I started putting together a list a list of books by Antiguan and Barbudan authors and books about Antigua and Barbuda back in 2005 for the Independence literary arts exhibition at the national Museum; I’ve been editing and updating it ever since. Use the search feature to find the main list; this is the poetry subset. It includes books by Antiguan and Barbudan writers, both born and adopted, as well books by Antiguan and Barbudan descendents born elsewhere; some with non-specific connections to the island who feature Antigua and Barbuda prominently in their writings may also make the cut. I’m just trying to make it as complete as possible. Any errors and/or omissions are unintentional. Just let me know and I’ll do the research and add them. Before you do, though, check the main list ‘Antiguan and Barbudan Writings’. Writers writing across genres may be listed multiple times but that’s the master list and every writer in every one of those sub-lists can be found there. Use the site’s search feature to find fiction, non fiction, children’s fiction, poetry, and the main list of Antiguan and Barbudan writing. There are also separate lists for journal publications, Reviews of published works, song lyricists, and screenwriters and playwrights. These lists are works in progress and time spent building them is voluntary. I have not read all the books listed nor can I promise that I will; this is not a recs list but a list of every book I can find that fits the criteria of Antiguan and Barbudan Poets. Some of the ‘Abouts’ are taken from the descriptions found, if not on the book jacket, then on Amazon or Google Books. Some books are traditionally published (i.e. the rights acquired by trade publishers for sale with writers receiving an advance and royalties per contract), published with a small or independent press (still traditional but on a different scale), published via a hybrid press (a mix of traditional publishing and self-publishing), or self-published (including vanity press or any mechanism through which the author pays to publish). No problem with people utilizing or sharing the list, but a lot of time went into pulling this information together and building this listing, so please give credit where due and link back . Thanks.
Name: Rilys Adams
CD: Laid Bare. Chosen Sounds. Antigua. 2009.
About the CD:
Rilys did this CD when she was just 19 in what was described by one reviewer in floetry style; it is produced by J. Omari Harrigan.
About the Author:
Rilys Adams is a lawyer, poet, novelist, and past Wadadli Pen finalist.
Wadadli Pen connection: Rilys Adams is a past finalist in the annual Wadadli Pen Challenge. 2005 and 2006. Nominated by Wadadli Pen to receive an Optimist award for literary arts which she collected alongside two other Wadadli Pen nominees. 2005. Rilys was also one of two Wadadli Pen finalists invited to participate in the Word Up! 2006 literary arts showcase and fundraiser held in partnership with the national Museum. Her novel, The Gift, was a top three finalist for the Wadadli Pen Readers Choice Book of the Year. while Just One More Time was in the running. 2019.
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Name: Zahra Airall
Book:
“From the Window” and “Missing Him” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
About the Author:
Zahra Airall is a writer, women’s rights activist, film maker, teacher, photographer, and playwright from Antigua and Barbuda. She is a founding member of the theatre arts activist group Women of Antigua which produced local stagings of The Vagina Monologues and its local counterpart When a Woman Moans. She is the director of the Sugar Apple Theatre, Honey Bee theatre, and Zee’s Youth Theatre. She has written plays including award winning productions for the Caribbean Secondary Schools Drama Festival. Zahara is one of the contributors to She Sex, a collabarative book with sections written by different Caribbean women. She has won multiple awards at the National Youth Awards (Antigua).
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Name: Sylvanus Barnes
- Photo by Gemma Hazelwood (@ 2006 Wadadli Pen fundraiser, Word Up!)
Books:
Fling Stone inna Hog Pen: Volume 2 – Humorous, Studious, and Lugubrious. Antigua. 2009.
Riotous Rhymes ‘N Remedies. Antigua. 2000.
About the Books: Sylvanus’ books lean toward the humorous and are steeped in Antiguan and Barbudan vernacular and culture generally.
About the Author:
Sylvanus Barnes works at the Ministry of Education. He is the proud recipient of a UNESCO prize for his contribution to the literacy arts in Antigua and Barbuda. He enjoys writing humorous pieces.
Wadadli Pen connection: Sylvanus participated in the Word Up! 2006 literary arts showcase and fundraiser held in partnership with the national Museum.
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Name: Edward Dacres Baynes
Books: Child Harold in the Shades.
About the Book:
A volume of poetical odes and a magnum opus in Byronic style in two cantos and 120 stanzas .
About the Author:
The five times great grandfather of Caribbean author Ian McDonald lived from 1790 to 1863. He worked as a colonial servant in the Leeward Islands including the post of President of the Council of Montserrat. He landed in Antigua, where he and his wife raised his 15 children after a stint as a soldier in Jamaica just after emancipation.
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Name: Blue
Book: Metamorphosis: Love and Life in Antigua, Poetry by Blue. Seaburn. USA. 2015.
About the Book:
Made up primarily of poems written in Antigua, and in the Antiguan dialect.
About the Author:
Blue is an American citizen resident in the Caribbean. Her real name is Wendy Knight.
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Name: Brenda Lee Browne
Books:
“Where is my Daughter” in Women in War: Saying NO to Gender Violence. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. USA. 2015.
About the Book: Women in War is a book written to join the campaign against women exploitation and oppression.
About the Author: Brenda Lee Browne was born in England to Antiguan parents; she lives in Antigua where she has mentored other young writers while continuing to work on her own and work behind the scenes of one of the Caribbean’s greatest past times, cricket. She is former coordinator of the Independence Literary Arts Committee. See coverage of the launch of her book London Rocks in CREATIVE SPACE.
Wadadli Pen connection: Brenda Lee Browne was a participant in the Wadadli Pen fundraiser and literary showcase Word Up! 2006. She has served as a Wadadli Pen judge. 2010 – 2014. She has been a patron, contributing scholarships to her Just Write Writers Retreat, cash, and copies of her books the Just Write journal and the novella London Rocks to the Wadadli Pen Challenge awards since 2012. Both of her books were in the running for the Wadadli Pen Readers Choice Book of the Year. 2019.
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Name: Irene Browne-Bowen
Books:
Literary Collection No. II. 1997.
Literary Collection No. I. 1995.
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Name: Elloy de Freitas
Book: Chant Down Babylon: a Performance of the Poem (CD). Trinidad Tunes. 2004, 2018.
About the Author:
Elloy de Freitas worked for 28 years as a career civil servant. His is a name familiar to most Antiguans and Barbudans as a civil servant who was fired for marching against the ruling government and who had to go all the way to the Privy Council to have his rights to free assembly and speech re-asserted. Born in Antigua, he now resides in Trinidad. He has taught human resource management at the university level and at this writing works as a consultant.
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Name: Roy H. S. Dublin
Books:
Tomorrow’s Blossoms. Magnet Printery, 1934; SCRIP-J, Trinidad/Entertainment Bazaar, Antigua, 2010.
Thoughts from Benwar Hill. ?
Out of the Unknown. 1932.
About the Books:
Dublin’s Tomorrow’s Blossoms, recently issued, was first published in 1934 to commemorate the tercentenary year of the colonization of Antigua and the centenary year of emancipation. It was awarded the King’s Medal. The second edition of the book commemorates the 100th anniversary of his birth.
About the Author:
The late Roy Dublin (1907-1949) of Cedar Grove, Antigua was a poet, scholar, teacher, and musician; also a social worker and family man.
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Name: Bille Dyer
Book:
As Man Ascends.
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Name: Shakeema Edwards
Books:
“This Dance of Ours“ in Dancing Nude in the Moonlight 10th Anniversary Edition and Other Writings by Joanne C. Hillhouse Insomniac. Canada. 2014.
“Let the Black Woman Sing” and “When Jazz Meets Blues” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
About the Book:
“This Dance of Ours” is poetry inspired by Dancing Nude in the Moonlight. It was awarded a prize, along with fan fiction ‘Chapter Forty Five‘ which won the Next Chapter contest organized by the Best of Books bookstore in 2008 as part of a Moonlight Street Fair organized in celebration of the book. Both were included in the book’s anniversary edition made up of the original anthology and other fiction and poetry by Hillhouse, in addition to fan fiction and other extras. Dancing Nude in the Moonlight: 10th Anniversary Edition and Other Writings (by Joanne C. Hillhouse) was originally published as a novella and was re-issued with fan fiction by Edwards and others in addition to other extras.
