Carib Lit Plus (Mid to Late April 2021)

A reminder that the process with these Carib Lit Plus Caribbean arts bulletins is to do a front and back half of the month, updating as time allows as new information comes in; so, come back, or, if looking for an earlier installment, use the search window. (in brackets, as much as I can remember, I’ll add a note re how I sourced the information – it is understood that this is the original sourcing and additional research would have been done by me to build the information shared here)

New(ish) Books

Not new(ish) books but a new discussion coming out of Bocas (and linked in this post) on the 100 Caribbean Books that Made us. (Source – Bocas)

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Trinbagonian writer and illustrator Danielle Boodoo Fortune has announced the imminent release of Sitting Moon: Colouring Meditations on Motherhood.

(Source – the author/artist’s facebook)

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From UWI Press, a number of biographies including Sheer Bliss: a Creole Journey by Michaela A. Calderaro, about Eliot Bliss, Stuart Hall by Annie Paul, and Una Marson by Lisa Thompson, among others. Go to UWI Press. (Source – N/A)

Check this out/Reports

The Ministry of Education (Antigua and Barbuda) has announced its first annual virtual symposium every Wednesday in May 2021, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. It will be held under the theme ‘Meaningful Research – Enabling, Informing, and Creative Positive Change’. (Source – the Daily Observer newspaper)

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The Barbados-based US Embassy hosted Bajan writer Cherie Jones in a zoom for World Book and Copyright Day. Jones is writer of the acclaimed novel How the One-armed Sister Sweeps Her House. U.S. Ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean Linda Taglialatela welcomed the participants and Haitian-American creative writer Inga Laurent guided the discussion. The first 25 registrants were eligible to receive How the One-armed Sister Sweeps Her House and the chat was to feature a contest to win additional titles, including Jones’ earlier collection The Burning Bush Women and Other Stories. I don’t know about you but I’m sorry that I missed it. (Source – US Embassy Bridgetown email)

World Book and Copyright Day was pretty busy in Antigua and Barbuda as well. Check it out.

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Intersect Antigua and Barbuda, a gender advocacy group with a storytelling platform, has announced a new Caribbean feminist series, featuring two inspiring Caribbean women in history across their social media platforms once a month. The series launched on International Women’s Day in March 2021 and have since featured Una Marson, Mary Jane Seacole, and Amy Ashwood Garvey. There’s also this upcoming event:

(Source – Intersect newsletter)

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With the hopeful theme of “The Cure,” the 19th annual St. Martin Book Fair is scheduled for June 3 – 5, 2021.

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Volume 35 of The Caribbean Writer will launch this April at the Virgin Islands Literary Festival. ‘The 2020 edition, a tribute to the late literary icon Kamau Brathwaite, will be launched at the upcoming Virgin Islands Literary Festival and Book Fair (VI Lit Fest) hosted online from April 30 to May 2, 2021 under the theme, “Diasporic Rhythms II: Interrogating the Past; Imagining a Future”. The volume features poetic and prosaic tributes from award-winning authors and poets as well as not-before published submissions from “The Man Himself.” According to Program Chair Alscess Lewis-Brown, the issue is part of the collective outpourings of gratitude, remembrances and reminiscence lyricized in musings, tributes, celebrations of his life — a continual repast of ubiquitous reminders of his influence.’

The festival line-up includes Edwidge Dandicat, Kwame Dawes, Canisia Lubrin, Vladimir Lucien, Jacqueline Bishop, Rozena Maart, Summer Edward, Yona Deshommes, Chika Unigwe, Shara McCallum, Michela Calderaro, and Mervyn Taylor. Register here. Sign up to present at Book Bacchanal here. (Source – The Caribbean Writer email)

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The Bocas Lit Fest Programme

Read it here.

I know you’re looking forward to this list.

