Shout out to Antiguan and Barbudan writer, Tammi Browne-Bannister, included in the collection So Many Islands – announced earlier this year, published this month.
The collection also includes works by
Tracy Assing • Trinidad and Tobago
Heather Barker • Barbados
Angela Barry • Bermuda
Cecil Browne • St Vincent and the Grenadines
Sabah Carrim • Mauritius
Damon Chua • Singapore
Marita Davies • Kiribati
Fetuolemoana Elisara • Samoa
Kendel Hippolyte • St Lucia
Erato Ioannou • Cyprus
Emma Kate Lewis • Malta
Karlo Mila • Tonga
Jacob Ross • Grenada
Melanie Schwapp • Jamaica
Mere Taito • Rotuma, Fiji
Mikoyan Vekula • Niue
Afterword by Sia Figiel
The collection which includes a foreword by Marlon James is edited by Nicholas Laughlin and Nailah Folami Imoja.
November 30th 2017 was publication day for my latest book, the children’s picture book, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure which tells the story of Dolphin, an Arctic seal who finds himself stranded in the Caribbean.
On December 1st 2017, the illustrator (Trinidad and Tobago artist and poet Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné), publisher (CaribbeanReads), and I (author Joanne C. Hillhouse) engaged in a promotional live facebook chat, which I’ve copied (with minor editing and a bit of jigsawing) below. Oh, there were emoticons but you’ll just have to picture (most of) those; I’ll keep the hashtags.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …Since I first read Lost! and started illustrating, I’ve been wondering about the true story of Wadadli the seal. It’s fascinating! Joanne, did the idea for a book come to you immediately?
Joanne C. Hillhouse …Immediately, no. Actually Wadadli’s story was some years before I wrote this. I was as surprised as anyone that it had imprinted on me in any particular way. I do think because I was doing a lot of school visits at the time and because I read to children as a volunteer reader with the Cushion Club, I kind of wanted to experiment with writing a children’s story. And the children at one of the schools I visited and the kids of the Cushion Club were actually the first to hear this story.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …An image of the actual seal Wadadli that inspired this story (quite literally finding himself stranded in the waters off Antigua and having to be helped home). I think you did an amazing job re-interpreting him and creating all of the other creatures he meets along the way, plus the world of the story.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …Yes, I think this was one of the first photos I saw in the early stages! It’s sometimes hard with animals, to give them human expressions, but luckily Wadadli had those gorgeous eyes to begin with.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …Very soulful eyes, yes.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …I’m always curious about a visual artist’s process… how did you approach this project?
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …I wanted to get a feel for all the characters’ personalities, especially Dolphin. I wanted to bring out those qualities of curiousity and playfulness that make him so endearing in the book. It was a joy to illustrate because the underwater setting made it the perfect fit for watercolours, my medium of choice.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …I always thought your aesthetic and style would be a good match for this story. #superfan
CaribbeanReads …I agree this definitely fit your style. As soon as I saw some of your earlier work I knew it would work well.
CaribbeanReads …How did this story come about Joanne?
Joanne C. Hillhouse …Wadadli, of course – the arctic seal who had made big news here and in environmental circles in the wider Caribbean after being stranded in waters off of Antigua. The need to have an actual children’s story for this children’s author label I carried erroneously (lol) for so long (since my first book The Boy from Willow Bend). The invitation the story extended for me to delve in to fantasy, which fascinates me. And the characters, the characters are always a draw, the main draw, when I’m writing – the main character’s challenge of making new friends when you’re in a strange place and feel like you’re sort of a weird one yourself (that’s actually what came first and everything kind of filled in around that). So that meeting scene between new friends is the first thing I remember clearly.
CaribbeanReads …Why did you picture him as a daydreamer?
Joanne C. Hillhouse …lol projection?
Joanne C. Hillhouse …He’s clearly a lover of stories – see his bond with his nema – and stories are all about living a little bit in your head. Plus it helped define him as a little bit different from his friends and provide an instigating incident for his adventure.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …I say that after the fact; in real time, as I was writing him, because he was a daydreamer.
CaribbeanReads …It definitely works
Joanne C. Hillhouse …Thanks.
CaribbeanReads …How did that day dreaming influence your illustrations, Danielle.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …Dolphin’s daydreaminess really helps define him, I think. It was the first thing that struck me when I started doing concept sketches of each of the characters. It set him apart from his friends…. aside from his nose of course. In the illustrations, I wanted his eyes to always be wide and filled with wonder.
CaribbeanReads …You definitely got that right!
Joanne C. Hillhouse …CaribbeanReads, as a publisher with an independent press, you have to be careful in your selections as your booklist is much shorter…what moved Lost! up the list in your mind? Why did you want to publish this book?
