Welcome to Felene M. Cayetano's website!
Felene is a librarian, literary and visual storyteller. Her Garifuna identity, Belizean nationality and rich conversations with elders have inspired poetry, short stories, photography and films about women in Belize.
New Developments in 2024
Uruwa! is the third collection of poems written by Felene M. Cayetano. Every 10 years, Felene finds pieces of paper, notebooks, emails, text messages and voice notes that contain snapshots of moments in Felene's life that she packaged within a poem. Uruwa! is the Garifuna word for three.
Grabbing Tea centers queerness in library practice and theory across academic and public libraries. Conversations from library staff and users focus on identity, community practice and outreach, visibility, and coming out or being outed in the library. These conversations between LGBTQ+ library staff (and others) integrate interpersonal experiences of professionalism as queer folks in the field, as well as dive into their relationships and points of connection with each other and the communities they serve.. Felene is interviewed in one chapter.
Books
A collection of poetry written over the course of ten years (1994-2004) following the author from adolescence to adulthood and from various major US cities to Belize.
Poems written over the course of ten dynamic years [2004-2014] of living, loving, librarianship, traveling, writing, maturing, Garifuna cultural preservation, justice, purpose, etc.
Ten stories by nine writers create a vivid image of the variety of people, landscapes and talent in Belize, the tiny seaside Caribbean nation in Central America.
Podcasts
Conversations .... with cool people, including my aunt, Doris June Garcia.
“The great thing about your auntie is that she doesn’t have to be related by blood — she’s that older, or sometimes not so much older female in your life who gives good advice, is a little bit sassy, smothers you with hugs and kisses, but can also discipline you when need be.”
Juleus Ghunta introduces a panoply of poets from The Caribbean in this bumper follow-up to Part 1 which aired on Love The Words. At the 59th minute Felene shares poems inspired by music.
This is one episode within the Commonwealth Poetry Podcast series by Aphra and Gyles. Felene speaks about Belize and the poems that have withstood the test of time