(Source – Bocas Lit Fest email)

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The Antigua and Barbuda Studies Association now has a website. About time. Here you can find back issues of the Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books and other scholarly information re Antigua and Barbuda. Start reading here. (Source – email from the editor Professor Paget Henry)

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With lyrics penned by St. Lucian writer Adrian Augier, More than Just Islands is a new song and music video promoting marine conservation. It features the voices of several Organization of Eastern Caribbean States musical superstars including Antigua and Barbuda’s soca diva Claudette ‘CP’ Peters and Ricardo Drue. The initiative was spearheaded by managing director of Right Angle Imaging Barbara Jacobs-Small of St. Lucia, who said, “It advocates the singular importance of the OECS marine space to our lives, livelihoods, way of life and the promise of the Blue Economy for our region.” (Source – Barbara Jacobs-Small’s linkedin)

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Trinidad born US rap superstar Nicki Minaj and US folk rock legend Tracy Chapman had a copyright dispute that ended with the former reportedly agreeing to pay out US$450,000 to the latter. Is this just an opportunity to link the original version of Sorry/Baby, can I hold you tonight?, which was in heavy rotation back in the day?

Maybe.

But also this is relevant to a site like ours which does try to educate on literary and publishing matters. A previous ruling, reportedly, determined that the song which Chapman had refused requests to license to Minaj fell under fair use. The settlement means that the case won’t be returning to trial (and that judgment won’t be tested). But it’s an opportunity for an always timely reminder to respect copyright, make sure you have permission (from the creator and/or license holder) to use any content you did not create and/or that it falls firmly within fair use if you do use without seeking permission. Read the details here. (Source – The Root) See also Resources including links re legalities vis-a-vis creative works here on Wadadli Pen.

Wadadli Pen News

Judging for the Wadadli Pen Challenge is still in progress. Meantime, check out our patrons.

Congrats are due to

Tekiah Minott, 17, Antigua Girls High School, winner of the Carl Adrian Joseph photojournalist award.

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Winners of the Priest Isaac Institute of Holistic Knowledge eighth annual Africa-themed essay competition here in Antigua and Barbuda, Johanna Jacobs, Nyeisha Chiddick, and John Germain. All three won electronic devices – tablets or laptops. (Source – the Daily Observer newspaper)

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Halcyon Steel Orchestra, one of Antigua and Barbuda’s winningest pan orchestras, on reaching its 50th anniversary. The Grays Green musical band has 13 titles to its record, and has the distinction of being the only pan orchestra to ever 4-peat in the history of the local panorama. For its anniversary, the group is having a Keeping the Vibes Alive 50th anniversary facebook competition giving pan players domestic and abroad the opportunity to rearrange and present one of its winning panorama tunes. Follow via the #Halcyon50 hashtag. (Source – the Daily Observer newspaper)

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Desiree Seebaran, winner of the Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize for Poetry. This prize allows an emerging writer to improve her/his skills through mentorship for an entire year. St. Lucian poet (Canada-based) Canisia Lubrin is the winner of the OCM Bocas Prize with her book length narrative poem The Dyzgraphxst (see earlier post re the prize – below – re the other finalists) (Source – writers and book lovers and Bocas watchers on twitter)

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Kevin Jared Hosein, as the already mult-award winning Trini writer lands a major publishing deal. Don’t take our word for it. Here’s what Bookseller.com had to say:

‘Bloomsbury is to publish Devotion by Kevin Jared Hosein, after securing the title at auction for a “major” sum.

The novel, set in 1940s Trinidad and inspired by oral storytelling traditions, follows the intertwining lives of a wealthy couple and the poor families who live in the barracks below their farm, after the mysterious disappearance of the husband leads his wife to hire one of the barracks’ farmhands as a watchman. Described as a novel with “a huge moral canvas”, the book interrogates class and the consequences of powerlessness.

Alexis Kirschbaum, associate publisher, acquired UK and Commonwealth (excluding Canada) and audio rights to the novel from Chris Wellbelove at Aitken Alexander Associates. US rights were acquired at auction by Gabriella Doob at Ecco.

Hosein lives in Trinidad and Tobago. He was the winner of the overall Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, and of the Caribbean regional prize in 2015.’ Read more. (Source – Facebook)

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The Bocas Lit Fest and the three writers shortlisted for its main prize: poetry winner Canisia Lubrin (The Dyzgraphxst – a Quill & Quire Book of the Year), fiction winner Maisy Card (These Ghosts are Family), and non-fiction winner Andre Bagoo (The Undiscovered Country). Lubrin is from St. Lucia, Card from Jamaica, and Bagoo from Trinidad and Tobago. More here. (Source – Bocas email)

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Jamaican-British writer Leone Ross whose latest Popisho (also known asThis One Sky Day) debuts this month. It is getting a lot of hype (including lots of media coverage – e.g. in Bookseller.com, the Financial Times, and The Guardian). You can join her on any of her current tour stops (e.g. this one – click the image to register).