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 (edited by Althea Prince) is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
Shakeema is a former Wadadli Pen finalist. She’s also won the Women of Antigua V-Day Literary Competition, the Best of Books/Joanne C. Hillhouse Dancing Nude in the Moonlight Next Chapter contest, the Floree Williams Childhood stories competition, and the Independence Literary Arts Competition. She has gone on to work in publishing in the US.
Wadadli Pen connection: Shakeema is a former Wadadli Pen Challenge finalist. 2010, 2011 .
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Name: Tanya Evanson
Books/CDs:
Nouveau Griot. Frontenac House. 2018.
Bothism. Ekstasis Editions. Canada. 2017.
ZENSHIP. Mother Tongue Media. 2016.
More Caught In The Act: An Anthology Of Performance Art By Canadian Women [edited by Johanna Householder and Tanya Mars] Yyzbooks, Canada 2016.
Love Where The Nights Are Twice As Long [edited by David Eso And Jeanette Lynes] Goose Lane, Canada 2015.
The Great Black North: Contemporary African Canadian Poetry [edited by Valerie Mason-John and Kevan Anthony Graham], Frontenac House Ltd., Canada, 2013.
Language for Gods. Mother Tongue Media. 2012.
Love Letter to Anatolia. Mother Tongue Media. 2012.
Blue Bop – Volume 1. Dark River Media, USA, 2009.
The Memorists. Mother Tongue Media. 2008.
800 – Mercan Dede. Doublemoon Records, Turkey, 2007.
Southfull – Brifo. La Baleine Records, France, 2006.
Invisible World. Mother Tongue Media. 2004.
Coastal Tongue: CD Anthology of Women in Spoken Word in Vancouver [Ed. by T. L. Cowal and Tory Bricker]. Canada, 2004.
Bluesprint: Black British Columbian Literature and Orature [edited by Wayne Compton]. Arsenal Press. 2002.
All Wound Up: Alternative Writing from BC. Ripple Effect Press. 2002.
The Golden Section. Mother Tongue Media. 2001.
Ribsauce: A CD Anthology of Words. Wired on Words, Vehicular Press, Canada, 2001.
Cut of Buddha/The Vancouver Eloquence. Mother Tongue Media. 2000.
Throwing Skin: South American Poems 1997-1998. Mother Tongue Media. 1999, 2000.
World Class Animal. Mother Tongue Media. 1997.
La Vache Enragée Anthologie 1996 – 1997. [Edited By Mitsiko Miller]. Revue Stop. 1997.
Blood in Blood Out: A Universal Preparation. Mother Tongue Media. 1996.
About the Books/CDs:
Nouveau Griot is the result of 20 years on stage and in studio. It is the text from four spoken word audio recordings made between 2004-2016: Invisible World, The Memorists, Language for Gods and ZENSHIP. This work is in the continuum of the griot, which is a french African word meaning “poet, singer and traveling musician […] to whom supernatural powers are often attributed.”
Bothism is an experimental Sufi text. It is both sorrow and joy, day and night, content and form, dot and circle, the threshold between worlds. It moves from unity to multiplicity and back again exploring that which can be split and reunited: a cell, a relationship, society, faith, time, words on the page. It posits that if one thing is true, then the opposite must also true, and when asked to choose, the poet’s answer is always both.
ZENSHIP is Tanya Evanson’s fourth audio recording of poetics, trance and jazz. It is inspired by The Ten Bulls progression of short poems and accompanying pictures used in Zen Buddhism to illustrate stages of enlightenment.
More Caught In The Act is the second anthology in a series that explores performance art by Canadian women.
Love Where The Nights Are Twice As Long is an anthology that collects letters and epistolary poems from more than 120 Canadian poets.
The Great Black North is a contemporary remix of the story of Black Canada. Told through the intertwining tapestry of poetic forms found on the page and stage, The Great Black North presents some missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that help fit together a poetic picture of the Black Canadian experience.
Language for Gods is the third spoken wor.l.d music album for Tanya Evanson. A fusion of poetics + dub + jazz + experimental soundz exploring concepts of family, mythology, dialect, silence and technology.
The Memorists is an audio CD of poetry with music jewels of jazz, Africa, Anatolia and Arabia. It is based on work written during four years of life in Istanbul, Turkey, and features collaborations with classical and gypsy musicians as well as well known Vancouver jazz, funk, and world artistes.
Invisible World is an audio CD featuring original poems, songs, stories and traditional prayers based on work written during extensive world travels.
About the Author:
Tanya Evanson is an Antiguan-Canadian writer and performer. She is a graduate of Concordia University Creative Writing and program director of Banff Centre Spoken Word. Evanson is a past recipient of the Golden Beret Award and was Poet of Honour at the 2013 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Since 1995, Tanya Evanson has been performing spoken word and dub poetry with Canadian, Turkish, and other musicians backing her. She is a relation of Veronica Evanson Bernard.
Wadadli Pen connection: Tanya Evanson’s Bothism was in the running for the Wadadli Pen 2017-2018 Readers Choice Book of the Year. 2019.
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Name: Veronica Evanson Bernard
Books:
Coconut Walk. Creative Print & Graphics. 199?
Pineapple Rhymes [w/illustrations by Eddie Granderson]. Blackwood Press. Atlanta. 1989.
About the Books:
The 2010 edition of the Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books including Veronica Evanson Bernard, noting that her poetry included the local vernacular at a time when it was still taboo to do so.
About the Author:
Veronica Evanson Bernard is a pioneer of Antiguan verse. Born at Fort Road, Antigua, she graduated from the Antigua Girls High School, and taught at schools in Antigua before going on to earn her first degree at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica. She would ultimately earn a PhD Ed from Columbia University after migrating to New York in the mid-1960s. She became, among many other things, an Associate Professor of English at Georgia State University before passing to the afterlife in 2010 at age 80.
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Name: Dean Fenton
Books:
My Time at the Door. 2021.
Waltzing in the Breeze. 2020.
About the Books:
My Time at the Door is a collection of poems and short stories which explore life, love, and the resilience of existence.
Waltzing in the Breeze is a collection of poems spanning four decades touching on themes of inspiration, solace, hope, and cheer.
About the Author: Fenton left Antigua in his teens for the US. With his degree in Market Research, earned at Baruch college in NYC, he went on to work for various research companies before segueing to tourism. He has worked for the Anguilla Tourist Board and later became Antigua and Barbuda’s USA director of tourism.
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Name: N. Erna Mae Francis Cotton
Books/CDs:
Poetic Vibes to Help You Thrive.
About the Books:
Poetic Vibes to help you Thrive is spoken word.
About the Author:
N. Erna Mae Francis was born in Swetes, Antigua, and relocated to St. Maarten at age eight. She holds a Bachelors in psychology, a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity. She is a certified success coach and the visionary behind Victorious Living.
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Name: Linisa George
Books:
“Add Cream” and “The Phenomenal Black Woman Remixed” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
“Brown Girl in the Ring” in The World Record: International Voices from Southbank Centre’s Poetry Parnassus. Bloodaxe Books. UK. 2013.
About the Book:
The World Record is an international anthology of work by poets from all the countries taking part in the 2012 London Olympics, featuring a poem from each of the 204 Olympic nations, from Armenia to Tuvalu, Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan. There are new voices as well as world greats, rappers and spoken word artists, poets and storytellers. The World Record marked the first time so many living poets from so many countries had gathered together in one anthology – and 2012 was the first time so many poets had gathered in one place.
About the Author:
Playwright, producer, stage director, and theatre director, Linisa George is originally from Guyana, but migrated to Antigua as a child. She’s been writing since childhood but it wasn’t until her return to Antigua from Canada in 2005 that she went public with it. Since then, she’s been quite active as a member of Women of Antigua, producers of local stagings of the Vagina Monologues and architects of its local counterpart When a Woman Moans; founder of the Young Poets Society of Antigua and Barbuda; and partner in August Rush, producers of the Expressions open mic series and more. She’s also behind several online and artistic projects – Black Girl in the Ring and Art. Culture. Antigua magazines, and The Black Project – which produces local arts showcases among other activities.
