Despite my deep affection for the Surrealists, I had never before read the work of the New World’s greatest Surrealist – Aimé  Césaire.

For those who know nothing about him, this is the short version: He was born on the island of Martinique (then a French colony), studied and wrote in Paris in the 1930s (where he became close the Surrealist movement’s de facto leader, André Breton, who became a great advocate of Césaire’s writing), was a leader in the “Negritude” movement, and a prominent figure in Caribbean independence movements.

Notebook of a Return to the Native is a long poem about the isle of Martinique and the corrosive effects of French rule.

This was my first introduction to how the techniques of Surrealism could be applied to political aims. While many writers within the movement were involved in politics (Breton was active in left wing politics in the thirties and René Char was a soldier in the French Resistance in WWII), what I read was not explicitly political.

While Césaire will not replace Paul Eluard as my favorite poet of the movement, Notebook is unquestionably an inspiring read. It has the added bonus on containing a brief essay by Breton about his visit to Martinique and about Césaire.