CaribbeanReads …We fell in love with the story. The two main characters are so different and equally loveable. The words conjured up beautiful images.
CaribbeanReads …We do have to be very careful about what we invest in but this was a no-Brainer. Children will love the story and the characters.
CaribbeanReads …My only concern was finding an illustrator to do it justice. I think we all agree that was a success.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …yep, agreed.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …Yay! Such an honour. I agree that children will love the story and the characters. It’s a bedtime favourite in my house already.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …Danielle, have you illustrated any other books or was this a new type of project for you?
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …I’ve worked on a few illustration projects, but this was definitely one of my favourites as I got to do full watercolour, every single page! 😀 I’ve always wondered, Joanne, how do you choose illustrators? Do specific ones come to mind for a book, or is it a process of looking through several options?
Joanne C. Hillhouse … Cool. It’s the publisher’s choice ultimately. But I was asked to make recommendations and you were at the top of my list …the only mark against you was that you weren’t Antiguan and I like to rope Antiguan artists in to my projects if I can…but I didn’t hold it against you (lol)…and clearly I didn’t know if you did book illustrations though I knew your art…and really it was your art …there was one underwater piece in particular that made me think heeeyyy …it was a woman sort of suspended and the suggestion of movement and at the same time stillness/solace…don’t remember the name…but really your entire oeuvre generally…, your style, your aesthetic, something about the delicacy and beauty and flow of your lines and the whimsy of your artistic voice (different in some ways from your poetic voice) that made me think you could see the world I imagined. I’m glad to know I was right.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …Lost! was really a delight to work on. Thank you for inviting me to be such a big part of Dolphin’s story. 😊
Joanne C. Hillhouse …☺️
Joanne C. Hillhouse …Danielle, any particular challenges during the process?
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …Working with a wee one-year-old assistant clinging to my legs! 😂 My little one, Rafael, was so fascinated by the illustrations. Other than that, not at all. CaribbeanReads was a pleasure to work with, and the story was so visual and lovely.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …😆😀
Joanne C. Hillhouse …And thanks. I’m just glad the story didn’t leave you uninspired. Lol.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …Joanne, how do you switch so seamlessly from children’s fiction to poetry to blogging, etc? And you do each one so well. I’m in awe. #superfantoo
Joanne C. Hillhouse …It’s not seamless at all, but it helps that I don’t think in terms of genres. I don’t like boundaries around art (and some of the snobbery that inspires it) either as a reader or a writer. I write from character and curiousity (the things I’m trying to understand, or in this case the what if…). I did learn, and this was the challenge, that editing something you’ve written for a young reader poses certain unique challenges – in terms of reading level, vocabulary, abstract v. non abstract thinking etc.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …That makes a lot of sense. I find that when I don’t think of myself as a ‘poet’ or ‘writer’, but just someone trying to explore an idea through poetry or painting, the work is so much stronger. I love that idea of writing from curiousity.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …Yeah writing helps me process and make sense of the world. So if you see me being miserable, I’m probably blocked.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …Me too! It all feels like chaos when I’m blocked. 😂
Joanne C. Hillhouse …For me, it feels like being cut off from myself. Hate that space.
Joanne C. Hillhouse …Oh, you know what else I’m curious about, the process visually of distinguishing between the world of the Arctic and the world of the Caribbean…underwater.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …I had to show some restraint with the Arctic underwater world, not go too crazy with colour. Lots of cooler blue hues, less undersea life. When Dolphin got to the Caribbean Sea, I used lots of warmer tones, swirls, different kinds of application techniques.
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné …And CaribbeanReads was really great about giving feedback!
Joanne C. Hillhouse …p.s. for anyone who doesn’t know Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné and I first met in 2008 when we were presenters at a panel Celebrating Caribbean Women writers in Barbados (early in both our writing journeys) – so thrilled to have had the opportunity to work on a project with her FINALLY – she is one of our distinctive modern poetic voices. Don’t sleep on her talent. It’s actually not fair that she’s just as talented with images as she is with words.
(So that’s pretty much it. We opened it up to anyone to ask questions but, short of that, had fun having that conversation among ourselves; I think you’ll agree there were some interesting insights.)
Joanne C. Hillhouse …This was a rare treat. …Thanks for hanging Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné and CaribbeanReads … Joanne C. Hillhouse signing off from Antigua. Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure to the world. #bestseller #speakingitintoexistence
This just popped in to my social media newsfeed so I had to pause to big up Floree Williams Whyte who now has her own publishing imprint, Moondancer.
Floree Williams Whyte is part of the Wadadli Pen team: she’s been a judge since 2012 and, in 2016, became a part of the core advisory and action team as we move toward becoming a formal non-profit and solidifying the foundation we’ve been building since we launched in 2004. So, we had to take a moment to shout her out and big her up for this major milestone on her publishing journey.
