Funny, You Don't Look Jewish

About eighteen months after my post about DNA testing, my life took an unexpected turn. I was contacted by a cousin in Canada, who revealed to me that my maternal grandmother was Jewish. I never knew about that part of my family‘s history because my grandmother died when my mother was still a child and my grandmother’s story went with her to the grave.

Since then and through a series of fortuitous events, I have been working with the New Voices Project, which focuses on the moral lessons of the Holocaust, and my poem “Flying African,” has become part of their PSA for a forthcoming book, New Voices: Contemporary Writers Confronting the Holocaust.

"Flying African" on YouTube

The research has been harrowing, but I’ve been using the work of Gregory H. Stanton, The 8 Stages of Genocide, as a conceptual guide. I’ve also been fortunate enough to receive a residency in “The Writer’s Room” at The Betsy Hotel, where I will be able to devote myself fully to research and writing.

Then, on October 3, 2019, as part of The Betsy Hotel’s “Meet the Artist” series, I will be reading some more of the poems that I’ve written.

So, if you’re in town, please join me at The Betsy Hotel at 5.p.m. as I embark on this new phase into my genetic history.

Here is another of the poems--which seems appropriate for today--that I've written so far.

The Shofar of Auschwitz

Rosh Hashanah, 1944

For Chaskel Tydor

It may not be a miracle like on Hanukkah,

but finding the shofar days before Rosh Hashanah,

when the Talmud teaches that Joseph was freed

from prison on the first day of the new year,

when the impossible is possible if we stay open,

made us think that maybe, this was a sign

Hashem had not abandoned us to our murderers.

So, in spite of the death, disease, and torture

that plagued the Lager, where to perform a mitzvah,

like a mishloach minot or teaching the Pirkei Avot

could be rewarded by the fascists with a bullet

to the back of my head. But I didn’t care.

The shofar on my lips, I blew as if my life depended

on it, and then, a year later, three miles off the coast

of Palestine, as if to say, "We are still here. The tribe lives on."

Source: https://www.aish.com/jw/s/The-Shofar-of-Auschwitz.html?s=mm

 

MAKE IT REAL: Writers Clinic With Caribbean Authors

The Louise Bennett-Coverley-Heritage Council, as part of the centenary celebrations of Jamaica’s cultural icon, the Honourable Louise Bennett-Coverley, will host a one-day writers clinic - Make it Real- on Saturday, October 5, 2019, 10:00am– 5:00pm.  The Clinic will be held at  Broward County West Regional Library,  8601 West Broward Boulevard, Plantation, Florida 33324. 

Make it Real  will help writers take the ideas they’ve been wanting to write about, shape, polish and breathe life into them so they can become real stories or poems.   Two workshops, Fiction, and  Poetry will be held concurrently. A third workshop on Performance Poetry will  be open to all participants.  The sessions will cover: character and plot development, stage craft and delivery, playing with rhyme and rhythm and editing for publication. 

To celebrate Louise Bennett-Coverley’s iconic contribution to Caribbean literature, the Writer’s Clinic will be taught by three outstanding Caribbean writers who live in Florida.

Christine Craig will host the Poetry clinic. She was born in Jamaica and is a graduate of the University of the West Indies. Her short stories and poems have been published in British, American and Caribbean journals. Described as “One of the Caribbean’s most original and innovative poets” - her poetry collection All Things Bright…and Quadrille for Tigers was published by Peepal Tree Press, UK. Her short story collection Mint Tea and other Stories, and children’s fiction Bird Gang, were published by Heinemann Caribbean. 

Geoffrey Philp will host the Fiction clinic. He has written two novels, Benjamin, my son and Garvey's Ghost; two collections of short stories, Who's Your Daddy? and Uncle Obadiah and the Alien, and three children’s books, Marcus and the Amazons, The Christmas Dutch Pot Baby, and Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories. His work is represented in nearly every anthology of Caribbean literature including the Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories and the Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse.

Malachi Smith is the presenter of the Performance Poetry clinic. He is a fellow of the University of Miami’s Michener Caribbean Writer’s Institute, an alumnus of Florida International University, Miami-Dade College and Jamaica School of Drama. Malachi was a founding member of Poets in Unity. He has recorded seven CD collections of his poetry and has read and performed his poetry internationally. 

The writing clinic is sponsored by the Louise Bennett-Heritage Council, Broward County Public Library, Friends of the South Regional Library and Friends of the West Regional Library. The Writers Clinic is free and open to writers in all genres.  For applications email Malachi at malismith@aol.com or log on to www.louisebennettheritage.com

The Jamaican Folk Singers for Miss Lou Full 100

Music lovers in South Florida are in for a very special experience - the Jamaican Folk Singers are coming to South Florida. They will give two concerts only, one in Palm Beach on Friday September 6, the other in Coral Springs on Saturday September 7. The Miss Lou Full 100 concerts are presented by the Louise Bennett Heritage Council, as part of their homage to the late Louise Bennett-Coverley – Miss Lou- Jamaica’s beloved cultural icon, in this her centenary year.

