin in 1984. At House of Nehesi Publishers he secured the publication of literary luminaries and pioneers such as George Lamming, Kamau Brathwaite, Amiri Baraka, Tishani Doshi, Shake Keane, Chiqui Vicioso, Howard Fergus, Marion Bethel, and the Palestinian author Nidaa Khoury, notable for her concept of post-monotheism. A host of first-time and previously-published authors from St. Martin and other territories and countries such as Ian Valz, Charles Borromeo Hodge, Jennie N. Wheatley, Wendy-Ann Diaz, Jay Haviser, Laurelle Yaya Richards, Patricia G. Turnbull, Sara Florian, Yvonne Weekes, and N.C. Marks have also been published by HNP.

Lasana M. Sekou (born 12 January 1959) is a poet, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and publisher from the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.