Strategies for writing Gibraltar into the world

Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory located on the Iberian Peninsula, near the confluence of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, exists in a state of ongoing political and cultural tension with the United Kingdom and Spain. Gibraltarians’ collective identity has been formed both from and against these two historical and cultural inputs. British and Spanish writing about Gibraltar has tended to silence the voices of Gibraltarians themselves as they have attempted to describe and reflect upon their community, their place in the world and their experiences. Given this dynamic, this introductory article assesses strategies that four Gibraltarian poets, working in different periods, have taken to write their community into the world.