Wadadli Pen connection: Linisa George is a former Wadadli Pen Challenge judge. 2013 – 2015. She is also a Wadadli Pen patron, having contributed cash prizes to the Wadadli Pen Challenge. 2017 – 2018.
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Name: Richard Georges
Books:
Epiphaneia. Outspoken Press. 2020.
Giant. Platypus Press. 2018.
Make us all Islands. Shearsman Books. 2017.
About the Books:
Epiphaneia is set in the immediate aftermath of 2017’s Hurricane Irma, the most catastrophic storm to strike the British Virgin Islands. Beyond the loss and devastation that such a natural disaster brings, Georges’ ideas span beyond the physical world, asking us to consider the ways in which families and communities come together amidst such tragedy. Georges locates in the negative space of aftermath both the ghosts of history, and the mythic beginnings of a yet unlived, rejuvenated world. The book was the 2020 winner of the Bocas prize for poetry and the main Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature.
Giant is a manifestation, a creation story born of the ocean. Words turn over and under, shipwrecked then safe-shored. A blend of ghosts and myths meld and coalesce into being, as headstrong as the mountains, as wavering as the sea. Giant was highly recommended by the Forward Prizes (UK) and long listed for the Bocas Prize for Caribbean literature.
Make us all Islands was shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Prize (one of the Forward Prizes) for best first collection. His debut collection crafts narratives of long forgotten migrations, shipwrecks, and the personal with a vivid and sensual aesthetic that is located in the contested space between the sea and the shore.
About the Author:
Richard Georges was born in Trinidad, grew up and still lives in the British Virgin Islands writer. He is listed here in acknowledgment of his Antiguan roots – his grandmother was Antiguan and his grandfather met her while attending secondary school (Antigua Grammar School) here. Georges still has family in Antigua. He is a writer of essays, fiction, and poetry. His work has appeared in Prelude, Smartish Pace, The Poetry Review, WILDNESS, Wasafiri, The White Review and elsewhere. He has won and been shortlisted for several awards including the Hollick Arvon Prize, the Wasafiri New Writing Prize, the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and the OCM Bocas Prize.
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Name: Eileen Hall Lake
Books:
The Fountain and the Bough. C. Scribner’s Sons Co. USA. 1938.
About the Book:
Eileen Hall Lake’s collection received a fine review in Poetry Review in 1939, according to the 2012 edition of the Antiguan and Barbuda Review of Books.
About the Author:
Born Eileen Hall in Antigua, she became Eileen Lake and Eileen Hall Lake after marrying Dr. Michael Lake. Her father’s family was from Oxford and her mother was part French-part Irish, with the French side having been in the then British West Indies since the mid-17th century. In addition to writing poetry and stories – published in Harper’s, Poetry, and American Mercury among others, she was also known for her translations of works by short story writers (e.g. ‘Emil und die Detektive/Emil and the Detectives’, in 1966, for the BBC’s children television series Jackanory – there’s also a credit for this story in 2016 collection Der Krimi: Crime Fiction in German – and It Isn’t Enough, in 1959, for Saturday Playhouse). There’s a credit as well to a 1956 translation of Johanna Spyri’s classic Heidi for Penguin Books. Her association with English novelist and critic, a key player in the development of early 20th century literature, Ford Maddox Ford, is well documented.
Read also Do You Know Eileen Hall? and this CREATIVE SPACE.
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Name: Lauchland Henry
Books:
Talk to Me. L H Publications. USA. 1979.
Touch Me Inside. High Q Publications. USA. (second edition) 1975.
About the Author:
Born in Antigua, resident in America, Lauchland is a poet and former member of the marine corps who also holds a PhD in engineering sciences.
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Name: Agnes Cecilia Hewlett-Carrington
Book:
Allo et au ‘Voir. London. 1972.
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Name: Joanne C. Hillhouse
Books:
“Under Pressure” in A River of Stories (Volume 4 – Fire). Lift Education/Commonwealth Education Trust. New Zealand. 2016.
“One” and “A Religious Experience” in She SEX – Prose and Poetry: SEX and the Caribbean Woman. Bamboo Talk Press. Trinidad. 2013.
cover art by local artist Lyndell Benjamin
On Becoming [as jhohadli]. Poetry. self-published. Antigua. 2003.
About the Books:
A River of Stories travels from tiny island to vast territory, each a member country of the Commonwealth of Nations . There are four volumes in the series – each expressing a different element (air, earth, water, fire) via story or poem. Each entry sizzles with its own energy – whether relating the genesis of the sun or the origins of smoke, recounting the adventures of warriors dancing on hot coals or the bravery of heroes stealing fire from the gods. Together they are testament to the awe-inspiring power of fire across cultures and our enduring fascination with this most dangerous of elements. Longlisted for the north somerset teachers’ book award quality fiction category.
Sex, Prose and Poetry, SEX and the Caribbean Woman. “She Sex is an important gathering of women’s voices.” – Tiphanie Yanique, author of How to Survive a Leper Colony
On Becoming. In this voice, jhohadli (Joanne) speaks from her soul, exploring pain and joy, love and hate, and various things in between.
About the Author:
Joanne C. Hillhouse, born in Ottos Antigua. Her writing also appears in several anthologies and various international publications. She freelances as a writer, editor, writing coach, and course/workshop coordinator.
Wadadli Pen connection: Joanne is the founder of the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize and has served as its coordinator and – at various times – Challenge judge, Wadadli Pen workshop facilitator, fundraiser, media liaison, administrator, blogger,and more. 2004 – ongoing. She has also contributed copies of her books Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight 10th Anniversary and Other Writings, The Boy from Willow Bend, Oh Gad!, Musical Youth, With Grace, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure, ¡perdida! Una Aventura En El Mar Caribe (Spanish Edition) (the latter two in the running for the Wadadli Pen 2019 Book of the Year), and other prizes (e.g. CDs, books by other authors, literary journals and magazines, scholarships to her Jhohadli Summer Youth Writing Project workshops, one on one coaching sessions, and other gifts) to the annual Wadadli Pen challenge. 2004, 2011 – 2014, 2016 – 2018. Ongoing.
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Name: Sheryl Inigo Joseph
Book:
The Falling Rain.
Poetry and Reality.
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Name: Dotsie Isaac
- Photo by Laura Hall (@ 2006 Wadadli Pen fundraiser, Word Up!)
Books/CD:
The Royal Wedding. Antigua. 2018.
I am Speaking (CD). Antigua. 2014.
“Brain Freeze” and “The Saddest Story” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
Ab-SOUL-utely Dotsie. Antigua. 2004.
About the Books/CD:
The Royal Wedding is a spoken word poem released as a CD single in response to the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
I am Speaking is a spoken word CD.
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
Ab-Soul-utely Dotsie is a spoken word CD.
About the Author:
Dotsie Isaac, a former Wadadli Pen judge, built her rep on the Antiguan and Barbudan open mic scene before putting out her first CD. Her poetry has been performed in theatrical productions like When a Woman Moans. Dotsie has been featured in CREATIVE SPACE.
Wadadli Pen connection: Dotsie has been a judge (2011) and has donated copies of her CD Ab-Soul-uuutely Dotsie (2006 and 2014) to the Wadadli Pen Challenge; she was also a guest presenter at the Wadadli Pen Awards ceremony (2015) and participated in the Wadadli Pen fundraiser/literary showcase ‘Word up! 2006’. Her CD The Royal Wedding was in the running for the Wadadli Pen Book of the Year (2019).
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Name: Sylvester Itoyah
Books:
She Stood Naked. 1996.
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Name: Tameka Jarvis-George
Books:
“Selfish” and “Uncomfortable” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
I am. 
Hidden Brook Press. 2005.
I am that I am. Watermark Press. MD. 2000.
Thoughts from the Pharcyde. Hidden Brook Press. 1999.
About the Author:
Tameka Jarvis-George is a poet, novelist, children’s book and comics author, song writer, screenwriter, filmmaker, blogger, fashion designer, wife, mother, and more.
Wadadli Pen connection: Tameka participated in the Wadadli Pen fundraiser and literary showcase Word Up! 2006.
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Name: Joseph Jermaine
Books:
Creative Thoughts. 2002.