Miss Lou, a poet, actor, comedienne and activist, popularized all aspects of Jamaican folklore including songs, dances and children’s games.

The Jamaican Folk Singers have received international acclaim and numerous awards for the range and depth of their repertoire and their harmonious multi-part vocals accompanied by guitar, drums, flute and rhumba box. The combination of singers and musicians and their simple, yet expressive choreography makes for a moving and unforgettable musical experience.

Jamaican folk music grew out of West African traditional music with some European influences combined with the unique Jamaican dance, song and instrumental form – mento.  The Folk Singers have an extensive repertoire of over 200 songs. Christine McDonald-Nevers leads the group, now in its 52nd year of delighting audiences at home and abroad.

The group will present folk songs arranged by their founder, classically trained musician and ethnomusicologist, the late Dr. Olive Lewin who was appointed by the Jamaican government in 1966 to research and collect Jamaican folk music. The musical forms include Bruckins, Jankunnu, Kumina, Quadrille, Tambo and Gerreh. A new feature of the Folk Singers’ repertoire, is Pull up the vibes.  This section features folk songs performed in the hugely popular, more urban idioms of ska and dancehall.

The Folk Singers take their mandate to pass on their music to the younger generation seriously while also celebrating the older generations who handed down the songs, dances and religious rituals that are woven into Jamaican folk culture. In Jamaica, they frequently give free performances at schools, hospitals and community events. Their members are also actively involved in teaching and Jamaica folk music, stemming as it does out of the experience of slavery, is multi-layered. The songs include work songs, lullabies, laments, songs used in religious and secular rites, social commentary songs that poke fun at some unfortunate and the double entendre songs of flirtation and courtship.  Jamaicans love and cherish their folk music and it is easy to see how ska, rock steady and reggae grew out of this rich musical heritage, with reggae, in particular, becoming a world-wide phenomenon.

Folk music is special and personal because it comes from the heart of the people. The songs tell of troubles and joys, fears and hopes. They send out a musical invitation to visit and sit awhile and get to know a culture intimately. South Florida audiences will have just two opportunities to accept this special invitation to enjoy and celebrate Jamaica’s rich folk heritage.

A highlight of the Miss Lou Full 100 concert is a performance by poet, broadcaster and actress ‘Dat Bumpy Head Gal’ -Joan Andrea Hutchinson who, following in Miss Lou’s footsteps, writes and performs in Jamaican patois. An accomplished communicator with 3 books, and 7 CD’s to her credit, she is also a stellar performer, engaging her audience with her hilarious observations on Jamaica and Jamaicans.  Also featured are Malachi Smith and Maxine Osbourne with their take on Miss Lou and her stage partner Maas Ran, and the Tallawah Mento Band.

Miss Lou Full 100 featuring The Jamaican Folk Singers will be held on Friday, September 6, 7:00pm, at the Royal Palm Beach Community High School. Book tickets at: www.caribtix.com/lbcfull100. And on Saturday September 7, at 7:00pm at Coral Springs Center for the Arts. Book tickets for this event at: www.thecentercs.com.

For more information go to: www.louisebennettheritage.com

Award Winning Poet, Malachi Smith, Heads to Chiapas, Mexico

Internationally acclaimed dub poet Malachi Smith, is set to represent Jamaica at the VII International Festival of Contemporary Poetry, which will be held from August 28--31, 2019, in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. The prestigious festival will feature poets from all over the world and will be in tribute to Mexican poet Jaime Mario Labastida Ochoa. Readings will take place in educational institutions and cultural spaces including Native People, the UNACH, among others.

The founding member of the internationally acclaimed group of performance poets, Poets in Unity, Smith has been representing Jamaica at international poetry festivals since the 1990s. He has appeared in South Africa (twice), Taiwan, Columbia, Nicaragua, Honduras, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Canada, where he was the headliner performer at the international dub poetry festival there.  He also appeared at the La Guagua Poetry Festival in Lowell, Massachusetts,  in  2019.

As a James Michener Fellow at the University of Miami, Malachi studied poetry under Lorna Goodison, and playwriting under Fred D’Aguiar. The 2011 Life Time Achievement Award winner (Independent Voyces), has won many awards for his writings including the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s (JCDC) 2009 Most Outstanding Writer award, JCDC Best Adult Poet 2014 and 2017 and JCDC’s 4th place Choice Writer for 2018 for a gold medal for poetry and a bronze for short story. Malachi won the 2016 Akamedia Award for his poem “How Yuh Mek Her Massa God.” He was also a nominee for the International Reggae & World Music Award (IRAWMA) for 2019.

Malachi has two published collections of poems, Black Boy Blue and The Gathering and seven CD collections, Throw Two Punch, The Blacker The Berry….De Sweeter de Cherry, Middle Passage, Hail to Jamaica, Luv Dub Fever, SCREAM and his latest offering, Wiseman. In addition, he has had his poems published in prestigious journals and publications such as Poui, Cave Hill Journal of International Writing, the West Indian Journal of Literature, Carrier Pidgin Journal, The Caribbean Writer, and the University of the Virgin Island, Peepal Tree Press and Write in Our Midst Miami Book Fair International. His poems have been translated in both Spanish and Mondrian.