(Source – Leone Ross’ social media)

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Journalist Daphne Ewing-Chow of Cayman who has been adjudged winner of the PAHO/CDB/CBU Award ‘Celebrating Responsible Coverage of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support During Covid-19’. “Ewing-Chow’s winning article, ‘Mental health professionals voice looming concerns for Cayman teens’, earned her a cash prize of US$500 and a certificate. It was the only entry across all three categories that met the criteria of the four-member judging panel. The report, published on January 26, 2021 on the online news website Loop Cayman, featured the personal experiences of teens in the Cayman Islands who were feeling the psychological impact of Covid-19 lockdown measures. It also provided insight from experts and offered tips for supporting teenagers struggling with mental health challenges.” (Source – Loop’s social media initially)

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Barbadian writer Shakirah Bourne who has landed a deal for two more books ahead of the summer 2021 release of her first US release Josephine Against the Sea (the Caribbean edition of which has been previously published with Jamaica’s Blue Banyan). See below (Source – Shakirah Bourne’s social media)

Read my recently posted review of the audio book of Bourne’s previously self-published In Time of Need.

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The writers, including a number of Caribbean writers, shortlisted for this year’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The full line up is here but, of course, we single out for mention Andre Bagoo of Trinidad and Tobago, who was also recently announced as the winner of this year’s Bocas non-fiction prize, Heather Barker of Barbados, Rashad Hosein of Trinidad and Tobago, Sharma Taylor, originally of Jamaica, resident in Barbados, a multi-award winning short story writer whose book deal we announced in a recent Carib Lit Plus bulletin, and award winning novelist Roland Watson-Grant of Jamaica, who previously made the Commonwealth long list back in 2017. (Source – Twitter)

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Shabier Kirchner, of Antigua and Barbuda, who recently wracked up awards for his work as cinematographer of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series, is attached to another winning project, Sundance short prize winner, Lizard.

Kirchner served as cinematographer on the project which was directed by Akinola Davies Jr. (Source – Facebook)

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Lawson Lewis, local artist and filmmaker, whose ‘Neighbour’, part of an ad campaign for North Coast Hardware, has won a silver award at the American Advertising Federation Awards, through the Caribbean Advertising Federation. “We are the only Leeward Islands Agency to reach this far. Usually, the winners are from bigger islands with well-established agencies, like Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, and Puerto Rico. To be listed among them is a huge accomplishment,” Lewis was quoted as saying in the Daily Observer newspaper. “What the Silver means is that now we will actually move to compete in the Florida segment and if we manage to get a Gold or Silver then we move to nationals to compete against other states in the US.”

The series of ‘Neighbour’ ads created some social conversation around community values.

Lewis’ agency, Tarsier, previously won a Marcom Gold Award in 2019, in the animation category, for the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority’s Cool is Clean campaign. (Source – Lawson Lewis on Facebook initially)

As with all content (words, images, other) 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,  Oh Gad!, Musical Youth, With Grace, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure, and The Jungle Outside). All Rights Reserved. You can also subscribe to and/or follow the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks. And remember while linking and sharing the links, referencing and excerpting, with credit, are okay, lifting whole content (articles,  images, other) from the site without asking is not cool. Respect copyright.

Wadadli Pen Challenge 2017 – The Picture Post

Yep, it’s that time again; time for our epic picture post – a time when I actually get to see what happened; because as anyone organizing anything knows, it’s actually kind of a blur (understatement).  The Wadadli Pen 2017 Challenge awards were held on May 13th at the tail end of the Wadadli Stories Book Fair (kudos to the organizer of that, btw). This year, we have pictures by Linisa George of Art. Culture. Antigua – which is already one of Wadadli Pen’s patrons so she’s already been more than generous with us; and Jon Whyte, who was there to support his wife, Floree, chief judge of the Wadadli Pen 2017 Challenge. Some pictures have also been taken from either the Best of Books Bookstore or the Wadadli Stories page on facebook and from a posting by Marissa Walters of the St. Andrews students. Here they are, in no particular order.