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Name: Clifton Joseph
Books:
“Memories” and “I Remember Back Home” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
“Chuckie Prophecy”, “*footnote to the end of a love affair”, “RITES/FOR WALTER RODNEY” in In the Black: New African Canadian Literature (edited by Althea Prince). Insomniac Press. Canada. 2012.
Oral/ Trans/Missions [w/the Livestock Band]. Europe. 1990.
Metropolitan Blues. Domestic Bliss. Canada. 1983.
About the Author:
Clifton Joseph is a journalist and broadcaster in addition to being a poet. He is a founding member of the Dub Poetry movement in Canada.
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Name: Llewelyn Joseph
Books:
“I saw My Father Naked” and “Immigrant Blues” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
About the Books:
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
Poetry has been part of Antiguan, Llewellyn Joseph’s life from infancy – hearing it read, recited; reading and reciting to parents, church congregations, and school concert audiences. Influences on his poetry include living the Black experience, the midsixties to late seventies, and coming to appreciate what he calls ‘the condition of being Black’; nodal life experiences; becoming a parent; and the changing relationships with aging parents.
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Name: Sarah P. King
Book:Life is…. 2019.
About the Book: Sarah draws inspiration from life experiences in hopes of motivating and inspiring the reader to live their best life ever.
About the Author: King is a general physician and trainer from Antigua-Barbuda.
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Name: Joy Lawrence
Books:
“The Whirlwind” in A River of Stories (Volume 3 – Air). Lift Education/Commonwealth Education Trust. New Zealand. 2016.
Island Spice. Antigua. 1996. 1997.
About the Books:
A River of Stories travels from tiny island to vast territory, each a member country of the Commonwealth of Nations . There are four volumes in the series – each expressing a different element (air, earth, water, fire) via story or poem. Longlisted for the north somerset teachers’ book award quality fiction category.
About the Author:
Born in Bethesda village Antigua, Joy Lawrence would grow to become an educator as well as a prolific poet, historian, and folklorist. She was a senior lecturer at the Antigua State College and founder of the ASC/UNESCO annual poetry contest. Ms. Lawrence was awarded the 2004 UNESCO Honour Award by the organization’s literary arts committee, for her contribution to literary arts in Antigua and Barbuda.
Wadadli Pen connection: Joy Lawrence contributed copies of her books The Footprints of Parham, The Way We Talk and Other Antiguan Folkways, and Bethesda and Christian Hill, in addition to a plaque for the Teachers’ Challenge to the 2014 Wadadli Pen Challenge, and as a Wadadli Pen partner in 2013 travelled to schools on the island to promote the Challenge. She also participated in the Wadadli Pen fundraiser and literary showcase Word Up! 2006.
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Name: Kaliq Lowe
Books:
“Some Things Never Change” and “Free-Falling” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
About the Books:
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
Kaliq Lowe wrote his first poem in Grade 2 for an English assignment for his teacher, and in 2008, he won first place in the poetry competition for the Antigua & Barbuda Literary Arts Competition.
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Name: Iyaba Ibo Mandingo
Books:
Fu You Tongue Heavy Lakka 56. USA. 2022, 2018.
Sins of My Fathers. USA. 2014.
Self-Portrait (CD). USA.
40 Days n 40 Nites of Write. USA.
Amerikkkan Exile. USA.
41 Times: Poems. Iyaba Arts. USA. 2000.
About the Books:
Fu You Tongue Heavy Lakka 56 is a look back at the body of work by Iyaba Ibo Mandingo. It includes his early work, the works written after his 9/11 arrest and detainment by homeland security and the latest work following his return to Afrika. “Fu You Tongue Heavy Lakka 56” is Antiguan patois. It is a favorite saying of Iyaba Ibo Mandingo’s Great Grandmother, “Rozzy” Guy. It means you have a lot to say. As the grandchild of former enslaved Africans she remembers the elders talking about the heavy plows they used during slavery and the days of shooting hard labor (sharecropping) that followed. The size of each plow was designated by a number stamped on the handle. 56 was the number of the heaviest of them all. It was a perfect way to honor his Eguns (ancestors) and the perfect title for a collection of poetry.
Sins of My Fathers is the debut novel of painter, poet, playwright, actor and teacher Iyaba Ibo Mandingo.
41 Times: Poems – “Iyaba’s poetry has many of the characteristics of his paintings, the narration, the subject matter and the emotions which flows from a well spring of Black experience i.e. slavery, Black on Black crime, police brutality, Rastafari, Black love and more.” [from the back cover]
About the Author:
Iyaba Ibo Mandingo – poet, painter, writer, teacher and playwright – is a native of Antigua, West Indies, who came to the United States in 1980 as a young boy. His earliest exposures to the arts were through his mother, a professional singer, and his grandparents, a tailor and a seamstress who first introduced him to colors and patterns, paving a path to the many ways of expression: drawing, painting, sculpting, writing and performing. Iyaba studied fine arts at Southern Connecticut State University and teaches in and around the tri-state area as a Master Teaching Artist. Iyaba’s 1man play “unFRAMED” had a sold out Off-Broadway debut in Spring 2017 at the Elektra Theater NYC after enjoying a successful two-year run off-off Broadway in 2011-12. The play also had a successful run at Harlem Arts Festival 2017 and the Rhode Island Fringe Festival. In 2015 he embarked on his first African tour bringing his 1Man play “unFRAMED”, his first novel “Sins of My Fathers” and his poetry to South Africa and Nigeria. He is a repeat Connecticut Grand Slam champion and Yale University’s Martin Luther King Birthday Invitational Slam. He appears regularly as a performance poet in venues across the United States and abroad, including Nuyorican Poetry Café, Brooklyn Moon, and Next Door Café among others in the NY area and was the keynote performer at the 2011 Westchester, NY Poetry Festival. Iyaba was awarded a national Percent for the Arts Program artist grant, as well as grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and multiple commendations from the Nassau County African American Museum. His artwork has been included in over a dozen group and individual shows in the tri-state area.
***
Name: Monica Matthew
Books:
“Wha You Come From? What Makes You Who You Are?” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
About the Books:
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
Monica Matthew was born in the parish of St. Phillips, and grew up in the Grays Green community, in Antigua. In Grays Farm, a loving woman, Mary Ambrose, raised her, along with her many children. She taught for many years at the Greenbay Government School, the Antigua Grammar School and then the Ottos Comprehensive School before leaving to teach Home Economics and Nutrition in Tortola, the British Virgin Islands. At New York City Technical College in Brooklyn, Monica earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Hospitality Management and The Applied Sciences. She was named Tourism Ambassador of Antigua in 2008. She is the founder of Grays Farm Publishing.
Wadadli Pen connection: Monica was a 2015 Wadadli Pen judge.
***
Name: Carolyn Matthew Nation
Books:
Poetry for Life. Trafford Publishing. 2009.
About the Book:
Poetry for Life is a collection of poems to encourage the soul, heart, and mind. It is all about life:- our creator – God Almighty, challenges, trials, love, successes, attitudes, humor etc. Some of these poems are true life experiences of the author.
About the Author:
Carolyn Matthew-Nation is from Antigua and Barbuda. She pursued Business Management Studies at the Antigua State College where she graduated in 1994. She went on to pursue basic training as well as various accomplishments within her field of study. In 1993, a year after meeting her would be husband was when her poetic skills emerged. She wrote her first poem that August entitled ‘Strangers at the Seashore’. It was from there she knew she was gifted with a passion for poetry. She went on to marry her sweetheart and they now have two children.
***
Name: Hilda McDonald
Books:
Sunflakes and Stardust. 1956.
About the Author: Hilda McDonald is the grandmother of Ian McDonald, the Trinidad born, Guyanese based author of Caribbean classic, The Hummingbird Tree. She was the first female member of the Antiguan House of Assembly.
***
Name: Rosie McMaster
Books:
“The Pain of Old Age” and “The Blind are Very Blessed” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
About the Books:
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
Rosemarie V. McMaster is the owner, and Managing and Production Director of Antigua’s famous pepper-sauce, Susie’s Hot Sauce. McMaster’s sauces have won first place in the Texas Shout Out (Susie’s Tamarind Tango), several Golden Chile awards (2001 for best international hot sauce for Susie’s Original, best fruit hot sauce for Susie’s Mango Mandingo and Susie’s Pineapple Pleasure in 2002 and 2003, respectively), among other awards. She is also an accomplished travel consultant, and is a dedicated public servant. In 2005, Rosie was awarded the ‘Business Woman of the Year’ Award in Florida; and also the Most Illustrious Order of Merit in Antigua, for her contribution to industry and commerce. In October 2009, she was presented the prestigious MBE Award by HRH Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.
