Students are invited to interview an Antiguan/Barbudan elder, and submit a story about “ole time days” in Antigua & Barbuda. For the Visual Arts component, students are asked to submit a piece of artwork that illustrates either a story handed down, or portrays the storyteller.
This year’s prizes include:
First Place: Note book computer;
Second Place: Digital Camera;
Third Place: EC$100 gift certificate to Best of Books.
Where:
Antigua & Barbuda House
12 West 122 St Harlem, NY
Message from Host
We are pleased to announce our 2015 Author In Residence, Natasha Lightfoot, Ph.D, Professor of History at Columbia University, and author of “Troubling Freedom: Antigua And The Aftermath Of Emancipation”. Admission is free, but RSVP required to reserve seating. Books will be available and refreshments will be served.
By Friends of The Antigua Public Library
***DISCLAIMER: By definition, you’ll be linking to third party sites from these Links-We-Love pages. Linked sites are not, however, reviewed or controlled by Wadadli Pen (the blog, the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize nor coordinator/blogger Joanne C. Hillhouse); and Wadadli Pen (the blog, the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize and coordinator/blogger Joanne C. Hillhouse) disclaims any responsibility or liability relating to any linked sites and does not assume any responsibility for their contents. In other words, enter at your own risk.
Updating these links, it hits me how impermanent the web is (though we like to say the internet is forever): so many sites have gone altogether or gone stagnant since Wadadli Pen started and since I started keeping this list. We’re still here though; let’s have a party! But first, check out the links.
Antigua and Barbuda Studies Association – this is the organization behind the Antigua Conference and the Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books, two initiatives that have fueled inquiry into and documentation of the Antigua and Barbuda literary culture and a range of socio-economic and historical issues and personalities; while connecting the deep and vast network of scholars from Antigua and Barbuda.
http://www.antiguanice.com – Before Wadadli Pen ever had its own site, it had a page on Antigua Nice, the country’s local online hub, thanks to the generosity of Colin and Alison Sly-Adams.
http://antiguastories.wordpress.com/about/ – The Friends of Antigua Public Library is interested in collecting oral histories; some of them are posted here. Do you have a story to share? I’m sure they’d like to hear it.
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The Antiguanization Project – here’s their facebook
Antiguan Writer – this is my current you tube channel
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Archeology Antigua with Dr. Reginald Murphy, director of Heritage Resources for the National Parks Antigua, president of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology, affiliated Professor of the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, co-director on the Human Eco-dynamics Research Group CUNY Graduate Center, co-founder and President of the Museum of Antigua, and the Secretary General for the National Commission UNESCO Antigua and Barbuda. Dr. Murphy is, also, a “Restoration Ambassador to the St. John’s Cathedral, a trustee of the Clarence House Restoration Trust in the U.K., Chairman of the Betty’s Hope Estate Project, and a director of the Barbuda Research and Archaeological Center.
http://danielleboodoofortune.blogspot.com – I’ve been a fan of Trini Danielle Boodoo Fortune’s poetry since I met and shared a panel with her in Barbados in 2008. Who knew she was such a delightful artist as well?
http://www.darienbookaid.org – In existence since 1949, Darien Book Aid is a non-profit, all volunteer organization that builds a foundation of peace, understanding, and friendship through the free distribution of books. Book Aid sends books in response to specific requests from Peace Corps volunteers, libraries and schools all over the world Books are also donated to libraries, prisons, hospitals, and Native American and Appalachian groups in the United States. Among the groups, Dariend Book Aid has donated to is the Cushion Club right here in Antigua.
DDX Channel – This YouTube find has interviews with various Caribbean personalities – across sports, academia, the arts, media, and more. Its founder and interviewer hails from London. He is a Brit of Caribbean descent – born to a Caribbean mother and a English-born father of Caribbean descent. He has a deep interest in Caribbean history and a desire to document interesting people, capturing their stories while they’re healthy and alive, for his own enjoyment and to give others an insight in to what they do. Which, in addition to being a resource for school work or other purpose, can be useful in helping people learn more about themselves. This is the video that led me to the site, an interview with Antiguan and Barbudan scholar Dr. Natasha Lightfoot
and this is the one that sold me on the channel, this delightfully unorthodox interview (what DDX calls a Thread Bag Session) with local star sprinter Cejhae Greene.
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Frank Walter – a site dedicated posthumously to showcasing the life and work of the late Antiguan and Barbudan artist.