12 and Younger
Images of winners in the 12 and Younger age category – who were, in descending order, Zion Ebony Williams, Emma Belizaire, Shadiael Simmons, Ashley Francis.

13 to 17
Images of winners in the 13 to 17 age category – who were, in descending order, Devon Wuilliez, Ava Ralph (not pictured), Francis Yankey, and Andrecia Lewis.

18 to 35
Images of winners in the 18 to 35 age category – who were, in descending order, Kaeiron Saunders, Lucia Murray, and Fayola Jardine.

School with the Most Submissions
That’s Island Academy with 22 of 90+ submissions.

Tout Monde Sam and Bagai

Some highlights from Wadadli Stories

Media
Observer (front page standalone) + Caribbean Times (centre spread)

Some post awards pics
Things that happened after the awards for reasons beyond our control included the presentation of prizes to 13 to 17 2nd place Ava Ralph and to our intern Michaela Harris. Thanks to the staff of the Best of Books for these ones.

Wadadli Pen 2017 Links

Wadadli Pen 2017 Patrons
A Teacher Claims the 2017 Wadadli Pen Prize
Wadadli Pen – Who won what in 2017?
Wadadli Pen Winners Through the Years – Story Links
About Wadadli Pen

 

 

Wadadli Stories Q & A

You’re at the Wadadli Pen blog so, presumably, you know this is the online home of the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize. If you don’t, go here. I promise to stop talking all things Wadadli Pen soon (I know everyone is not as hyped as I am about this) but our Awards are next weekend and, in spite of my other readings and panel at the May 13th Wadadli Stories Book Fair, for me the dopest part of the whole deal (the part I’m most looking forward to) is the Wadadli Pen Awards when we finally get to pat these young Antiguan and Barbudan writers on the back, and encourage them to keep writing and to never ever be afraid of using their voice.

There is, of course, lots more to see and do at the Book Fair and for the rundown we have Best of Books store manager Barbara Arrindell, the person whose idea sparked this entire event. Kudos, in advance, to her for moving inspiration in to thought, thought in to action, and action in to an event I believe the entire community will enjoy. As you’ll see in the interview, there’s something for everyone.

Wadadli Pen: What possessed you to take this on?

Barbara: Many countries large and small have literally events as part of their national calendar of events. There are things planned by government entities and things planned by private groups. In Antigua we have a few activities planned by individuals and service groups and in more recent times there has been a reading day planned through the Ministry of Education but I believe we need more if we are going to encourage our population older and young to read and write more. And the more for me should show the fun side of reading.

Wadadli Pen: On the point of fun, in today’s world of addictive video games, social media, and Netflix bingeing, how can you (and by you, I mean, parents etc. and you the organizer of this event) convince kids that reading books isn’t just this chore they have to suffer through in school? In what ways does this event try to showcase that reading is not only fundamental but fun?

Barbara: We are having celebrity readers. Hopefully, these will be some names and people they know. We are hoping that the message that comes across is that if these “cool” successful people read and have come here just to read to me. Then maybe reading really is cool. Also we hope that they will be exposed to books beyond what they use in the classroom. We come across little people from time to time who have no books in their home other than their school books so they associate books only with school work.

Wadadli Pen: What goes in to organizing something like this? Tell us a bit about how the sausage gets made?

Barbara: Hmmm. Everything we do starts with making a decision to see it through to the end. If a lead organizer is lucky he/she finds a few people who share the vision and are willing to work as a team to make it happen. Contributing what they can and doing what they can. No exception here. So an online call was made for such people and two face-to-face meetings were held. Beyond that most of our organizing was done via WhatsApp. We’ve been lucky to have a few people like Natalie Clark and Marissa Walter who have been able to reach out to their contacts to get much of the physical  things we needed. Marissa was able to secure bathrooms from Island Sanitation and tents from Digicel. She also reached out to our onsite vendors Bobby’s​ Treats, the Sunshine Ice Cream Man and Brydens. Natalie negotiated with ACB [Antigua Commercial Bank] to get use of the parking lot [note: the event venue is the ACB Parking Lot on St. Mary’s Street], she communicated with the police and EMS to have them on hand. She reached out to the youth empowerment centre to borrow some of their resources and to the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. We have Louis Rivera and his team. They created our logo and have done much of the design work for our online promotion. Many other people worked behind the scenes. Sonja George is coordinating our 18+ Erotica tent. Glen Toussaint and team are pulling together a Comi-Com tent.