***
Name: Franklin Michael
Books:
published in Out of the Stars 2. 1976
******
Name: Vivian Michael 
Books:
“Words Left Unsaid” and “My Inspiration” in Collective Soul Volume One. Chrysalis. Antigua. 1998.
About the Author:
Vivian Michael has worked as a journalist/news broadcaster for many years with Observer Media Group/now Newsco. He ran a lit arts column, Writer’s Block, in the Daily Observer introducing new writers/writing over the years. He has also been an open mic feature with groups like Crysalis etc.
***
Name: Kimolisa Mings
Books:
Dark Warrior Vol. 1 (Manga in Verse). 2015.
Woman Defined. 2014.
She Wanted a Love Poem. 2014.
About the Book:
Dark Warrior Vol. 1 (Manga in Verse). In the land of the Rising Sun, an unusual individual begins an epic journey. Join the journey as a traveler, known as the Dark Warrior, battles mysterious opponents. Will the Dark Warrior survive a battle against an opponent that is anything but human? A manga written in verse, paying tribute to the epic poems of the distant past.
Woman Defined. How do you define a woman? Do you define her by her experiences in the past? Her choices in the present? Or her dreams for the future? This collection of poems illustrates the defining moments in the life of the poet. Moments that shaped the choices she made and held her back from truly living in the present. In coming to terms with the past, one can let go of it, and enjoy the present.
She Wanted A Love Poem is a collection of poems with the common theme of love. But there is more to the four letter word than the intense affection between a man and a woman. There is the love between members of a family, there is forbidden love and loved tied up in the web of complexity. Like all things, there is a beginning and an end, and as easily as it is found, love is lost. Hopefully at the end of this collection of poems, you will comprehend the complexities behind the four letter world called love.
About the Author:
Kimolisa Mings started writing poetry after she was encouraged to do so by her English teacher, Ms. Joseph. Although her body of work grew with the passing of years, it was only in 2005 that Kimolisa started to share her work at local open mic events. In 2008, she started a blog called Kim or Lisa, where one can find her older poems and her latest poems. In 2011, Kimolisa won the Independence Literary Award for Poetry in the adult division. In 2012, one of her poems was featured in “When A Woman Moans”, a local twist on the Vagina Monologues. Kimolisa’s first book was the short story ebook Martine, self-published in 2012.
***
Name: Motion
Books/CDs:
“four-day morning” and “Vancity: 3 Blocks” in The Black Notes: Fresh Writing by Black Women and Girls edited by Althea Prince (co-edited by Gayle Gonsalves and Aisha Wilks). Insomniac Press. Canada. 2017.
“Home” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: New Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [edited by Dr. Althea Prince] A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
included in The Great Black North: Contemporary African Canadian Poetry [edited by Valerie Mason-John and Kevan Anthony Graham], Frontenac House Ltd., Canada, 2013.
“Locks and Love”, “Graf”, “SheLand*”, “Be Girl” in In the Black: New African Canadian Literature (edited by Althea Prince). Insomniac Press. Canada. 2012.
40 Dayz. Canadian Scholars Press. 2008.
“Girl” and “I-Land” in Revival: An Anthology of the Best Black Canadian Writing [Editor by Donna Bailey Nurse], McClelland & Stewart, 2006.
included in T-Dot Griots: An Anthology of Toronto’s Black Storytellers [Edited by Karen Richardson and Green], Trafford Publishing, 2006.
Motion in Poetry. Women’s Press. Canada. 2002.
About the Books:
The Black Notes. This collection contains stories and poems written by 12 Black women; it is serendipitous that their voices blend seamlessly, and beautifully, even though the writers are intergenerational. The storytelling crosses local, national, and international cultural sensibilities, giving the reader a glimpse of the way the storytellers ‘receive’ and share ‘Story’. The poets cut through emotional lines to caress the reader, just before they unleash a shaft of insight that rattles your consciousness. Contributors to Black Notes include Trey Anthony, Itah Sadu, D’bi Young, Sister Souljah, Brenda Lee Browne, Jully Black, and Jemeni.
The Great Black North is a contemporary remix of the story of Black Canada. Told through the intertwining tapestry of poetic forms found on the page and stage, The Great Black North presents some missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that help fit together a poetic picture of the Black Canadian experience.
In the Black is a mix of short fiction, poetry, dub poetry and hip hop, some of Black Canada’s foremost writers from across generations explore history, community, love, and healing. The collection consists of writing from Catherine Bain, George Elliott Clarke, Gayle Gonsalves, Joanne C. Hillhouse, Clifton Joseph, Dwayne Morgan, Motion, Jelani Nias (J-Wyze), Djanet Sears, Mansa Trotman, and the editor, Althea Prince.
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
40 Dayz is Motion’s second book of poetry; an entrancing journey through challenge, discovery, and transformation. It is topical, sensual, sometimes provocative, often beautiful, and always engagingly rhythmic. The poems all allude to or explore the theme of “40 dayz,” reflecting the literary side of Motion”s artistry, while retaining the amazing power of her spoken-word style. Among them is the acclaimed “connect the t.dots,” winner of the first annual CBC Poetry Face-Off.
Drawing on fiction, poetry, and memoir, Revival brings together an impressively varied selection of outstanding work by both well-known writers and new voices. Donna Bailey Nurse’s lively and invaluable introduction deftly explores the various themes and motifs that define and illuminate the meaning of being black, while tracing the evolution of this influential literature through colonialism, post-colonialism, and decolonization.
Birthed at the popular open-mic series, La Parole, T Dot Griots is an intimate journey through previously undocumented Canadian experiences, reporting from Toronto’s black communities in fiction, poetry, articles, plays and songs. The book features contributions by over forty writers of African descent, either raised in or residing in Toronto.
Motion in Poetry is a print edition and Audio Xperience. Motion tells her powerful stories of identity, strength, and place; charting a journey in language that is rich in contemporary African-Canadian rhythms.
About the Author:
Motion is the daughter of an Antiguan mother. She is an award winning artist whose accolades began when she became the first female Hip Hop artist to be nominated for MuchMusic’s Best Rap Video. Her pioneering presence continued when her commentary on urban life and love in Toronto made her the winner of the CBC National Poetry Face-Off with her nationally acclaimed poem ‘Connect the T.Dots’. Motion is the first Hip Hop artist in Canada to publish a collection of writings, Motion in Poetry, with the companion album, the Audio Xperience. She’s performed at Russell Simmonds Def Poetry Jam on HBO and is a member of the Obsidian Theatre’s Playwrights Unit. She’s written for stage and screen
***
Name: Satara Murray
Book: “Belief” in Black Notes (co-edited by Althea Prince, Gayle Gonsalves, and Aisha Wilks). Insomniac Press. Canada. 2017.
About the Author: Daughter of Glenda Prince.
*****
Name: Kamau Ode Lasana
Books:
Roadside Prophet & Other Poems. Blackground Productions. Canada. 2000.
***
Name: Elaine Olaoye
Books:
Passions of the Soul. Northwind Publishers, New Jersey. (second edition) 2002.
About the Book: The book is a combination of poetry and poetry therapy.
About the Author:
Elaine Henry Olaoye received her Ph.D in 1981 and is a Professor of Psychology at Brookdale Community College, and an Adjunct Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is also a poet who believes in the therapeutic value of poetry. As CEO of NorthWest Enterprises, she conducts workshops, presents papers, and consults in the areas of stress management, education psychology and positive psychology. She sponsors an International Poetry and Psychology Performance at Brookdale and, in Antigua, sponsors the annual Elaine Henry Olaoye and Tori Antigua Girls High School Scholarship.
*****
Name: Germaine Owen.
Books:
I Could Fly Like a Bird. Trafford Publishing, Canada, 2003.