Per Moondancer’s facebook page: Moondancer Books is a small press, publishing Caribbean based books. This ever expanding brand, owned by Floree Williams Whyte, encompasses anything that is creative, inspiring and literary.
She’s also announced on the page that this book is coming soon:
Per us: Floree is a talented writer who first hit the market with Pink Teacups and Blue Dresses, a book of sometimes quirky and always authentic vignettes of growing up, Antiguan. Her second book was Through the Window.
While Floree has self-published before (Through the Window), setting up an imprint is a different level (a level at which you’re a business woman with an independent publishing house). Kudos to her for taking that step.
And you can be sure we’ll be trying to grab her for a guest post or Q & A about this new step here on Wadadli Pen soon.
As with all content on Wadadli Pen, except otherwise noted, this is written by Antiguan and Barbudan writer Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Oh Gad!, Fish Outta Water, Musical Youth, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight 10th Anniversary Edition and Other Writings, and With Grace; also a freelance writer, editor, writing coach and workshop facilitator). All Rights Reserved. If you like the content here follow or recommend the blog, also, check out my page on Amazon, WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen and my books. Thank you.
On Wednesday 21st December 2016, the Best of Books bookstore on St. Mary’s Street hosted the launch of the latest book by Antiguan and Barbudan writer Joanne C. Hillhouse. The book, With Grace, a Caribbean faerie tale, is the sixth book and second children’s picture book by the local writer.
“In With Grace, Joanne has shared a magical story set in familiar Caribbean places,” said Best of Books manager Barbara Arrindell. “I enjoyed reading it to myself and I can’t wait to read it to some of the little people in my life.”
The book, in summary, is the story of Grace who leads a carefree life in Grace’s Peak, looking down on the villagers, until a little girl comes in search of assistance, changing both of their lives forever.
Hillhouse said, at the launch, that she was happy to create a book in which young Caribbean children could see themselves reflected – see someone, a girl and a faerie/fairy who looks like so many of them – as this is rare in the fairytale sub-genre.
Among those who’ve submitted endorsements of the book are Alscess Lewis-Brown, editor of the Caribbean Writer, published by the University of the Virgin Islands, who’s written on the book jacket, “With Grace explores a Caribbean space richly woven with magic, mystery, and fantasy – an engaging fable not only for young readers but any reader poised for a new reading experience that twists and turns on a suggestion of allegory.”
With Grace is published by Little Bell Caribbean and Mario Picayo, publisher and children’s author in his own right, described the book on the jacket as “beautiful, well thought, and meaningful.”
At the launch, excerpts from With Grace were read by Tamare Banis and Anya Hull of the Cushion Club reading club for kids, with which Hillhouse served as a longtime volunteer, and by the author herself. She also fielded questions about the book and her writing career. Absent from the launch but celebrated for the quality of her illustrations in the book was Barbadian artist Cherise Harris.
While the kids were entertained at the launch with colouring sheets, adults had a chance to win as a door prize an earlier Hillhouse book, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight 10th Anniversary Edition and Other Writings. This prize was claimed by Agnes Meeker.
The formalities were followed by the purchasing and signing of With Grace, now available at the Best of Books and soon to be in other bookshops and markets – regionally and internationally.
The launch event was emceed by Best of Books supervisor Glen Toussaint.
Here, Wadadli Pen will be celebrating award wins (including sometimes award nominations and shortlisting, and accolodes) by Antiguan and Barbudan writers. It came about when I’d bump in to laudatory accomplishments (beyond publishing) but couldn’t figure out where to put them. The Antiguan and Barbuda Writings pages are bibliographies, and neither the Reviews page nor the journal publications page were right. So, here we go. Please note, this page is a work-in-progress. As with the other named sections, it will be updated somewhere between when I find updates and when I find the time to post them. I’m not ranking the awards at this point (some are local, some regional, some international, some prestigious, some not so much…I’m just adding them as I can). No omissions or errors (and there are plenty, no doubt) are intentional. As always if you have information that will help me flesh out the content, let me know. Conversely, if you wish to be removed, no problem, just let me know that too.
Wadadli Youth Pen Prize Challenge wins are not listed here but if you want to see the winners of that in-house prize through the years, go here.
2019 –
The PEN America Literary Awards Longlist – The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey, Rowan Ricardo Phillips (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) longlisted for the PEN/ESPN AWARD FOR LITERARY SPORTS WRITING ($5,000) To honor a nonfiction book on the subject of sports published in 2018.