 

We have Jeriann George pulling together our celebrity readers. JerryAnn Francis working on our Jolly Phonics parents and teachers demonstration session. Mona Gardner of CHATS [Center for the Holistic Advancement of Therapeutic Services] and Dr Jillia Bird will be there conducting free screening. Dr. Bird will focus on sight. She will be testing young people 18 and under, while Ms. Gardner will be looking for things that have an impact on speech and the way we learn to read and process. She will see patients 0-99. She encourages parents to bring out their little children and have them tested if they suspect that there may be something going on that may stand in the way of their child learning. Sometimes understanding is all that is needed so that parents know how to proceed. The earlier the better, she says. And she wants to see adults because it is never to late to improve a situation. She also encourages people who have experienced a stroke or any injury that may have affected the brain to come and see her. This screening is FREE. in office these consultations could cost $200.

Wadadli Pen: How much are you looking forward to this… to be over? And as the person who publicly resigned her post as Independence Lit coordinator during the awards ceremony  with an open letter challenging the Minister to hire a lit arts coordinator and get serious about the year round developemnt of the lit arts…how would you like to see this activity go forward beyond May 13th?

Barbara: I’m still annoyed at the fact that with all these highly educated people floating through our political landscape we have not seen fit to appoint someone to take responsibility for coordinating events .. as part of our culture .. you know the way we have a dance coordinator and a music person and pan ..And so much more. I get annoyed each month when I get an invitation from a government office in Barbados inviting me to participate in an activity and perhaps less frequently from almost every Caribbean space ..EXCEPT Antigua and Barbuda. I’m annoyed when all these people ask me for an hour of my time​ saying they are consultants with the government working on propoals to bring literary arts to the forefront in Antigua and Barbuda and then not a damn thing seems to happen. I’ve had two such interviews this year alone… and for the record I’ve blowm off a few others because I’d rather spend my energy doing rather than talking.

And on to Barbara’s final thoughts.

Barbara: Oh I haven’t mentioned our history and discussion corner featuring a talk by Keithlyn Smith author of To Shoot Hard Labour and a talk by the Reparations commission. I also haven’t mentioned our self development sessions and panel discussions. The first by HaMa on screen Writing. Then a session on moving your manuscript forward by Joanne Hillhouse and Chadd Cumberbatch. Then a session on business and inspirational writing by Chrys Ann Ambrose and Dr. Dave Ray. We’ll also have an international publisher on hand from Harper Collins UK who is flying in from the UK to coordinate our primary and secondary school spelling Bees and will be joining Joanne and Chadd’s panel discussion hoping to meet potential writers (primarily teachers interested​ in contributing to text books but authors in general).

And even more final thoughts.

Barbara: When I look at this event in it’s entirity ..the whole thing is dope. It is being promoted as “Wadadli Stories ..more than words”, yet we are starting off with a sort of academic thing A Spelling Bee because our Wadadli Stories do usually start with words so we want our young people to have command of our words and our language. But the event unfolds into so many unusual and interesting events. People walking around in costume as Comi-Com fans staking their claim in the literary world dispelling the idea that comics aren’t books… Our writers of Erotica ..saying we may not be for the young ..but we have a time and place … Our political figures ..our radio and TV hosts ..our musical stars our authors our artists ..our everybody .. getting involved.. now that’s cool. .and then we bring it to a close with the Wadali Pen writing challenge awards ceremony. We are happy  to host this awards ceremony within Wadadli Stories because it is a celebration of dedication and commitment by the coordinators and the teachers  who get it and know they need to encourage  participation in writing challenges. We  celebrate Wadadli Pen for providing young promising writers with an opportunity to flex their writing muscles for so many years. We are going to have little children and big grown men and women and everyone in between having a great time with “the word”… and we are doing it on the day before Mother’s Day and we hope that people will remember those who mothered the word in Wadadli… people like the Hart Sisters and Nellie Robinson … and many others ..people who ventured down their own path ignoring people who didn’t understand their methods.