About the Author:
Germaine Owen was born in St. Croix to Antiguan parents. She first published as an undergraduate from John Hopkins University. She is a practicing physician who also writes creatively. She is at work on her first novel.
*******
Name: J. Nerissa Percival
Book:
Butterfly in the Sunlight. iuniverse.com, 2006.
Butterfly in the Moonlight.
iuniverse.com, 2006.
About the Books:
Butterfly In The Sunlight is a happier sequel to Butterfly in the Moonlight. It begins on an uncertain and somewhat troubled note within the mind and heart of the main character, but ends triumphantly as true love is finally obtained. Additionally, Butterfly In The Sunlight contains a compelling and heartbreaking factual short story, which delivers an earth shattering message to young women across the world.
Butterfly in the Moonlight is a collection of poetry conceived in the innermost recesses of a young but experienced mind; with love – its beauty and ugliness – as its central theme.
About the Author:
R.I.P., Nerissa. Gone too soon. Nerissa, the daughter of former government minister Bernard Percival, died suddenly in 2010 at age 28. In addition to her writing, readers may also remember her from her performance in the first staging of the Antigua and Barbuda adaptation of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, brought to Antigua by the activist group Women of Antigua.
**********
Name: Sislyn Peters
Book:
Shades of a Colonial Coloured. AuthorHouse. 2009.
A Little Souvenir in Poetry. AuthorHouse. 2008.
Undocumented Citizen. AuthorHouse. 2007.
A Souvenir of Antigua in Poetry. AuthorHouse. 2006.
About the Books:
Shades of a Colonial Coloured: An Autobiography chronicles the author’s memory milestones, such as asking her mother to pick her up, at age one-and-a-half; Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation celebration, at three years old; and the colony’s conversion from British pounds, shillings and pence to the new Eastern Caribbean Currency of dollars and cents, at age ten, among others. The author documents taboo subject questions such as “Where do babies come from?” She touches on the very subtle racism that lurks amongst a few people; the days of migration to England; her first encounter with Rock & Roll and the juke box; and her first peek into American racism. The book gives insight into the author’s makeup and foundation, literally. It shows her enthusiasm for learning, and her curiosity about humanity. It also reveals how much corporal punishment was used in home and school. This autobiography is testament to a determination to persevere and rise above all odds, in spite of obstacles. Youth’s honest naïveté, innocence, and beauty shine through this thoughtfully written, informative, and valuable work.
In A Little Souvenir in Poetry, Sislyn Peters selects classic and contemporary favorites from her compilation of poems. This is an intelligently written work, which exposes Peters as a visionary who brings issues to the fore, such as in “The Stoning,” “When You Ain’t Got Time,” and “To A Mother.” She makes full use of figures of speech; the reader is not at a loss for sharp imagery. It is obvious that Peters is a literary artist. Her poems have a musical beat, and are sculpted. They are also engrossing, and cause the reader to become engrossed, pause, soul-search, and smile.
In Undocumented Citizen, nineteen-year-old Naomi Abram is lost at sea with her heart-throb, a Bible, and a notebook, and crash-lands on a beach, in the dark, in Puerto Rico. She boards the wrong plane for home, and unwittingly enters the U.S.A. where she lives an undocumented, stagnant lifestyle. Naomi is forced to lie about where she’s from, in order to maintain employment; but her conscience keeps her moral values tame. She experiences horror, when her landlady dies; grief and guilt, when her brother dies; fright and fear, when confronted by law enforcement; and joy, when she sneaks out of the Country and visits her family. While in Antigua, she learns that a new culture, Rastafarianism, is sweeping the island. After waiting and hoping for more than a decade, Naomi’s presence in the U.S.A. is finally documented.
A Souvenir of Antigua in Poetry reflects the author’s fond memories of life on the island. On its own, the book persuades the reader to pause, with profound questions to self, and encourages empathy, as the reader experiences a deliciously emotional journey. For those who long to engage in literary works, with substance, A Souvenir of Antigua in Poetry is filled with sparkling gems. They range from poems with musical cadence, as in “Potpourri Music;” or innocent childhood imaginings, as in “The Clouds;” to serious musings, as in “Time and Place Intersection;” or humour, as in “Ode to a Pervert.”
About the Author:
Sislyn Peters was born in St. John’s, Antigua, then British West Indies, and attended the Ebenezer Methodist Church, and Sunday school. She is a graduate of Princess Margaret High School. As a child, she wrote verses, and short stories. As a teenager, she sang with local bands, including Pat Edwards’ Playboys, and Vere Anthony’s Teen Stars, and is also a playwright. One of her plays, Trust, was adapted by the City College of New York’s English Department, Division of Humanities & Arts, and performed at the Aaron Davis Hall, in 2001. Her public literary voice lay dormant for all these years, waiting to burst forth.
****
Name: Rowan Ricardo Philips
Books:
Living Weapon. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. USA. 2020.
Heaven: Poems. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. USA. 2015.
Ariadne in the Grotesque Labyrinth – as translator (book written by Salvador Espriu). Dalkey Archive Press. USA. 2012
The Ground: Poems. Farrar Straus & Giroux. USA. 2012.
When Blackness Rhymes with Blackness. Dalkey Archive Press. 2010.
About the Books:
Rowan Ricardo Phillips’s Living Weapon is a love song to the imagination, a new blade of light honed in on our political moment. Here, in his third collection of poems, Phillips offers ruminations on violins and violence, on hatred, on turning forty-three, even on the end of existence itself.
Heaven is one of The Washington Post’s Best Poetry Collections of 2015, one of NPR’s Best Books of 2015, and one of Flavorwire’s Best Poetry Books of 2015; and has been long-listed for the National Book Award in poetry and the 2016 PEN Open Book Award. Swerving elegantly from humor to heartbreak, from Colorado to Florida, from Dante’s Paradise to Homer’s Iliad, from knowledge to ignorance to awe, Phillips turns his gaze upward and outward, probing and upending notions of the beyond. Meditating on feverish boyhood, on two paintings by Chuck Close, on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, on a dead rooster by the side of the road in Ohio, on an elk grazing outside his window, his language remains eternally intoxicating, full of play, pathos, and surprise.
The Ground: Poems is a poignant and terse vision of New York City. The Ground is an entire world, drawn and revealed through contemplation of the post-9/11 landscape. These are poems of fiery intelligence, inescapable music, and metaphysical splendor that concern themselves with lived life and the life of the imagination––both equally vivid and true––as they lay the framework for Phillips’s meditations on our connection to and estrangement from the natural world.
In When Blackness Rhymes with Blackness, Rowan Ricardo Phillips pushes African American poetry to its limits by unraveling “our desire to think of African American poetry as African American poetry.” Phillips reads African American poetry as inherently allegorical and thus “a successful shorthand for the survival of a poetry but unsuccessful shorthand for the sustenance of its poems.” Arguing in favor of the “counterintuitive imagination,” Phillips demonstrates how these poems tend to refuse their logical insertion into a larger vision and instead dwell indefinitely at the crux between poetry and race, “where, when blackness rhymes with blackness, it is left for us to determine whether this juxtaposition contains a vital difference or is just mere repetition.”
About the Author:
Multi-award winning poet, author, screenwriter, academic, translator, and journalist Rowan Ricardo Phillips was born in NYC (to Antiguan and Barbudan parents) and has taught at several Ivy League universities. His writing appears in various international publications. His awards include the Nicolás Guillén Outstanding Book Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting, the PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry, a Whiting Award, and the GLCA New Writers Award. He has also been a finalist for the Griffin International Poetry Prize, the National Book Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Also an acclaimed sportswriter, Rowan’s writing on basketball has been collected by The Library of America, his soccer writing has been acclaimed by BBC commentary and English soccer legend Gary Linekar, and his award-winning writing on tennis has achieved widespread international recognition. Rowan has written the screenplay for Legendary’s biopic on baseball icon Roberto Clemente adapted from Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss’ biography CLEMENTE: THE PASSION AND PRIDE OF BASEBALL’S LAST HERO. His poetry has been adapted for music and subsequently appeared on Spike Lee’s Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It. Rowan Ricardo Phillips is a graduate of Swarthmore College and has a doctorate in English Literature from Brown University. He is a Professor of English at Stony Brook University, a member of the faculty of Creative Writing at Princeton University, and currrently is the Margret Bundy Scott Professor of English at Williams College. He divides his time between Williamstown, New York City, and Barcelona with his wife and two daughters.
