The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

There have been many tales told about the infamous pirate Anne Bonny who once made Nassau her haunt, but most as seen through the eyes of men.

Sonia Farmer decided to change this by presenting a woman's perspective on this female brigand of the seas with a new book of poetry called "Infidelities".

Ms Farmer, a Bahamian writer, artist and publisher, shared poems from her first full-length collection during a launch event at the National Art Gallery last Friday evening.

Anne Bonny was an Irish pirate operating in the Caribbean. She was considered a strong, independent woman. Born in 1702, she was the illegitimate daughter of lawyer William Cormac and his servant woman Mary Brennan.

She was said to have had red hair and a fiery temper. In her teens, she married small-time pirate James Bonny, who hoped to win possession of his wealthy father-in-law's estate in South Carolina, but Anne was disowned by her father.

It is recorded that Anne set fire to her father's plantation in retaliation, but no evidence exists to support this. Some time between 1714 and 1718, she and James moved to Nassau, which was known as a sanctuary for English pirates and called the 'Republic of Pirates'. After the arrival of Governor Woodes Rogers in the summer of 1718, James became an informant for the governor.

Meanwhile, Anne began mingling with pirates in the local taverns. She met John "Calico Jack" Rackham, captain of the pirate sloop 'Revenge', and Rackham became her lover. They had a son in Cuba. Anne divorced James and married Rackham while at sea.

Anne, her new husband and fellow female pirate Mary Read stole the ship 'William', which was anchored in Nassau Harbour. Their crew spent years in Jamaica and the surrounding seas, capturing many smaller vessels.

Anne was said to have taken part in combat alongside the men, and accounts of her exploits show her as competent and respected by the crew.

In October 1720, when Anne was about 20 years old, Rackham and his crew were attacked by a "King's ship" captained by Jonathan Barnet under a commission from the Governor of Jamaica, Nicholas Lawes.

Most of Rackham's pirates put up little resistance as they were too drunk to fight. However, Anne and Mary fought fiercely, alas to no avail. The crew was taken to Jamaica, where they were convicted and sentenced to be hanged. Legend has it that Anne's last words to the imprisoned Rackham were: "Had you fought like a man, you need not have been hang'd like a dog."

After being sentenced, Anne and Mary both "pleaded their bellies", asking for mercy because they were pregnant.

Mary died of a violent fever in 1721 while in prison. But there is no historical record of Anne's release or her execution. This has fed speculation that her father ransomed her or that she even resumed life as a pirate under a new name.

In her new book of poetry, Ms Farmer uses Anne Bonny as a starting point to "interrogate the mythology of this figure, dismantling the male gaze that shaped her for centuries and illuminating the place of female desire in history."

Ms Farmer spins a second narrative that calls into question "the boundaries that hold our bodies, nationalities and loyalties in place. As the two voices intersect and diverge, they build a plank to the edge of these boundaries, and ask the reader to jump."

Author of "The Whale House and Other Stories" Sharon Millar hailed "Infidelities" for the way it makes Anne Bonny become "every woman".

"Sonia Farmer's 'Infidelities' is a luminous mining of the Anne Bonny pirate legend. As Farmer moves seamlessly between the past and the present, Bonny becomes both every woman and the unnamed narrator navigating what it means to love. Long after the last page has been turned, these poems will continue to unfold in the mind. A wonderful debut," the Trinidadian prize-winning author said.

Ms Farmer is the founder of Poinciana Paper Press, a small and independent press located in Nassau which produces handmade and limited edition chapbooks of Caribbean literature. It also promotes the are of book making through workshops and creative collaborations.

The Poinciana Paper Press recently published its latest chapbook, a story by emerging writer Letitia Marie Pratt, who was also on hand at Friday's book signing and launch to share from her "Pulling the Wings From Out My Back". The book is a poetic journey interrogating the myth of the hag woman.

"Its a story about a woman who experiences trauma from her relationship. She goes to her grandmother to talk about it and her grandmother transforms her into a hag woman and she finds her power in that," said Ms Pratt.

Ms Pratt, who is an avid reader, said she first heard the story of the hag from her own grandmother. Though the story originated in Africa, it is told throughout the Caribbean diaspora.

"My grandmother is from Andros. She told me about the hag woman when I was younger and I got really scared. And then when I revisited it was interesting and cool," she said.

In her writings, Ms Pratt navigates the existence of black female bodies within that genre and draws heavily on stories within Bahamian folklore.

Her writing was included in NE8 at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, and she recently completed a residency at the Fresh Milk platform in Barbados.

"I have written numerous short stories. I actually have an entire book of short stories at home that I am never going to publish because I wrote them in high school," she said. "But I intend to write more about folklore, talking about the women within folklore and how that functions. Whether it's poetry or a novel, folklore will be the focus," she said.