In his already classic 1992 book The Repeating Island, the Cuban writer Antonio Benítez-Rojo set out to chart the cultural and historical complexities of the Caribbean. He argued that within the Caribbean’s “sociocultural fluidity” and “ethnological and linguistic clamour” “one can sense the features of an island that ‘repeats’ itself, unfolding and bifurcating until it reaches all the seas and lands of the earth.” When the literary scholars Lisa Paravisini-Gebert and Ivette Romero-Cesareo decided, in early 2009, to start a new blog covering Caribbean literature, arts, and culture, they were inspired not only by the title of Benítez-Rojo’s book, but also by his sense of the Caribbean as an expansive and expanding cultural and mental space not limited by geography. Repeating Islands, launched in March 2009, quickly attracted an audience of Caribbeanist scholars, writers, and artists, and ordinary readers across the Caribbean and further afield. Posting several links each day (with occasional commentary), and covering everything from new books and exhibitions to political intrigues and environmental concerns, Repeating Islands is an essential resource for keeping up with cultural developments in the Caribbean and its wide international diaspora. Thanks to the backgrounds, research interests, and multilingual fluency of its authors, the blog transcends the linguistic barriers that can make it difficult to engage with the whole region. Romero-Cesareo was born in Manhattan and raised in Puerto Rico, and “has always considered herself to be an islander.” She is professor of Spanish and Director of Latin American Studies at Marist College. Paravisini-Gebert was born and grew up in Puerto Rico, and is now the Randolph Distinguished Professor in the Hispanic Studies department at Vassar College. The two scholars have collaborated in the past, co-editing two books on Caribbean literary and cultural studies. Around the time of the blog’s first anniversary, I interviewed them via email, asking them about their motivations for starting Repeating Islands, how the blog intersects with their research interests, and future plans. ••• Nicholas Laughlin: First things first: what promoted you to launch Repeating Islands early last year? Were you inspired by specific existing blogs, or some turn of events? Ivette Romero-Cesareo: The mastermind and engine behind Repeating Islands was Lisa, who has had significant experience with blogs from the research standpoint (angle). She had researched and lectured extensively on blogs and their place in the academic sphere. I was unnecessarily suspicious and doubtful about blogs because, for the most part, I saw them as too narrowly focused on individual concerns and, apart from the Huffington Posts of the world, considered them a space for (sometimes) egocentric expression. When Lisa proposed that we co-blog on Caribbean arts, literature, and cultural manifestations of various types, I very subtly and eloquently answered, “A blog?! Eeeeeww! Bluuugh!” I was walking home and she had called me on my cell phone; literally, two minutes later, I snapped out of my “Bah, humbug” mood, called her up, and said, “I’ve got a name for the blog!” But, alas, it was not Repeating Islands. Lisa Paravisini-Gebert: I was working on a paper called “Blogueros: The Puerto Rican Nation in Cyberspace”, thinking about how blogs can construct communities of readers around shared interests and concerns, when I thought of the possibility of a blog for our community of people interested in pan-Caribbean literature, culture, and the arts. Ivette’s response when I proposed it was hilarious — she seemed horror-stricken, so I suggested she think about it. She called back right away. The inspiration was not so much other blogs — although I am an inveterate reader of blogs — but the absence of a blog that addressed our own specific interests and needs. I was thinking of a blog that someone could read every day like the morning paper and feel sort of up-to-date with what was happening culturally across the region. NL: Where does the blog fit into your respective research and teaching careers? Do you have the sense that your students and colleagues are regular readers? IRC: We began posting news in March 2009. I was working as a visiting professor at Vassar College and I jokingly said to one of my classes that I was bleary-eyed because I was up for many hours working on the new blog, which has become an obsession of sorts. I immediately noticed that students were very curious and interested in the blog, especially students who love literature and have a curiosity about global cultures.