Althea Romeo Mark awarded the Arts and Science Poetry Prize for poems published in POEZY 21:Antologia Festivaluluiinternational Noptile De Poezie De Curtea De Arges, Curtea De Arges, Romania
Alexis Andrews wins the Donald Gosling Award for best television or film contribution at the Maritime Media Awards for Vanishing Sail –
Althea Romeo-Mark awarded the Marguerite Cobb McKay prize by The Caribbean Writer for the short story ‘Bitterleaf’ which had been published in 2008, Volume 22
Floree Williams (now Whyte) received the (Antigua and Barbuda) National Youth Award for achievement in the literary arts; don’t remember if it was also for literary arts but Zahra Airall also received an NYA in this year
Howard and Mitzi Allen received National Youth Awards as Pioneers in Filmmaking
V-Monologues literary prize to Shakeema Edwards from Women of Antigua; who that year also won the Dancing Nude in the Moonlight Next Chapter contest sponsored by the Best of Books
Joanne C. Hillhouse received the Michael and Marilee Fairbanks International Fellowship to participate in the Breadloaf Writers Conference.
Althea Prince receives the Antigua and Barbuda International Literary Festival Award for Excellence in the Literary Arts
2006 –
Carolyn Providence was nominated for the Best Spoken Word album at the National Underground Spoken Word and Poetry Awards.
Vivian Michael and Akilah Jardine receive (Antigua and Barbuda) National Youth Awards for achievement in the literary arts; Joanne C. Hillhouse is named honourable mention.
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda’s Jubilee Award for Outstanding Contributions and Achievements in the Field of Arts and Culture to Althea Prince
Joanne C. Hillhouse, Joy Lawrence, Sylvanus Barnes, and others received a UNESCO Honour Award for contribution to literacy and the literary arts in Antigua and Barbuda
2002 –
Motion won the 2002 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation National Poetry Face-Off competition.
Mary Geo Quinn Highly Commended for her short story ‘Joe’, an entry for the Commonwealth short story prize
Roy H. S. Dublin’s Tomorrow’s Blossoms, first published in 1934 to commemorate the tercentenary year of the colonization of Antigua and the centenary year of emancipation, was awarded the King’s Medal.
Date unknown, unsure, unconfirmed –
Althea Romeo Mark won a scholarship to the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference
As with all content on Wadadli Pen, except otherwise noted, this is written by Antiguan and Barbudan writer Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Oh Gad!, Musical Youth, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight 10th Anniversary Edition and Other Writings, With Grace, and Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure; also a freelance writer, editor, writing coach and workshop facilitator). All Rights Reserved. If you like the content here follow or recommend the blog, also, check out my page on Amazon, WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen and my books. Thank you.
Peepal Tree Press has announced its publication of a new novel by Garth St. Omer (written several years ago). Titled: Prismns.
“Eugene Coard is woken one morning by a phone call to report the murder of a former St Lucian friend. It throws him back to memories of their island days, and his complicated love life in London that made necessary his relocation to the USA. Thoughts about his friend’s metamorphosis from middle-class “CB” to criminal, ghetto-dwelling “Red” provoke Eugene to review his own so far profitable transformations. But just how much of Eugene’s story can we believe? His confessions reveal him as probably the most unreliable and devious narrator in Caribbean fiction; has he, as a writer and psychiatrist, been exploiting the confusions of race in the USA to his own advantage?
With nods to Ellison’s Invisible Man and a witty inversion of Saul Bellow’s Sammler’s Planet , Prismns is a dark comedy about the masks people wear in a racially divided society that anticipates the metafictions of a writer such as Percival Everett. In the shape-shifting figure of Eugene Coard, Garth St Omer has created a character whose admissions will bring the reader shocked and horrified delight. Prismns was written in the 1980s but perhaps because it was so ahead of its time, not published until now.
Garth St Omer was born in St Lucia in 1931. He is the author of four previous novels and a novella, mainly set in St Lucia and published between 1964-1972. Until his retirement as Emeritus Professor, he taught for many years at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Garth St Omer was born in Castries, St Lucia in 1931. During the earlier 1950s St Omer was part of a group of artists in St Lucia including Roderick and Derek Walcott and the artist Dunstan St Omer.” – Peepal Tree Press blurb.
So, we had to take a moment to shout her out and big her up for this major milestone on her publishing journey.
, a book of sometimes quirky and always authentic vignettes of growing up, Antiguan. Her second book was Through the Window.
Melissa Gomez’s film Silent Music wins the Audience Choice Award at the Toronto Deaf Film and Arts Festival
Joanne C. Hillhouse received the David Hough Literary Prize from the Caribbean Writer.
V-Monologues literary prize to Shakeema Edwards from Women of Antigua; who that year also won the Dancing Nude in the Moonlight Next Chapter contest sponsored by the Best of Books