Thanks to Barbara; sounds like it’ll be a busy and productive day, but also lots of fun. See you there, Antigua.  You, too, Barbuda.

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, Oh Gad!, Fish Outta Water, Musical Youth, and With Grace). All Rights Reserved. Seriously, a lot of time, energy, love and frustration goes in to researching and creating content for this site; please don’t just take it up just so without even a please, thank you or an ah-fu-she-subben (credit). If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, 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.

 

Only One Week to the Wadadli Pen Awards

Are you excited?

The Wadadli Pen Awards, which will be held 5:30 p.m. as part of the Wadadli Stories Book Fair, takes place on May 13th. That’s next week Saturday. We’re looking forward to it here at Wadadli Pen, too. That’s when our Finalists will be rewarded and the ultimate winners announced, which we would not have been able to do without the contributions from our generous patrons. Whew! This is the longest gap we’ve ever had between the actual awards (which launches every year in January) and the awarding (typically late March/early April), but I’m sure our patrons and finalists will agree that they have a bigger spotlight as part of the Wadadli Stories event. Believe it or not, even with a permanent team in place, we’ve needed all of that time. And then, once the 2017 Wadadli Pen Challenge season is wrapped, the team can exhale… until we get back to planning and executing the transition of Wadadli Pen from this project I launched back in 2004 in to a proper non-profit which could potentially out last even me. I dream. Anyway, hope to see you if you’re in Antigua at the book fair. There’ll be something for everyone from the Spelling Bee for the kids to the Erotic tent for the adults and somewhere in between a mini-comic-con complete with cosplay for the kids at heart. There’ll be professional development panels (such as my panel on editing), literacy activities (such as testing), readings (including my reading for the little ones from With Grace and for the older ones from Musical Youth), and much more. Go to the Wadadli Stories page for all the details.

For more local arts events on our radar, go here

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, Oh Gad!, Fish Outta Water, Musical Youth, and With Grace). All Rights Reserved. Seriously, a lot of time, energy, love and frustration goes in to researching and creating content for this site; please don’t just take it up just so without even a please, thank you or an ah-fu-she-subben (credit). If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, 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.

More Wadadli Pen Challenge 2017 Trivia

This year we recorded the most single year submissions with 93 (give or take) eligible entries

The youngest writer submitting was five (5) years old

The oldest writer submitting was thirty-four (34) years old

Winners are awarded in the 12 and younger, 13 to 17, and 18 to 35 age category, and the top three can and have come from any of these age categories.

Find out who won in 2017, May 13th 5 p.m. at the Wadadli Stories Book Fair. See you there.

 

Wadadli Stories – Teaser

Mark your calendar – Saturday 13th May, 2017 from 10am to 8pm, St. John’s City.

Ways you can participate…

Volunteer to assist
Buy-in to help cover costs
Help spread the word
Come out to support

p.s. We know you’re waiting for the results of the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize 2017 Challenge. Well, like we said at the top, mark your calendar…

For more on the Wadadli Stories book fair or to contact the organizers, visit
the Wadadli Stories facebook page

 

FYI – St. Martin Book Fair

I was promoted as an invited guest to the St. Martin Book Fair shortly after the release of my book Oh Gad! in 2012. It didn’t work out (these things happen) but this year’s general announcement came to my inbox and I thought why not share it. I can’t swing it but for those who can, here’s the letter from the organizers in full For Your Information:

April 30, 2013

Dear Author:

Conscious Lyrics Foundation and House of Nehesi Publishers in collaboration with the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau and the University of St. Martin, are cordially inviting you to exhibit your book(s)/eBooks/recordings at the 11th annual St. Martin Book Fair – “Drum Beats,” May 30 – June 1, 2013, at the Chamber of Commerce Building (Maison des Entreprises), Spring Concordia, Marigot, and the University of St. Martin (USM), Philipsburg.