*********
Name: John Prince
Books:
“Stifled Youth” and “Dig the Hole” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
Pruckup’s Freedom. Bass Press, London, UK, 2011.
Reflections. Baas Press, London, UK, 2010.
About the Books:
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
John Prince was born during a hurricane in Nevis to his mother, an Antiguan, and his father, a Dominican policeman stationed in St. Kitts and Nevis. Shortly after his birth, his father was transferred back to Antigua. John graduated from the Government Teachers’ College in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and taught in Antigua before immigrating to the UK, where he worked as a teacher in north and east London. He later became the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) Head Teacher for Homerton House Boys Comprehensive School, Hackney, East London. John also received a Masters of Art (Econ. of Ed.) from the London University. John is an executive member of the London Compact –a Committee established by Prince Charles to improve the employment opportunities for Black and other socially disadvantaged young people. In March 2007, on the occasion of the Bicentenary Celebrations of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the Hackney Museum, London, acquired two of his poems for their archives.
***
Name: Ralph Prince
Books:
“Deep in Paradise” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
About the Books:
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
Ralph Prince, born 1938, is an Antiguan writer who lived for many years in the UK, where he worked as a journalist for the BBC. In Guyana, the birthplace of his wife, he worked as editor of the Demba Digest. He eventually returned to Antigua where he published his short story collection Jewels of the Sun in 1979. A literary journal, the Prince Literary Magazine was created in his honour after his death. He is the brother of artist Arnold Prince, musician Roland Prince, politician Sydney Prince, and writers Althea and John Prince.
***
Name: Carolyn Providence
CD: The Spiritual Evolution of Black Beauty. Ecnedivorp. USA. 2005, 2007.
About the CD:
The Spiritual Evolution of Black Beauty, which was nominated for the Best Spoken Word Album at the National Underground Spoken Word and Poetry Awards, blends spoken words with jazz, hip-hop, blues, rock and soul, and utilizes the sounds of nature, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas.
About the Author:
Carolyn Providence was born and grew up in Antigua, and now resides in the US. Poetry became her calling at age five, and poetry gave her the name “Black Beauty”. Providence became a professional poet in the year 2000. She lives on stage and comes alive with her inspirational and motivational poems. She is not a novice to the art of creativity and to the stage, having performed throughout the United States and the Caribbean. She was a regular poet on the Washington, DC poetry scene and now she is a poet of the world. Black Beauty writes and performs all of her original work.
***
Name: Mary Geo Quinn
- Photo by Laura Hall (@ 2006 Wad Pen fundraiser, Word Up!)
Selected Works:
Hol de Line and Other Stories. Caribbean Education Publishers. Trinidad and Tobago. 2017.
Reflections. Macmillan Caribbean, 2003.
Sugar Mill Gems: A Book of Verse for Children. 1993.
Lest We Forget – Patriotic Poems. 1993.
Heart to Heart
A Stormy Tale
Winthorpean Echoes: A Collection of Poems
All of the Women of the Bible. 1976.
About the Books:
Hol de Line and Other Stories details the non-fictitious accounts of events from as far back as the 1940s.
About the Author:
Mary Quinn was born in New Winthorpes on December 5, 1931. In 1946, she was picked out of her class to be trained to become a teacher. Her first story “By Hook or By Crook” won a 1961 competition organized by the Venezuelan Embassy in Barbados. She was recognized by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Assocation in 2002 for her short story “Joe”. The retired head teacher (with a background in literature, geography, and ancient history), is the author of seven+ books and has had several of her poems set to music by American artists.
Wadadli Pen connection: Mrs. Quinn participated in the Wadadli Pen fundraiser/literary showcase – Word Up! 2006.
***
Name: James H. Richmond
Books:
Reflections of Today. 1993.
***
Name: Althea Romeo-Mark
Selected Works:
“Back in Your arms Again” in Kenya through a Foreign Lens; a Collection of Poems (edited by Christopher Okemwa). 2022.
“Hunted” and “Another One bites the Dust” in I can’t Breathe, a Poetic Anthology of Social Justice (edited by Christopher Okemwa). 2021.
“Killing Covid-19”, “Home is not always a Haven”, and “Staying Alive 2020” in Musings During the time of the Pandemic: A World Anthology of Poems on Covid (edited by Christopher Okemwa). 2020.
The Nakedness of New. CreateSpace Independent Publish Platform North/South Carolina, USA. 2018.
“Lost Love” in Women in War: Saying NO to Gender Violence. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. USA. 2015.
If Only the Dust would Settle. 
2009. AuthorHouse.
English-German, Beyond Dreams: The Ritual Dancer. Sabanoh Press, Liberia, 1989.
Two Faces, Two Phases. Speed-O-Graphics, Liberia. 1984.
Palaver: West Indian Poems. Downtown Poets Co-op, USA, 1978.
Shu-Shu Moko Jumbi: The Silent Dancing Spirit. Department of Pan-African Studies Monography Series, Vol. 1, No. 3, Spring, Kent State University, USA, 1974.
About the Books:
Kenya through a Foreign Lens features poems written by poets who attended the Kistrech event from 2013 to 2019: Althea Romeo-Mark (Switzerland), Professor Arif Khudairi (Egypt), Dr. Diti Ronen (Israel), Daniel H. Dugas (Canada), Godspower Oboido (Nigeria), Hilde Susan Jaegtnes (Norway), Joanna Lundberg (Finland), Katharina Koppe (Germany), Lauri García Dueñas (Mexico), Valerie Leblanc (Canada), Libor Martinek (Czech Republic), and Dr. Molly Joseph (India).
The Nakedness of New is divided into six sections: I Caribbean Rooted, II: The Stories of Immigrants, III: Ugly Stories, IV: Lost Love/Liberia (West Africa), V: Sifting Through Life’s Grains, and VI: Going Past Rivers. Althea Romeo-Mark’s verse gives the reader a close-up view of life as an immigrant in the Caribbean and details her experiences in England after fleeing the violence of the Liberian civil war. She takes the reader inside the uneasy tapestry of immigrant cultures that form the Caribbean islands. She goes on to explore the problems encountered by women in a society that is male-dominated, unstable, and unjust; by immigrants displaced from their homes and their ways of life; and by families committed to each other no matter what comes. The Nakedness of New also includes three revealing personal essays and a section focused on her maternal grandmother, a controversial personality who held the family together. Through it all run the themes of resiliency, heart, and dedication to living.
Women in War is a book written to join the campaign against women exploitation and oppression.
In If Only the Dust would Settle, from Antigua to the USVI to the US to Liberia to the UK to Switzerland, the author takes the reader on the trip of a lifetime capturing the character of the places she’s inhabited and the ways they’ve helped shaped her character. It illuminates the “immigrant” experience and redefines notions of “home”.
About the Author:
Born in English Harbour, Antigua, West Indies, Althea Romeo-Mark is an educator and writer who grew up in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. She has lived and taught in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, USA, Liberia (1976-1990), London, England (1990-1991), and in Switzerland since 1991. A multi-award winning artiste, she was one of thirty-five poets invited to attend the International Festival-Poetry Nights in Curtea de Arges, Romania (2017). She participated in the 10th Anniversary Conference of the Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books, Antigua (2015); was one of several guests poets at Kistrech International Poetry Festival in Kissi, Kenya (2014); participated in Tag der Poesie, Basel, 2013, and was one of a hundred guest poets invited to read at the XX International Poetry Festival of Medellin, Colombia (2010). She writes poetry and short stories and has been published in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, USA, England, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Colombia, India, UK, Kenya, Liberia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland.
Wadadli Pen connection – The Nakedness of New was in the running for the Wadadli Pen Readers Choice Book of the Year 2019.
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Name: Marilyn Sargeant
Book: Carbon is Yellow. Baico Publishing. Canada. 2016.
About the Book:
Debut collection of narrative and lyrical poetry covering a variety of topics touching on every day life.
About the Author:
Marilyn Sargeant grew up in the Caribbean and has lived and worked in Ottawa for a number of years. She has been jotting down verses on ideas for most of her life. Marilyn has honed her skill at writing simply and clearly to be understood by all while retaining her natural lyrical rhythm in verses that readers have commented, “make you think”.
