Wakes are not sad in Martinique. Wakes are a celebration, a gathering, a party. Where the kontè tells stories outside, the mourners sing and pray inside, and the deceased keep everybody awake because their life has been worth the journey.  

What if all the Nardal sisters had a common wake? A polyphonic procession in Creole, English and perhaps French at the crossroads of a poetic wake, funerals with a collaborative choir and a Carnival vidé.  

Let’s walk, talk, sing, dance, and drink. 

Let’s remember Paulette, Émilie, Alice, Jane, Cécile, Lucie, and Andrée and let’s not forget their time was not ours but their voices still resonate.  

What if we all together become Nardalists!

—Simone Lagrand