The organizers will provide a table for you and your publication(s) and for your book signing, on a “first-come-first-served” basis, at:

1. The Opening Ceremony, Chamber of Commerce Building (Maison des Entreprises), Spring Concordia, Marigot, Thursday, May 30, at 8 PM

2. The main book fair day, USM, Philipsburg, Saturday, June 1, from 9 AM – 5 PM To secure your table, I may be contacted at diplomatic_concept@hotmail.com

Since 2003, the St. Martin Book Fair has been offering to the people of St. Martin and our visitors three exciting days of Caribbean and international books, literature and culture, recitals, and exhibition of educational and media tools, highlighted with:

Multilingual/multi-topic workshops (English, Dutch, Kreyol, Spanish, Papiamentu, French).

Book exhibitions; Book launches and signings of newly published books.

Among the past book fair guest authors are: George Lamming, Xu Xi, Max Rippon, Nidaa Khoury, Lasana M. Sekou, Wena Poon, Frank Martinus Arion, Mutabaruka, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Tabish Khair, Emilio Jorge Rodríguez, Kendel Hippolyte, Chiqui Vicioso, Marion Bethel, Kamau Brathwaite, Camille Aubaude, Funso Aiyejina, Patrick Chamoiseau, Afua Cooper, Molefi K. Asante, Jr., Christian Campbell, David Abdulah, leading economist Norman Girvan, Harvard scholar Francis Abiola Irele, Nobel laureate Derek Walcott.

Over 1000 people participated in the St. Martin Book Fair activities in 2010 and 2011. We would be honored to have you and your family join us in 2013 for what promises to be a Charismatically Caribbean book fair. For additional information kindly contact us at Tel. (590) 690.30.73.66, consciouslyrics20@gmail.com or visit www.houseofnehesipublish.com for book fair updates at http://www.houseofnehesipublish.com/book_fair2040.html.

Sincerely,

Conneir Thelwell

Book Fair Committee

 

Personal Highlights from NILF and the Nature Isle

So the question I think I got most at the Nature Island Literary Festival was some version of what do you do? Ironic, considering I was at a literary festival, but understandable when you consider that most of us aren’t able to live by the pen. I ought to know. I’m living it, and way too often, it’s touch and go; other times though, weekends like this, it’s filled with words and laughter and opportunities to connect with other writers from our too far apart islands, to bathe in the language and creative spunk and spark of my people.

Me, with Barbadian poet Adrian Green who much to the delight of the audience performed twice during the festival. (Photo courtesy Celia Sorhaindo)

Highlights

I was able while at the NILF to re-connect with a former professor and mentor from my University of the West Indies days, Mervyn Morris

With former mentor and professor, Mervyn Morris. (Photo by Natalie Clarke)

; to re-connect with a newer friend from the land of publishing, Mario Picayo; to connect for the first time with the supremely talented Bajan brother Adrian Green, one of my festival favourites; to sit and chat with literary elder and engaging storyteller George Lamming (whomI’d seen speak a couple of times and whom I’d met before but never heard read from his work nor got the opportunity or maybe the nerves pre-NILF to sit and chat with).

It was also an opportunity to share my writing.

Photo by Celia Sorhaindo.

I read a new poem, Ode to the Pan Man, an old favourite, Ah Write! and, of course, an excerpt or two from my book Oh Gad!  one of the first readings I’ve done incidentally where nerves weren’t eating out my insides right beforehand – something I can only credit to how distracted I was by the opportunity to hear and listen to such great Caribbean talent, too distracted to wonder what I was doing among them and worry if I was about to fall flat on my face.

Photo by Celia Sorhaindo.

I didn’t, by the way. The reviews to my reading were largely positive and I’m hoping (as I do after every such event) that word of mouth will be positive and it will be reflected in my sales going forward.

But honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about that, then.

