Carib Lit Plus (Early to Mid August 2022)

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 – credit and link back if you use).

Farewells

Antigua and Barbuda and the pan fraternity worldwide bid farewell to one of the best to ever do it, son of the soil Victor ‘Babu’ Samuel. An official funeral was held on August 8th 2022 at the Antigua Recreation Grounds. The eulogy was delivered by former PM and steelpan lover Baldwin Spencer, a long time friend and collaborator of Babu through their mutual relationship with the Halycon Steel Orchestra. The service featured performances by Trinidad and Tobago’s Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe, the Antigua Dance Academy, and Rudolph Davis, principal of St. Joseph’s Academy, for which Babu arranged, leading them to several wins in the schools panorama competition. Steelbands performing at the service were Halcyon, Panache, West Side Symphony, Gemonites, Hell’s Gate, along with the Point Iron Band. Babu who was a multi-winning pan arranger with Halcyon Steel Orchestra, with which he played since the 1970s, died on June 28th 2022 after a prolonged illness. Babu, a 2001 national award recipient, pioneered the Law Enforcement Steel within the police force. A notable role of Babu’s which he speaks about this interview for Halcyon’s anniversary with The Spectator (an interview well worth watching for an understanding of the developmental challenges still faced by the art form even as we posthumously honour one of the men who fought hardest for its development), was youth pan development programme and specifically the National Youth Pan Orchestra which abruptly ended, as he states in the interview (and as written about in my CREATIVE SPACE interview with Culture department pan programme coordinator Barbara Mason). A post-note of the funeral, based on calls to Observer radio the day after the funeral, is that Halcyon was reportedly disallowed from playing Babu to the cemetary given that it was an official funeral. (Source – Daily Observer newspaper)

Content

The Humane Society of Antigua and Barbuda has distributed more than 4,000 copies of its All Creatures Great and Small Colouring Book to public and private pre-schools and kindergartens; if you’re in Antigua and Barbuda, to collect, call them at 461-4957. (Source – Daily Observer newspaper)

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Dotsie Isaac is in conversation with Joanne C Hillhouse for the August 10th installment of the latter’s CREATIVE SPACE art and culture column.

This one is also added to the Wadadli Pen Reading Room and Gallery, as well as the related playlist on the Wadadli Pen YouTube channel, and A & B Artists Discussing Art; so, be sure to check those links as well (and like, subscribe, comment, share). The CREATIVE SPACE column runs this (August 10th 2022) and every other Wednesday in the Daily Observer newspaper and online at the Jhohadli blog. (Source – me)

Events

Antiguan and Barbudan cyclist Andre Simon who was injured while riding one day and has had to be flown off-island for further treatment. A number of fundraisers have been organized to assist with medical expenses. The latest, at this writing, is an announced gospel concert “Each One Reach One”, August 14th 2022, SJPC House of Restoration Ministries on Lauchland Benjamin Drive. (Source – Valerie Gonsalves-Barreiro on Facebook <— Contact her for tickets)

Accolades

The Booklyn Caribbean Literary Festival has a short list; matter of fact, they have two.

BCLF ELIZABETH NUNEZ CARIBBEAN-AMERICAN WRITER’S PRIZE SHORT LIST 2022

Jazz Sanchez – Cock Soup – JAMAICA

Amaris Castillo – El Don – DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Rachelle J .Gray – Peter 3:15 – BARBADOS

Elesa Chan – Jumbie – GUYANA

Yvika Pierre – Nadege goes Home – HAITI

BCLF ELIZABETH NUNEZ AWARD FOR WRITERS IN THE CARIBBEAN

Denise Westfield – The Valley- St. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES

Topher Allen – A Familiar Friction- JAMAICA

Kirk Bhajan – The La Diablesse of Ecclessville – TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Callie Browning -The Science of Garbage – BARBADOS

Alexia Tolas – The Fix – BAHAMAS

Lisa Allen-Agostini – Meeting Beverley Jones -TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Sara Bastian – The Girl With Your Grandmother’s Eyes – BAHAMAS

Portia Subran – Please Take One- TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Martine Magnus – One for the Books – JAMAICA

Kwame Weekes – Green Thumb – TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

(Source – BCLF email)

