Quote by M. NourbeSe Philip: “To write is to enter into a conversation with absence.”

This profound statement about writing suggests that creative expression often emerges from a place of loss or things unsaid. It's an act of filling gaps, giving voice to what has been silenced, forgotten, or intentionally erased.

The late 1980s saw many postcolonial writers grappling with the legacy of erased histories and suppressed voices. Philip's poetic practice is often a conscious effort to reclaim and articulate what has been silenced, giving form to historical voids.

Trinidadian-Canadian poet and essayist whose experimental work confronts the violence of colonial language and legal systems. Her 2008 poetry collection Zong! reconstructs the legal decision in the Zong massacre — in which enslaved people were thrown overboard for insurance money — from the original court documents.