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Name: Denise Smith-Lewis
Book: Emancipation Come. Worthy Productions. Antigua. 2014.
About the Book:
This book is a compilation of the original works of the author Rev. Denise Smith-Lewis containing poems touching all aspects of liberation. It shares perspectives of the Caribbean family life: male/female relationships, social responsibility and the like.
About the Author:
Rev. Denise Smith-Lewis is a repeat winner of the former Antigua and Barbudan Independence Literary Awards. This is her first poetry collection.
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Names: Spilling Ink (a collective including Mikhail Simmons, Gloreen Lake, and Olsfred James)
Book:
Ashes: the Continuum. 2016.
Ashes: A Broken Inception. 2015.
About the Book:
Ashes: The Continuum is the exciting continuation of the love story which started in our first installation: Ashes: A broken Inception.
Ashes: A Broken Inception. Time and time again, we hear stories, tales, words of Wisdom about the love of woman leading to the death of man, the pathway to a life of doom, and the absolute perish of our way of life should we choose to pursue, woman. Since the beginning of time, these stories have circulated and evidently fallen on deaf ears. This, however, is not that story. This is the unedited tale, the pure and uninfected truth, the deniable and unwanted facts of love. This, is both sides of the coin… It is the journey and pain both man and woman battle for each other and the omnipotent obstacles that brew in the midst of it all. This is…The Ashes of it all. Binded within each shred of oak, soaked deep in its roots, is an unorthodox complement to each tale. A depiction of the short story, reflected by poems of essence bringing forth the aroma, the emotion, the deep and confidential thoughts of two men and a woman in Ashes. May your heart burn and endure, reach and bloom, rise to inner understanding, as each unnamed yet characterful persona take you, through their roots.
About the Authors:
SpillingInk describes itself as “the creative combination of active minds putting fun, obstacles, triumphs, life and its untold similarities shared into Written Art.” As an organization, SpillingInk has declared its interest in being “an avenue for young and inspired artists”, aiding “in the development of their skills, through … Art, Poetry, and Music. 1. To raise more awareness within the Literary and Art Community 2. To build strong partnerships with other organization(s) within the Art industry both regionally and internationally 3. To provide a nurturing environment for both personal and professional growth.” The collective includes Mikhail Simmons, Gloreen Lake, and Olsfred James – poets and spoken word artists. James also has the chapbooks Silhouettes of Rose, Affliction of Rose, and Reflections of Rose. SpillingInk received the literary arts award presented during the Department of Youth Affairs’ National Youth Awards in 2017. Spilling Ink has been featured in CREATIVE SPACE.
Wadadli Pen connection: James, was a Best of Books pick (a finalist) in the 2015 Wadadli Pen flash fiction Challenge.
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Name: Glen Toussaint
Books:
“Ode to Love” in Dancing Nude in the Moonlight 10th Anniversary Edition and Other Writings (by Joanne C. Hillhouse).Insomniac. Canada. 2014.
“C’est L’avi Mwen” and “Sky” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
About the Books:
“Ode to Love“ is inspired by Dancing Nude in the Moonlight (by Joanne C. Hillhouse) was originally published as a novella and published as fan fiction in Dancing Nude in the Moonlight 10th Anniversary Edition and Other Writings.
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 (edited by Althea Prince) is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
Born in Dominica, Glen lives in Antigua and works at the Best of Books where he runs projects like the Wadadli Pen Open Mic and weekly story time activities with the children.
Wadadli Pen connection: Glen has been a regular master of ceremonies of Wadadli Pen awards ceremonies (not necessarily year by year but) over the years that the Best of Books has hosted the Challenge awards in-store, 2012 – 2018. He also hosted a Wadadli Pen Open Mic (which while not a Wadadli Pen project uses its name) at the Best of Book bookstore, starting in 2010. Glen has also served as a Wadadli Pen judge, 2016 – 2017. Since starting his own company Ten Pages Bookstore, in 2020, he has also become a Wadadli Pen patron.
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Name: Michelle Toussaint
Book: Now taking a Lover. CreateSpace. 2015.
About the Book:
Now Taking A Lover chronicles a woman’s journey from spurned lover to finding love. Who would think that the path to Her intended, would be through an erotic encounter with a lover or two?
About the Author:
Michelle is a teacher, wife (of Glen Toussaint), and mother.
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Name: Mansa Trotman
Books:
“When I lie to You”, “Twelve”, “Tuesdays on the Rock” in The Black Notes: Fresh Writing by Black Women and Girls (co-edited by Althea Prince, Gayle Gonsalves, and Aisha Wilks). Insomniac Press. Canada. 2017.
“Raw Writing” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
“Listen”, “Marrow”, “Sundays” in In the Black: New African Canadian Literature (edited by Althea Prince). Insomniac Press. Canada. 2012.
The Space that Connects us. TSAR Publications. Canada. 2012.
About the Books:
The Black Notes. This collection contains stories and poems written by 12 Black women; it is serendipitous that their voices blend seamlessly, and beautifully, even though the writers are intergenerational. The storytelling crosses local, national, and international cultural sensibilities, giving the reader a glimpse of the way the storytellers ‘receive’ and share ‘Story’. The poets cut through emotional lines to caress the reader, just before they unleash a shaft of insight that rattles your consciousness. Contributors to Black Notes include Motion, Trey Anthony, Itah Sadu, D’bi Young, Sister Souljah, Brenda Lee Browne, Jully Black, and Jemeni.
In The Space that Connects Us, Mansa Trotman treats her readers to an exquisite slice of heart renderings carefully crafted to create immediate empathy and spark a glow of feelings. The emotions run deep, the humour surfaces loud and clear, and soon one is over the hump of the rough road on which she drags your senses. At first, it may only be one hand clapping, but eventually, the joy at the capacity to speak life in the raw is contagious.
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
Mansa Trotman is a poet whose mother is from Antigua. Her first poems were published when she was teenager in high school.
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Name: Sharlene Warner Samuel
Books: Let me be what I am. 2015.
About the books:
Let me be what I am is a compilation original poetry that delves into local folklore. It contains some of her most requested poems and is, the author said, ideal for children and adults.
About the author:
Sharlene Warner Samuel is a teacher, preacher, politician, and writer. For many years, she has travelled around the country entertaining people with her hilarious, thought-provoking poems and skits. She has also appeared on stage (The Vagina Monologues) and on screen (La Diablesse).
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Name: Beverly Watkins
Books:
Inna Me Twang. 1998.
In our Path. 1997.
About the Book:
Inna Me Twang brings back old time days and old time sayings in a collection that invites you to read, laugh, and reflect. Nebba nebba foogat de Anteegans dat tark dialek. Dat a arwe culture, arwe heritage an arwe tarking. So na luk dong pan arwe becarse arwe tark bad.
About the Author:
The late Beverly Watkins, a graduate of Princess Margaret Secondary School, was a mother of six and a dress designer specializing in bridal wear, a preacher, and manager and producer of El Shaddai Promotions.
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Name: LCH Wescott
Selected Works:
The Garden of Life. 1999.
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Name: Amber Williams-King
Books:
“Hennessy” and “Can we meet” in So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 [Edited by Dr. Althea Prince]. A Different Publisher, Canada, 2013.
About the Books:
So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, Volume 1 is a collection of new writing by men and women from Antigua and Barbuda, wherever they reside.
About the Author:
In 2010, Amber Williams-King participated in the AMY (or Artists Mentoring Youth) project, helping to create ‘Step Right Up’ which received 3/4 starts from Toronto’s NOW magazine. In 2011, she wrote a play: Love and its Dialects which ran in the Paprika Festival at Tarragon Theatre in Canada where she resides. In 2010, she received first-honourable mention in the Scarborough Arts Council’s inaugural Writer’s Month literary competition. Her poetry has been published in the anthology Holla! A Collection of Womenz Wordz.
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As with all content on wadadlipen.wordpress.com, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Musical Youth, With Grace, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure, and Oh Gad!). All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed it, check out my page on WordPress and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen and my books. You can also subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.
Wadadli Pen 
Excellent documentary