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Monique Roffey (awarding winning British-based Trinidad writer) and Polly Patullo (who owns the UK-Dominica press Papillote) have been made honorary fellows with the Royal Society of Literature. In the largest mass induction in RSL’s history, nearly 100 fellows and honorary fellows signed the RSL’s historical roll book with a famous writer’s pen. This was the first year writers could use the Andrea Levy (UK-Jamaican writer) and Jean Rhys (Dominican-European writer) pens since they were introduced to the collection for the 200th birthday of the RSL in 2020. To be nominated as a Fellow, a writer must have published or produced two works of outstanding literary merit, and nominations must be made by two Fellows or Honorary Fellows. The 2022 inductees also include the first cohort of Fellows elected through RSL Open, a flagship programme celebrating the great diversity of outstanding writers and writing in Britain. (Source – JRLee email)

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Coming out of Antigua and Barbuda’s Carnival congrats to Revo Band (cheers to Daddy Barlo) recognized as the first and sweetest sounding jam band on the road at j’ouvert; Mud Mas awarded as the first j’ouvert troupe. The winning road march tune is “How M’ Sound” by Lyricks Man (who is also the Jumpy Party Monarch). The runner up for road march is soca veteran Claudette ‘CP’ Peters – a former winner (first female to do so) in her own right, and also once again crowned as Antigua and Barbuda’s Groovy Party Monarch. Her tune is “Stressless”.

Second runner-up for road march (song played most on the road) is another former party monarch Tian Winter with “Stressless”. The opening parade cheerleading competition was won by Xplosion, with AS and BK cheerleaders following. The winning opening parade float was the Ministry of Tourism’s followed by the Transport Board and State Insurance. The T-shirt mas winner is Icons followed by Redd Hot Nation and Xclusive Mas. (Source – ABS TV/Radio on Facebook)

Additionally, the Calypso Monarch winners are Trevor ‘Zacari’ King in the social commentary segment and Tian in the Bacchanal segment – runners up are Ge’Eve and Peetron in social commentary and Sammie C and Thalia runners up in Bacchanal. This is Zacari’s fifth calypso monarch crown. Usually there is one calyspo monarch, with artists having to compete in two segments, unofficially with a serious song and a party song, but this year, it was decided to have two segments with different line-ups. (Source – Observer Media by Newsco Ltd on Facebook)

Screen cap of Insane Mas Troupe from the ABS TV Carnival stream.

Unclear (at this writing) what happened to the band of the year announcement re the winning troupe or troupes; it was not a part of the official results posted and no mention of why in that posting – disappointing. Possibly it had to do with Carnival being COVID cancelled for two years and the late announcement of its staging this year. Still something should have been said when the results were published.

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!, Musical Youth, With Grace, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure, and The Jungle Outside). All Rights Reserved. Subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.

Carib Lit Plus (Early to Mid January 2022)

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).

Happy New Year! And let’s hope it truly is happy.

Milestones

Celebrated St. Lucian poet Kendel Hippolyte, named as you’ll see below as the person tapped to deliver the Sir Derek Walcott memorial lecture during poet laureates’ week, is being feted for another reason this January – a birthday milestone. Hippolyte turned 70 (three score and 10) on January 9th 2022.

Wadadli Pen’s Joanne C. Hillhouse who also celebrated her remarkably non-milestone birthday this month, January 5th, is pictured with Kendel HIpplyte at their first meeting, at the Congrès International des écrivains de la Caraïbe in 2013.

“Kendel Hippolyte was once described as “perhaps the outstanding Caribbean poet of his generation.” Besides being honored with the St. Lucia Gold Medal of Merit for his contribution to the arts, he joins Derek Walcott, Vladimir Lucien, and Canisia Lubrin as one of only four St. Lucians to win an OCM Bocas Prize, the English-speaking Caribbean’s most prestigious literary award. Note, however, Hippolyte won the poetry prize, while the other three won both the poetry and overall prize.”

Click here to read three poems by fellow Lucian poet John Robert Lee dedicated to Hippolyte on this occasion. (Source – Jako Productions)

Farewells

Antigua and Barbuda media veteran and Rastafari elder King Frank I has been laid to rest in an official state-funded funeral held at the Sir Vivian Richards national stadium.

