Wadadli Pen Through the Years (2004 – 2010)

Cue Kenny Rogers’ Through the Years…as we launch the 5th installment of the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize (2004 – 2006, 2010 – present), let’s take a look back at moments from the programme’s six year run.

In 2004…

Verdanci Benta wowed the judges with her mature and accomplished entry, Shirley’s New Roommate. The then Golden Grove Primary School student won the ‘best under 12’ category and a spot in the top three overall; a reminder that it’s not about age, it’s about talent. Verdanci would show up in each subsequent competition, earning some form of recognition…most of the time.

Note the BWIA banner in the background? I have to give it up to corporate Antigua for stepping up to support, a new programme they knew little about. That year’s award ceremony was held at Heritage Hotel and a number of them showed up…so of course we had to get a group shot with Culture and Education officials, winners and/or their parents, and sponsor representatives (author S. E. James, front row left, Anicol and Caribbean Star, front row right).

As I look at the pic, I’m reminded how much I loved the stories that first year like, from far left standing, Siena Hunte’s Nuclear Familiy Explosion, Liscia Lawrence’s The Day I saw Evil, Gemma George’s Stray Dog Prepares for the Storm (the winning entry), Lia Nicholson’s Tekin Ahn Day (that’s her mom in the picture), and Damani Tabor’s Irate Beggar. The prizes that first year were well deserved. Here’s Gemma collecting her computer from Gerard Shoul of Comnett:

In 2005…

For all the times I’ve wished I could pursue programmes under Wadadli Pen as a full time paying job, it remains a volunteer gig. But in 2005, it felt like a full time job. There were writing workshops with the kids…

There was prize solicitation…here I am pictured with Paula Lee of Cable and Wireless at a media handover of their 2005 contribution:

There were in-school writing workshops like this one at Buckley’s Primary (which that year submitted the most entries):

                                                                                                            

There was media promotion, winner recordings, web site development, judging, and, of course, the prize giving ceremony (all of which required a lot of back ground prep from the partners which, at the time, included Young Explorer, D. Gisele Isaac, and Alstyne Allen). It cut into work time, to be sure, but paid off in other ways as this was our best year yet in terms of participation.

 The kids were beaming; the Youth Minister stopped by, Heather Doram, the then Culture Director, dropped some wisdom…

and later that year, three of the kids (Rilys Adams, Sarah Ann Li, and Sandrena Martin) won literary awards recognition from the Optimists. All in all, a good year.

In 2006…

We started not with the actual awards but with a joint literary showcase and fundraiser (Word Up!) with the Musuem of Antigua and Barbuda which attracted support from new and established writers (including Wadadli Pen finalists like Sandrena ; and which, as this Jermilla Kirwan image by Laura Hall shows, was highly entertaining .

The Museum (thanks, as always, to Michelle) was once again the venue, later that year, when we staged the Awards ceremony:

Sapped, I shelved Wadadli Pen for a couple of years, but returned …

In 2010 (still pressed for time but even more determined to keep it going) with new partners, an art component, and a theme driven approach (it was part of our Black History Month programme of activities). In that spirit, the awards ceremony  was part of a special BHM edition of Word Up (directed by Zahra Airall) which included dancing (Antigua Dance Academy) , drumming  (Zucan Bandele and friends), calypso (King Zacari), performance art (Argent), and poetry (Linisa George, ZIA, and Zee’s Youth Theatre channelling various Antiguan writers ).

Wadadli Pen was back…and here to stay (2011 launched just this week!), whatever it takes.

Flashback – Word Up! 2006

Word Up! was a literary showcase held for the first time in 2006 – with a revival in 2010 – in collaboration with the Museum which hosted the event. It was a joint fundraiser and an opportunity to shine the spotlight on Antigua’s literary stars such as

S. E James, author of the children’s adventure series that includes Tragedy on Emerald Island, A Narrow Escape, and Kidnapped at the Beach

S. E. James

Joy Lawrence, author of Island Spice, Colours and Rhythms, The Way We Talk, and The History of Bethesda and Christian Hill

Joy Lawrence

Dotsie Isaac Gellizeau, who can be heard on the Spoken Word CD Absouluuutely Dotsie

 

Tamo Zakela

Tamo Zakela, also known as Antigua's High Priest of Poetry

 Jermilla Kirwan, star of The Sweetest Mango and Diablesse (with which she also served as co-writer)

Jermilla Kirwan, writer and former Carnival Queen

 Kush David, poet and activist

Kush

Tameka Jarvis author of the poetry collections, I Am That I Am and I Am, and book of fiction (released 2010) Unexpected

 

Zeina Hechme who won the first of the Independence Literary Arts competitions in 2005

Sandrena Martin, 2005 Wadadli Pen Winner

and others. It was a really fun night, emceed by Natalie Clarke White, and well attended. Proceeds helped with the 2006 Wadadli Pen competition and part proceeds went to the museum. When Word Up! was held for the second time in 2010 it was directed by Zahra Airall with performances by her Zee’s Youth Theatre – interpreting the work of various Antiguan authors – and others . Proceeds from that were donated to the Red Cross for Haitian relief in the wake of the quake.

Photos by Laura Hall and/or Gemma Hazelwood

The Torturer by Sandrena Martin

2005 winner Sandrena Martin reads ‘The Torturer’ at the Word Up! 2006 fundraiser

[2005 Young Explorer Wadadli Youth Pen Winner]

He sits on his cushioned throne watching us, his sweaty, heaving slaves, from a platform not ten yards north of me. He, in all his elegance, sits there, an evil smile playing about his lips. I cannot and will not give him the satisfaction of seeing me falter! I have got to keep going. I must keep up the pace. I cannot afford to slow down.

Every now-and-again he gives us a look of disdain then turns back to his ever-growing harem of former field workers. He turns his attention to one of us in particular, a nicely shaped chocolate colored girl. He glares at her lustfully for a few minutes then beckons her to come join him. Mentally, part of me beseeches her to get away, to run as far away as possible from that swine of a man, even though the larger part wishes to be in her shoes. She will never have to work out here with us any more.

‘Why couldn’t that be me? Is this what my disfigurement has damned me to, a life of eternal toil?! Will I ever be free? Will I…’ Instantly, my thoughts of self-pity are cut short. Someone has just slipped. He shouts to us, unconcerned, that we should continue our work. Had he no heart?

I am entirely drenched in sweat. My body cries out for rest and I must obey. He spots me and slowly he walks towards me, his rod at his side, ever ready to deliver a chastising blow. Instead of striking me though, he speaks to me sharply, making me a public example. Hatred wells up in me and takes the place of my shame. I want to strike out! My hand even moves a bit, but I am, like every other fielder, powerless to stop him.

Under his watch full eye, I return to my ploughshare, my hatred driving me on as a man does his horse team in a race. He makes us pick up the pace and smiles when he sees most of us stumble as we try to keep up with his demands. He becomes even more callous and orders us to pick up the pace once more. Most of us, try, as we might, cannot keep up with the mad man and fall, which only serves to incite his wrath more.

Mercifully, the buzzer rings. We turn off our treadmills and grab our stuff. The instructor leaves with his arms around his latest conquest. The rest of us just file out of Torturer’s Gym, dejectedly. 

THE END

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