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Frank Martinus Arion
Native name	Frank Erfaim Martinus
Born	17 December 1936 Curaçao
Died	28 September 2015 Curaçao
Occupation	Poet, Novelist, Linguist, Teacher, Activist
Language	Dutch, Papiamentu
Nationality	Dutch Antillean
Citizenship	Curaçao
Education	Leiden University
Spouse	Trudi Guda
Children	Margina Isis

Frank Martinus Arion (17 December 1936 - 28 September 2015) was a Curaçaon Poet, Novelist, Teacher, and Activist. He spent most of the first part of his life growing up in Curaçao, but left to study at Leiden University in the Netherlands. After this he travelled for many years but settled back in Curaçao where he continued writing and worked on getting Papiamento to be more recognized and respected in Curaçao. He was an award winning writer whose works often dealt with language and culture, specifically Dutch and Papiamentu.

Biography

Early Life

Frank Martinus Arion was born in Curaçao where his father worked as a carpenter. At the age of two, he moved to Aruba because his father was working at the LAGO oil company. When Frank was four years old, a traffic accident killed his youngest brother and his mother. Frank and his sister went to live with their grandmother and then their aunt for a time in Curaçao before rejoining their father.

In 1955, he went to the Netherlands to attend Leiden University and study Dutch. While there he was a part of a program that focused on Suriname and the Antilles. During his time here, around 1958, he had completed his novel ‘Formula of Life,’ and even had a publisher for it, but the novel was retracted. After five years of studying at Leiden he went back to Curaçao in order to study the culture of his home, as well as the language Papiamentu.

Adult Life

Eventually, in 1971, he finished his studies by returning to the Netherlands. After that he worked from 1971 until 1977 at the University of Amsterdam. Next he travelled to many places such as Switzerland, Martinique, and a few countries in Africabefore settling in Suriname to teach Dutch.

In 1977 Frank married Trudi Guda and 4 years later, in 1981, their daughter Margina Isis was born. Arion returned to Curaçao where he opened the Kolegio Erasmo, a school that was taught in Papiamentu. Later, in 1988, he founded a political party called Kambio Radikal, or ‘The Radical Reversal.’ However, he did not win in the election.

Frank Martinus Arion died on 28 September 2015 in Curaçao at the age of 78.

Writing

Career Overview

Frank Martinus Arion had a long career as a writer, and made use of multiple mediums. He spent time working on magazines in different capacities. For ‘The Spectator’ he was editor-in-chief. He also had a role in creating some magazines, as a co-founder of the ‘Encuentro Antilliano,’ and the main founder of ‘Ruku,’ which was a cultural magazine that lasted two years and represented the Netherlands Antilles. Throughout his life he published a handful of novels, including ‘Dubbelspel’ or ‘Double Play,’ which many consider to be his greatest work. Along with novels, he also wrote many poems. Arion’s works were written in Dutch (novels and poetry) and Papiamentu (poetry).

List of Publications

• 1957 - Stemmen uit Afrika
• 1972 - Bibliografie van het Papiamentu
• 1973 - Dubbelspel (Double Play)
• 1974 - Sisyphiliaans alpinisme tegen miten
• 1975 - Afscheid van de koningin
• 1977 - Albert Helman, de eenzame jager
• 1979 - Nobele wilden
• 1993 - De ibismensmuis
• 1995 - De laatste vrijheid (The Last Freedom)
• 1996 - The Kiss of a Slave
• 2001 - De eeuwige hond
• 2005 - Eén ding is droevig
• 2006 - De deserteurs
• 2006 - Drie romans

Themes

Throughout his works, Frank Martinus Arion focused on problems in the Antilles, specifically dealing with cultural aspects and relations to the Netherlands.

His writing was often about “people who are historically marginalized and forced to construct realities in someone else’s image and someone else’s interest, with a particular focus on the African diaspora” This shows up in Arion’s works through showing the effect of colonialism on the development of Curaçao’s own culture. He discussed the ways in which he had personally dealt with this issue in regards to writing in both Dutch and Papiamentu, saying: “For a long time, I was (while writing poetry in Dutch) looking for rhythms and expressions that were Papiamentu.” It is clear through his work both literary, academically, and politically that Arion was passionate about Papiamentu. He described this by saying that “Papiamentu is our soul. The language is the only thing that distinguishes us from other nations. We must propagate Papiamentu at schools, at home, in the church, the university, worldwide and up into the heaven, so that we will not lose our soul.”

In a country where there is an outside, but dominating culture, a lot of different political views are bound to arise. This is a central focus of Arion’s novel ‘Double Play’ in which the characters represent and voice opinions on different perspectives on Curaçao’s culture. The character Solema is likely the one with the views closest to Arion’s because she believes that the people of Curaçao need to produce more of their own work. The fact that she ends up being one of the winners in the book further evidences Arion’s agreement with this viewpoint.

Awards

• Lucy B. and CW van der Hoogtprijs for ‘Double Play’ (1974)
• ABC Award (1993)
• Cola Debrot Prize for ‘The Last Freedom’ (2001)

Adaptations

Frank Martinus Arion’s novel ‘Double Play’ is being turned into a film for a Caribbean film festival. It is being directed by Ernest Dickerson and produced by Lisa Cortes with Gregory Elias, a leading music and film festival producer in the Caribbean. Dickerson has been involved in many acclaimed films and TV shows such as “Do The Right Thing,” “Malcolm X,” “Juice,” “The Wire,” and more.