There were five pages of coverage of the funeral in the Daily Observer including reporting of performance of Farewell to a King by the Nyabinghi Theocracy Order. Francis was credited for activism that has led to Rastafari being more integrated into society. Frank I’s children Jomo Hunte St. Rose, and daughters Malaika and Denise Francis, the latter also a media worker, paid tribute to their dearly departed dad. Denise invoked her father’s well known sign off: “We know Jah will continue to guide, continue to keep fit, and to always be a good sport.” Read that full article here:

frank-i-remembrance-1Download

In an article in the subsequent issue, head of the Reparations Support Commission, of which King Frank I was a part, Dorbrene O’Marde, is said to have indicated that the Commission will be seeking some way to honour him. “We have lost an example of steadfast commitment to a cause…we have lost a proud proclaimer of the fact that although he was not born in Africa, Africa was born in him…” O’Marde was quoted as saying, during the ceremony, of his friend of more than 60 years. Read in full:

frank-i-remembranceDownload

(Source – Daily Observer newspaper)

Events

The Sir Derek Walcott Memorial Lecture (mentioned immediately below) is only one of a full week of activities which began on January 10th 2022 in celebration of Nobel Laureates Week in St. Lucia. The Windward island has two such Laureates – Walcott for Literature and Sir Arthur Lewis for Economics. The full listing of activities can be found here. (Source – Jako Productions)

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Bocas Award winning St. Lucian playwright and poet Kendel Hippolyte will deliver this year’s Derek Walcott Memorial Lecture January 18th 2022.

Read about him here.

Tune in online at
Facebook: @NobelLaureateFestivalSaintLuciaFacebook
Youtube: @cdfsaintluciaNTN
Flow Channel 122UWITV
Flow Channel 105

(Source – Facebook)

Accolades

Antiguan-Canadian writer Tanya Evanson’s Book of Wings has been named to the 2022 Canada Reads long list. Read about it here. (Source – Author’s facebook)

It has also been added to Antiguans and Barbudans Awarded.

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This round up of 2021 book prize winners includes several Caribbean writers: namely, Barbadian Cherie Jones, a finalist for the Woman’s Prize for Fiction for How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House; and Jamaican Maisy Card, a finalist for the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, part of the Los Angeles Time Book prize, for These Ghosts are Family. (Source – email)

Publication News

Jamaican Poet Laureate Olive Senior’s Hurricane Watch: New and Collected Poems lands at the end of January 2022. From Carcanet.

(Source – Twitter)

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You know that Wadadli Pen team member Floree Williams Whyte’s latest book dropped in December and she features in the first CREATIVE SPACE of 2022.

(Source – Me)

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There were seven book publications out of St. Lucia in 2021, according to Jako Productions. “These included two memoirs (My Journey, and You Left Me Broken), two commentaries on St. Lucian Art and culture (The Reign of Terra, and Dance Footprints), a children’s book (The Reunion: The adventures of Froggy-T & Bunnie), a book of poetry (Ear to My Thoughts), and a commentary on St. Lucian politics (No Man’s Land: A Political Introspection of St. Lucia). Added to this list is Scream, a murder mystery novel by McDonald Dixon, a leading St. Lucian poet and novelist, to be launched this month.” (Jako Productions). The post also singled out multi-award winning St. Lucian poet Canisia Lubrin for commendation. (Source – Jako email)

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The latest issue of Moko: Caribbean Arts and Letters has landed. Issue 20’s theme is Thanksgiving and it includes as its cover image ‘Daylight’ by Stefan Rampersad/Alexander Phoenyx, part of the Trinidad and Tobago artist’s Caribe Arch series.

Poets featured in the issue are Jason Allen-Paisant, Fawzia Muradali Kane, and Edythe Rodriguez. The issue includes reviews of Celeste Mohammed’s Pleasantview, Shara McCallum’s No Ruined Stone, Lisa Allen-Agostini’s The Bread the Devil Knead, Bermudan poet Nancy Anne Miller’s contribution to Moko’s One Poem One Poet series. The fiction consists of winners of the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival short fiction prize of 2021 Patrice Grell Yursik (Daughter 4) and Akhim Alexis (The Wailers); and new stories in the “sky islands” speculative fiction universe curated by Fabrice Guerrier including his own ‘Magic Mangoes’, alongside ‘Ixie and Izzy‘ by Joanne C. Hillhouse (she, of Wadadli Pen and Antigua and Barbuda) and ‘Rock, Feather, Shell’ by Celeste Rita Baker. The issue is edited by Andre Bagoo. (Source – twitter)

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As part of its mission, non-profit The Antigua and Barbuda Humane Society has released a colouring book, All Creatures Great and Small, as part of its mission to create a more animal-friendly environment by promoting care. The assembly and printing of the books was funded by King’s Casino Antigua. The Amatos family, meanwhile, donated boxes of crayons, among other items, to be paired with the books. The books are intended for distribution to pre and primary schools; and some are on sale in the Humane Society’s merchandise shop. For more information on this initiative and to donate towards future initiatives, call 268-461-4957. (Source – the Daily Observer newspaper)