Such sentiments were drowned out by the festival energy, out under the tent, flanked by the green mountains of Dominica, on the grounds of the UWI campus, which was filled with music: from the Sisserou singers who opened the festival to the Venezuelan musician and dancers who provided lunch time entertainment to the Rastafarian (Nyabinghi) drummer who spontaneously accompanied some of the poets or just played for pleasure during the breaks so that it never felt like there was nothing happening to the blast of the trumpet during the poetic performances by Reseau Poetique Guadeloupe…

If you missed it, and I hope you won’t again, hint hint, you also missed:

Roger Bonair-Agard: the coolest things about him aren’t even the “duende” he has tattooed into his arm or the Mohawk he sort of seems to be growing out, though those were pretty cool, not when his words of fire are the main attraction;

Lennox Honychurch: the esteemed Dominican historian still has a charmingly boyish enthusiasm for his subject and an ability to make history come alive – as his audience, we were well and truly enraptured as he did a literature review of books mentioning Dominica by visitors, all the way back to Columbus’ time, all the way forward to the near-present (one of the striking things was how people really do see what they want to see, which is not necessarily the same as what’s right in front of their nose);

The Book Fair: though I would have liked to see my book and books by all the participating authors on sale at the event, it was for any bibliophile, a temptation, especially the Papillotte Press and local books section in no small measure because these, well, they are books by local authors and/or books reflecting local culture, and if you’re like me you kind of want to take a piece of wherever you visit with you (case in point the book of french creole sayings that I bought);

The Craft Fair: And how inspired of them to marry a craft fair to the book fair and literary festival, as if they just knew that Creatives (or is it just women?) can’t resist well crafted jewelry (I got three, count ‘em, three pieces – let’s just say that artisans Albert Casimir and Julian James are also persuasive salesmen);

The Workshops: It was nice sitting in a class led by Professor Morris again with whom I was paired in the UWI mentorship programme and who also taught my first fiction writing course, and subsequently recommended to me the Caribbean Fiction Writers Summer Institute at the University of Miami, which I applied to and was accepted, where I started The Boy from Willow Bend during my first grueling workshop experience, and the rest is history, as they say. What I remember of Professor Morris, apart from the things that he introduced me to (including the Jamaican theatrical scene), was that he was one of the early readers and critics and encouragers of my work (perhaps the most significant since previous mentor Calvin Holder, who taught me English Lit at the Antigua State College). I didn’t think he’d remember me (it was so long ago). But he did and it was nice to see him again and to sit quietly (mostly quietly) while he gently nudged writers to discover the best in their work as he’d done for me all those years earlier. On a morning such as that, even the buzzing cell phones (sorry, this is one of my pet peeves… should you have to tell people to silence their cell phones in certain settings) were a mild nuisance, at worst. I enjoyed the bit of play he brought to the session and indeed, Professor Morris, randomness can be quite logical and illuminating, revealing things that are surprising and true (because, as you said, if you’re only using your conscious mind, you’re only writing about what you think you know);

The opportunities to engage in impromptu discussions around artistic issues and the issues that spring from that – from Dominican artistes lamenting some of the unexpected realities of attempts to collect artiste royalties to book publishing it was illuminating…and a reminder of how far we still have to go as writers in the Caribbean to creating an environment that encourages us along our path;

The organized discussions around issues like the lyrics in the bouyon music (which echoed the controversy surrounding Antigua and Barbuda’s road march winning song, Kick een she back doh and made me wish that just as WCK founders readily stepped to the stage to explore the meaning and the music, our artistes here could be similarly engaged) and the challenges (and contradictions) vis-a-vis press freedom (again, an issue all too familiar to Antiguan and Barbudan people);

The opportunities to reflect – like I’ll be musing over this point from George Lamming’s keynote address, borrowed I believe from Norman Manley: “There is a difference between living in a place and belonging to it”;

The opportunity to be engaged by fiction and poetry with which you feel a real sense of belonging – a connection – because at heart it’s about you, your world whether written by Merle Hodge in Trinidad or Adrian Augier in St. Lucia.

It is that sense of connection that no doubt stirred the audience to laughter and stirred other darker and more heated emotions, leaving us all (or certainly me) feeling filled, fulfilled, and enlightened, if a little wet – this is the nature isle after all.

Kudos to Alwyn Bully and his team, especially my host Natalie Clarke

who, combined with all the above, made this a truly enjoyable experience.

Please note all except one photo used in this post are courtesy Celia Sorhaindo. Other images from the festival can be found here. Please do not use any of her photos without her permission.

Find out more on the festival here.

A reminder that 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, and Oh Gad!). All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, 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.

As for that recurring question about what I do for a living. This might answer the question.