More (Unnecessary) Wadadli Pen Trivia

I was curious to see which of the winning Wadadli Pen stories were proving to be most popular among visitors to the site. Thankfully, Wadadli Pen spits up info like that routinely. So, here they are, the Wadadli Pen Top 10:

The Legend of Banana Boy by Chatrisse Beazer (2011)

Road Trip to Paradise by Angelica (Ayoka) O’Donoghue (2006)

Sands and Butterflies by Devra Thomas (2011)

The Scary Night by Zuri Holder (2011)

Ma Belle by Kemal Osmel Nicholson (2006)

The Lost Coin by Orique Gordon (2011)

The Curse of the Kumina by Shakeema Edwards (2011)

Stray Dog Prepares for the Storm by Gemma George (2004)

Skin Deep by Shakeema Edwards (2010)

The Village Obeah Woman by Verdanci Benta (2006)

 

So, that’s the top 10 based on views and clearly 2011 is a popular year. Some years, like 2005, don’t even come close to the top 10… no indication, I assure you, of the quality of the stories. So check ‘em out. And it’s early days yet for 2012, but the winning story Smitten is gaining ground fast, only two spots away from the top 10 of most viewed winning Wadadli Pen stories.

And there you have it, your days’ installment of unnecessary Wadadli Pen trivia. As you were.

THE CURSE OF THE KUMINA BY SHAKEEMA EDWARDS

cover art by Hudle Jennings, second placed in the Wadadli Pen 2011 art challenge.

It wasn’t so long ago that I was condemning Eve with the rest of my Sunday school class: she was a sinner, she had wilfully
defied God and she deserved to be punished. However, it wasn’t so long ago either that I had tasted my first real bite of temptation.

In many ways it was all my granny’s fault, she was the instigator; she knew the type of child I was, curious to a fault, yet
she let it slip on afternoon on our way from the market that I was never to enter Mother Kumina’s yard.

“And why not?” I asked with hands on hips, eyes rolling back, and defiance etched into my face.

“If you want the curse of the Kumina child go right ahead,” Granny replied.

“Curse! Please, I don’t believe in no curse! It’s mango season and you’re telling me I can’t pick mango because of a curse?”

“Girl, nobody say you can’t pick mango. You can pick mango from every tree in the village but not from Mother Kumina tree.”

Why did she have to say that? Once I heard Granny’s words I realized that I had tasted the sweet, the sour, the bitter,
and the rotten fruit of every mango tree in the area except that of Mother Kumina’s tree. Instantly, my curiosity stood up and began an incessant screaming. She would not be satisfied; all food lost its flavour, all mangoes were sour, and every drop of water evaporated on my tongue. My curiosity and I would not rest without a taste of that forbidden fruit.

Thus, four hours after my granny’s warning I climbed over Mother Kumina’s fence and slithered up her mango tree like a
fugitive lizard. As I was sitting on a thick branch wondering which plump treasure to seize first I suddenly heard the disconcerting sound of grass being trampled. I looked towards the source of the sound and my sight was accosted by three large pit-bulls coming my way.

There was no time to think. Hastily, I grabbed a single mango and jumped out of the tree; skinning my right knee as I hit the
ground. Without looking back I made a run for the fence and slithered over it with even more speed than I had the first time.

I was basking in my triumph for all of two seconds when the first pit-bull burst through a hole in the fence.

 “Oh Father!” I yelled as they chased me down Pineapple Avenue, up Orange Lane, and across Cocoplum Drive. They were relentless and they chased me all the way to Old Maggie’s pasture. Both of my Bata slippers burst during the chase; cassie pierced me in my unshod feet, I splashed myself with dirty water as I ran through pothole after pothole trying to escape, still the dogs ran on, and all the while I clutched my conquest firmly in my left hand.

After circling the village almost two times I was able to lose my pursuers and ran home as quickly as I could.

“Curse, schmursh!” I cackled as I looked at the orange-red mango in my hand. With a cursory wipe on my tank top, I skinned
it with my teeth and took a great bite out of the fruit. It was the sweetest mango that ever was; even though it griped my belly for an entire week, and every mango I have had since has tasted like ash, I’ll never regret taking that mango from Mother Kumina’s tree.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

The Curse of the Kumina was written by Shakeema Edwards. Born in 1993, she began reading at age three and quickly developed an aptitude for English and Literature. She started writing poems and short stories for friends and family at age eight. But it wasn’t until 2008 that she started entering literary competitions. That year, she won the Women of Antigua V-Day essay contest and the Best of Books/Joanne C. Hillhouse Next Chapter contest for the book Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, winning both. The former Antigua Girls High School and current Antigua State College student has also fared well in the Antigua and Barbuda Independence Literary Arts Competition, earning a spot in a weekend writers retreat specifically for young writers who distinguished themselves in that competition.  Inspired by ‘Classical’ novelists such as Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell, whose works have withstood all tests of time, Shakeema aspires to see her own name (or a creative pseudonym) etched into the spine of a novel that will change generations of people.