Smith is the founder and organizer of the highly successful Jamaica Poets All-island High School and College Tour, which takes place annually in Jamaica. He is a board member of the Louise Bennett-Coverley Heritage Council, Caribbean Education Foundation and the Jamaica Ex-Police Association of South Florida. 

St. Martin Book Fair, June 6 - 8, 2019.

Save the date for the 17th annual St. Martin Book Fair [Le Salon du livre de Saint-Martin], which will take place from June 6 to 8, 2019. Stay tuned via House of Nehesi Publishers for more information on the annual theme, guest speakers, and special events related to this international, multilingual and multicultural event.

Announced as “a book fair for the entire family,” the is organized annually by Conscious Lyrics Foundation, the Book Fair Committee, and House of Nehesi Publishers Foundation, in collaboration with St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, University of St. Martin, LC Fleming Foundation.


http://houseofnehesipublish.com/sxm/st-martin-book-fair/

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Poetry Reading: Lelawatee Manoo-Rahming at FIU

New Book: "Saint Lucian Writers and Writing"

Papillote Press announces the forthcoming publication of "Saint Lucian Writers and Writing: An author index of published works of poetry, prose, and drama" compiled and edited by the Saint Lucian librarian and poet Robert John Lee, with an introduction by Antonia MacDonald. 

"A fascinating bibliography that turns a list into the life of a nation."

Publication date: 1 March 2019

ISBN: 9780995726314

Paperback/price: £9.99

Papillote Press is a small independent publishing house based in London and Dominica.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: This superb author index of poetry, prose and drama explores the writing landscape of a small Caribbean island. Everyone – from the internationally acclaimed Derek Walcott, to self-published unknowns – are there. But this bibliography is not just about literature, it also features the social, political and cultural dimensions of Saint Lucia, from scholarly essays to the ephemera of funeral pamphlets and recipe books. It turns a list into the life of a nation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Robert Lee is a Saint Lucian poet, author, editor, journalist, professional librarian, and teacher. His poetry and short stories have been widely anthologised. His latest collection of poems, Collected Poems 1975-2015 was published in 2017. A graduate of the University of the West Indies, he has taught literature, creative writing, and library science for many years. He has also worked as a journalist in newspapers, radio, and television. He lives in Saint Lucia. 

IN PRAISE of Saint Lucian Writers and Writing:

John Robert Lee’s bibliographical work is a magnificent act of scholarship that brings the rich and long history of Saint Lucian literary culture to life. Both record and tribute, this inclusive and educative bibliographical study includes an important introduction on the publication history and print culture of Saint Lucia. A work of literary heritage in itself, this study also actively engages publishers and researchers with an eye on the future as well as the past. — Professor Alison Donnell, University of East Anglia, UK

Here you can see everything— the things that didn’t last, the things that did, the things that should have but didn’t. Here is the heft of a fierce and devoted memory of all of our literature. And of what value is it? Well, it is a record of trials and failures, a record of what time kept and what it didn’t, though memory lunges back to claim it with an almost filial affection. — Vladimir Lucien, poet, Saint Lucia

Compiled with the sensitivity of the poet he is and the scrupulousness of the archivist many know him to be, John Robert Lee’s Saint Lucian Writers and Writing is vital work...This is a great start to discovering what the storytellers of one country have been busy building with words—and we’re talking beyond the usual suspects. — Robert Edison Sandiford, author of the novel And Sometimes They Fly, and editor (with Linda M. Deane) of Shouts from the Outfield: The ArtsEtc Cricket Anthology, Barbados

Always, I am in awe of the industry, the monk-like devotion that John Robert Lee brings to the self-chosen obligation of chronicling aspects of our artistic history... In what seems like a season of neglect — and indeed destruction — of our artistic and cultural heritage, this bibliography is an ark. And gratitude is joyfully rendered to its builder. — Kendel Hippolyte, poet/playwright, Saint Lucia

John Robert Lee has produced this voluminous social reference document for the world...A great gift to Saint Lucia. Give thanks! — Embert Charles, communications specialist/cultural administrator, Saint Lucia

All the world has heard of the late Sir Derek Walcott. But there have been many other Saint Lucian writers of note, some of them with a regional reputation in the Caribbean, others still little read outside of — or even within — Saint Lucia itself. John Robert Lee’s Saint Lucian Writers and Writing offers the first comprehensive bibliography of Saint Lucian literature...As both scholar and general reader, I am grateful to John Robert Lee for this comprehensive guide. — Paul Breslin, Professor of English, Emeritus, Northwestern University, United States, and author of Nobody's Nation: Reading Derek Walcott 

For more information visit the website www.papillotepress.co.uk or email info@papillotepress.co.uk