Site Updates

Writers continue to be added to the Antiguan and Barbudan Writers (+Artists) on the Web, the Antiguan and Barbudan Fiction and Antiguan and Barbudan Writing, and the Caribbean Writers Online data bases. An addition too to Reading Room and Gallery 42 and the Opportunities page. The addition of a new Antigua and Barbuda Literary Works Reviewed. (Source – me)

Shout Outs

To the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival BCLF Cocoa Pod on Apple podcasts. Congrats to them on the continued growth which has included, in addition to the popular literary festival, the short fiction story contests named for acclaimed writer Elizabeth Nunez, and now this podcast described as “a Caribbean storytelling experience in which writers of Caribbean heritage narrate their own stories. …rich with the rhythm, pitch and intonation of the one who wrote it.” We are informed, re the BCLF initiatives for writers (the festival, podcast, and interviews), that they are open to receiving author press kits/bios/links and, also, review copies or ARCs (new releases). 

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To Rebel Women Lit which while counting votes for the Caribbean Readers Awards, to be announced January 9th 2022 after voting closed at the end of 2021, has concurrently announced its Book Club Reading List for the year. The list is not exclusively Caribbean but includes Caribbean reads like Things I have Withheld by Kei Miller, Cereus Blooms at Night by Shani Mootoo, Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson, and The Dreaming by Andre Bagoo. (Source – RWL email)

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To my Jhohadli blog and specifically this round up post of recent publications and more. (Source – me)

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To New Caribbean Voices, a podcast on spotify, hosted by Malika Booker. It includes interviews with and readings by contemporary Caribbean authors. (Source – JR Lee email)

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To the Wadadli Music Scene blog, a project of jazz musicians Khadijah Simon and Foster Joseph, both of Antigua and Barbuda. The goal is to document stories related to Antigua and Barbuda’s music history. (Source – Foster Joseph who was interviewed in 2021 for CREATIVE SPACE)

Opportunities

Two Wadadli Pen team members, Barbara A. Arrindell and Joanne C. Hillhouse went on ABS TV on January 12th 2022 to discuss creative writing. Watch here.

Both are offering workshops. See flyers below.

(Source – me)

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The Catapult Creative Arts grant is back. The COVID-19 relief programme for Caribbean artists saw funds paid out for residencies, salons, and other arts activities. The new application cycle opens January 3rd 2022 closes January 14th 2022. Apply here. And, yes, you can apply again even if you are a past grant recipient. (Source – Repeating Islands)

Remember to check Opportunities Too for this and other arts opportunities with pending deadlines.

News

As I blogged recently 2019 Independence fashion show winner Nicoya Henry has yet to receive her government promised scholarship to study in Trinidad. My thoughts expressed in this CREATIVE SPACE Coda. (Source – me)

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Antiguan and Barbudan author Joan Underwood has been delivering live tips from her book Manager’s First Aid Kit on the Mornin’ Barbados show since October 2021. The four month stint was every Wednesday, each episode focus on a challenge covered in a chapter of the book and offering up practical challenges and solutions. See episodes missed in this playlist from Underwood’s YouTube channel. (Source – Underwood email)

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Antigua and Barbuda’s Cultural Industries Mapping Project announced in November 2021 that it received 430 responses to its survey.

The company chosen to create the National Cultural Information System/Cultural Portal is COMPUSULT LTD. Keep track here. (Source – Facebook)

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Antigua and Barbuda has a new culture minister. Michael Browne, the former minister of education whose cabinet appointment was withdrawn while he fought a charge which shall not be named, is to be re-appointed, having beat the charge, but under a different portfolio. Darryl Matthew who added education to culture and sports after Browne’s dis-appointment, is the outgoing minister of culture. Actually, it’s called creative industries these days, more fully creative industries and innovation – under which falls culture, carnival, independence, the one nation concert, V. C. Bird celebrations, visual arts, graphic arts, decorative arts, performing arts, musical arts, happiness and unity, innovatiion, and the UNOPS. This is according to an article in the Daily Observer. No specific reference to literary arts but google says UNOPS is the United Nations Office of Project Services. (Source – Daily Observer newspaper)

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, The Jungle Outside, 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.