Introducing Daniel Thaly
The forgotten poet of Dominica
TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS
Friday 25 September 2026
An evening celebrating the life and work of Daniel Thaly (1879-1950), one of Dominica’s most significant yet overlooked poets. Organised by Waltham Forest Twinning Association.
Join the Waltham Forest, Antigua & Barbuda and Dominica Twinning Association in partnership with Papillote Press for an evening celebrating the life and work of Daniel Thaly (1879-1950), one of Dominica’s most significant yet overlooked poets.
Marking the publication of Looting Hummingbirds: Selected Poems of Daniel Thaly, the first English translation of his poetry, the event features an online talk by Professor Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert of Vassar College, whose research helped bring Thaly’s work to new audiences. Publisher Polly Pattullo will introduce Thaly’s life and legacy, while Jane Ulysses Grell will give readings from the collection in French and English.
Once described as the “prince of Antillean poetry”, Thaly captured the beauty of the Caribbean landscape in verse. This internationally connected event offers a rare opportunity to rediscover his remarkable work.
Looting Hummingbirds by Daniel Thaly
Dr Daniel Thaly was a Dominican poet who wrote in French and who was once called “the prince of Antillean poetry”. This book, Looting Hummingbirds, brings his poetry to the English-speaking world for the very first time. He was born in 1879 in Roseau. His mother was from the Bellot family and his father was from Martinique. Educated in Martinique and France, where he studied to be a doctor, he returned to Dominica in 1907: He published six volumes of poetry. His poems are full of passion for the natural world: he was an early environmentalist in his love for nature, especially that of Dominica. Little is known about his life except through his poetry but he probably suffered a breakdown when his poetry was criticised by the anti-colonial movement in France. He died in Roseau in 1950 virtually forgotten.
Edited and translated by Mark Andrews and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert