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http://freshmilkbarbados.com/ – Fresh Milk is a Caribbean non-profit, artist-led, inter-disciplinary organization that supports creatives and promotes wise social, economic, and environmental stewardship through creative engagement with society and by cultivating excellence in the arts.
http://islandstyle.typepad.com – Okay, so this site isn’t strictly literary but the blogger (an Antiguan) does have an engaging style and occasionally posts excerpts of fictions. But mostly it’s about fashion…and what’s wrong with that?
The Museum of Antigua and Barbuda – Opened in 1985 and housed in one of the oldest and best preserved buildings on the island, this is, of course, one of the best spots for exploring Antigua and Barbuda’s history. See the old Museum site.
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Museum of Photography and Fine Arts – Photo museum showcasing the history of Antigua & Barbuda – a project of photographer and publisher Timothy Payne – located in the upstairs gallery at the Multipurpose Centre Perry Bay – the subject matter is mostly historical
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National Archives database – digitization of some of the material related to the history of Antigua and Barbuda.
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Nugents of Antigua – bumped across this bit of local history, thought I’d share it.
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Other Artists – a gallery page that includes bios of several Antiguan and Barbudan artists.
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Permit me to mention this other artist, Barbadian artist Sheena Rose, whom I had the opportunity to profile for my former Zing column Creative Space – http://sroseart.tumblr.com/
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I edited a book for this blogger, a delicious culinary book. It’s not in wide release yet; meantime, check out her blog: Sitting in a Mango Tree.
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The Spectator is a publication by Petra Williams of Antigua and Barbuda.
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It’s a little known secret that while I don’t cook (well), I do watch cooking shows and troll cooking sites like this one: Tastes Like Home.
Travelling Light – this site is on a mission to collect an object – physical or virtual – from every country in the world. And, yes, I sent them something from Antigua and Barbuda.
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I like the beauty of Van Gogh’s art and find his life so fascinating…fascinating like I’d like to see it on screen someday, with maybe Michael Fassbender in the title role…yeah, I’d go see that…in the meantime, check out the man and his work – Van Gogh, not Fassbender – here at the Van Gogh Gallery.
White Creole Conversations – a new dialogue privileging open and honest communication. Rather than asking ‘who am I?’ the question posed might be ‘who are you?’ The focus of the conversations pivot on issues to do with race and class in this small post-colonial island space and take place between the artist and the participant.
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http://womenspeak.tumblr.com/ – This is a space for women to share their stories, embrace their power, and celebrate their womanhood. It’s also a space of vulnerability and pain where the struggles and sacrifices are spotlighted. It’s an inclusive space, constantly updated with information and prompts designed to engage the reader in the process. Also, it’s 100 percent Caribbean. Check it out.
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WiWords – a user driven online dictionary of Caribbean terms.
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Hard to get printed historical material seems to be available through this site.
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Met Annie Paul at the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars conference in 2012. This is where she blogs on the literary arts and other things. Also had the opportunity to reconnect with well known author, literary scholar and former professor Carolyn Cooper and like Paul she is another thought provoking blogger out of Jamaica. Here’s where she stirs it up.
Chief Librarian of Antigua and Barbuda Dorothea Nelson, was recently succeeded by Ryllis Mannix (well, so was my understanding in early summer when this was originally posted), upon her retirement from this all-too-important role. I learned the hard way, having held a summer job at the Public Library as a teen under Nelson’s predecessor Phylis Mayers, that library work is not all sitting around reading the day away (Had it been that I might have stuck with it when Ms. Mayers, still one of my favourite bosses to date, encouraged me to do so). The Antiguan and Barbudan librarian has the added challenge of functioning under very trying circumstances given the cramped quarters downtown that serve as the library facilities while the library building project continues to drag on (the library’s woes began with the 1974 quake which did irrepairable damage to the old library at the bottom of High Street ). These committed ladies though made lemonade out of them sour lemons. So, as she takes her bow, we say “big up” to Ms. Nelson who, based on my interviews with her in my capacity as a journalist, made digitizationof library stocks and services, and community outreach priorities during her 10-year run. Read more about her here You’ll note that the article ends with some of her writing; here’s some more.
The Friends of Antigua Public Library’s ‘Summer Read’ programme is only one of several initiatives organized by this NY based group. Other programmes include the annual short story competition, the story nights and Collecting Memories project, the book club and ‘Meet the Author’ series , the contribution of resources and funds to library and educational initiatives at home. I applaud their efforts and in this gallery update feature a few scenes from the annual pizza party that marks the end of the annual ‘Summer Read’ programme – described by them as “a themed, educational program geared toards the children of Antigua and Barbuda”. Stop by their page for a window to past Summer Read programmes. Need a little push, check out the images below (clearly the kids are huge fans of the Friends as well).
Wadadli Pen 
