Kamau Brathwaite’s “Sycorax video style” with Gerardo Ismael Madera and Bryce Wilner
Join us on Thursday, January 22 at 7pm for two brief presentations on the work of the Barbadian poet, historian, and critic Kamau Brathwaite (1930–2020). Gerardo Ismael Madera and Bryce Wilner will focus on Brathwaite’s “Sycorax video style,” the dense, technical, and textured computer typography he began incorporating into his writing process in the late 1980s. Wilner will lecture on Brathwaite’s monumental book conVERSations with Nathaniel Mackey, and Madera will read from a recent essay informed by Brathwaite’s theory of “tidalectics.” This event marks the launch of Madera’s web publication Did you know that a wave is a dynamic system in catastrophe?, published by Screen Door.
The program is presented as part of that that, which transforms CARA into an expanded bookstore environment. In the weeks preceding our spring exhibition of the Martinican poet and philosopher Édouard Glissant’s (1928–2011) personal art collection, we present a series of book launches, readings, and conversations shaped by the poetic force that animates Glissant’s chapter “That That” in his book Poetics of Relation.
Gerardo Ismael Madera is an artist and educator based in New York.
Bryce Wilner is a graphic designer, writer, and educator based in New York.
Kamau Brathwaite’s “Sycorax video style”
with Gerardo Ismael Madera and Bryce Wilner
Thursday, January 22, 2026
7pm
Free and open to all. RSVP encouraged.
Please note that your RSVP does not guarantee entry. Admission is on a first come, first served basis (even for those who have registered) and will be limited to the capacity of the venue. We encourage RSVPs to gauge interest in our programs.
We ask that visitors stay home if they are feeling sick or have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days. Testing before joining us at CARA is recommended. Masks will be available for free.
The closest wheelchair accessible subway is the 14th Street/8th Avenue station. The entrance to CARA is ADA-compliant, and our bookstore and galleries are barrier free throughout, with all-gender, wheelchair accessible restrooms. CARA has wheelchairs available for guest use. Please request one in advance via bookstore@cara-nyc.org. Service animals are welcome.