She’s off to a good start with her wins in the 13 to 17 age category in the 2010 Wadadli Pen contest and second place spot in both the 13 to 17 age category and the
overall competition in 2011.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION & TERMS OF USE
Copyright of the winning Wadadli Pen stories and/or art work featured on this site belongs to the creators of the individual works and are used here purely for promotional and educational purposes. Other blog content, except otherwise noted, is created and/or maintained by Joanne C. Hillhouse. Site content should not be copied, distributed, transmitted, used for commercial purposes, altered, transformed, or built upon without the consent of the copyright holders.

Lit Happenings Antigua and Barbuda Nov 1 – 8 2010

Lots of literary happenings in Antigua between November 1st and 8th. Here are a few links to keep you in the loop:

• Headliner Pam Grier was MIA after being heavily promoted for an Antigua and Barbuda International Lit Fest fundraiser. But the show did go on and the weekend had its ups and downs. Read about it all here. Had a great time with the children’s tent at the Festival village, btw. Will post pics as soon as I have them.
• The Friends of Antigua Public Library (NY) presented the winners (including Wadadli Pen alum Terrikia Benjamin) of its annual short story and visual arts competition with their prizes on Youth Day of the Antigua and Barbuda International Literary Festival. Find out more. Keep an eye on the Antigua Stories page for the posting of the winning stories.
• Antiguan author Floree Williams launched her second book Through the Window and it went amazingly well. Here’s a link to the coverage.  I also today received a copy of first time author Tameka Jarvis-George’s Unexpected and I’m looking forward to reading it; will keep you posted of the local launch of this other author’s literary strides.
• The Independence Literary Arts Committee did it again; attracted some 50 entries to this year’s ‘Wake them let them rise and shine’ themed seasonal writing competition. Wadadli Pen alums Shakeema Edwards and Hilesha Humphreys were among those in the winners circle. Here are the details.
• Young Antiguan, Deshawn Browne, with backing from Antiguan filmmaker Dr. Noel Howell, launched his first book at only 11 years old. A film is set to follow by next summer.
• This one is a bit before November 1st, but we have to mention it: Dorbrene O’Marde collects his well-deserved honour from the Sunshine Awards.

Spotlight – Shakeema Edwards

This is Shakeema Edwards collecting the V-Monologues literary prize from Women of Antigua representative Greschen Edwards. The one time literary award coincided with the group’s first staging of the Vagina Monologues. Edwards, a former student of the Antigua Girls High School, has also won other youth writing prizes in Antigua such as the Dancing Nude in the Moonlight next chapter competition (a promotional activity organized by the Best of Books for my second book), Independence literary awards, and a Wadadli Pen prize.

Skin Deep by Shakeema Edwards

 [winner 13 to 17 age category in the 2010 Wadadli Pen lit awards]

Shakeema Edwards at the 2010 awards ceremony

He rose his fist into the air but said nothing, yet a deaf-man’s ‘S’ echoed all around them, they heard screams of unity and peace ringing through the air; some were afraid. The[y] stood silent, they stood still, they felt oppression whipping at their bones, they felt the shackles on their feet and they knew they could not escape it. They cried, those who couldn’t help it; they saw children being beaten, there bodies weak from hunger, their empty mouths crying for death, they saw them bleed out in the distance, the red blood pouring from their wounds changed colour. It was now as black as its surroundings.  They felt the pain, deep in the pits of their stomach. They heard an old lady cry out for them. “Little Black boy,” She said, “whose face blends into the shadows of my dreams. Why have you forsaken me?” They felt ashamed. Standing where their Father’s had once stood, fighting for an independence they so quickly neglect. They thought about their fathers; starving away on slave ships, slaving away till death. They heard Bob Marley sing ['Redemption Song'], they heard the bullet ringing in the air that shot Martin Luther down; they had pulled the trigger. They had disowned their heritage, bleached their skin and blended in; they debased their brothers and made their mother weep. He lowered his fist and finally he screamed, “Brothers, Africa weeps.”

 I understood, I thought about my own sins and pains to do everything I could to disown my heritage, I thought about the contents of my medicine cabinet; my bleaching cream, my hair relaxer and the bandages from my surgery. I, who would soon be called to educate my children; what could I possibly do or say or teach them. What, when they asked about Malcolm X or Marcus Garvey, would I say when I knew nothing of them.

He raised his fist into the air as he told us, “I think somewhere in the progress you misunderstood, Black is not the colour of our hearts but our complexions, it is the shadow on our past but the shade which our bright futures will cast.  My brothers, return unto your mother’s bosom and repent, let her know that the days when we fight among ourselves would soon be gone and that the heart of Africa will always remain strong. Repeat after me, he shouted, “Hadharani Ni Umbika,” we repeated, “louder, Hadharani Ni Umbika,” we shouted, “again, Hadharani Ni Umbika,” we believed it.

THE END

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION & TERMS OF USE

Copyright of the winning Wadadli Pen stories and/or art work featured on this site belongs to the creators of the individual works and are used here purely for promotional and educational purposes. Other blog content, except otherwise noted, is created and/or maintained by Joanne C. Hillhouse – coordinator of the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize, and author of The Boy from Willow Bend and Dancing Nude in the Moonlight. Site content should not be copied, distributed, transmitted, used for commercial purposes, altered, transformed, or built upon without the consent of the copyright holders.