St. Martin Book Fair: "Writing Justice"--May 31 to June 2, 2007

GREAT BAY/MARIGOT, St. Martin—The 5th annual St. Martin Book Fair (May 31 –June 2, 2007) will open in Spring Concordia, Marigot at the Maison des Entreprises (Chamber of Commerce Building) on Thursday, May 31, at 8pm..

Most of the book fair workshops will be hosted in Great Bay (Philipsburg) at the University of St. Martin (USM) on Friday, June 1 and all day on Saturday, June 2.

"Famous and new visiting writers will crisscross the island to primary and high schools. The cultural concert will be held in Cay Hill. The main book launch and closing ceremony will conclude the St. Martin Book Fair in Cupecoy, at the American University in the Caribbean, " said book fair coordinator Shujah Reiph.

With its theme of “Writing Justice,” book fair 2007 will see over five new books released. Workshop topics will range from constitutional matters to death penalty issues, to one entitled “RasTafari as Image & Voice of Justice in Caribbean Literature,” said Reiph, who is also president of Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF).

The cultural night, which was such a hit in 2006, with poets reciting in their native language, will be repeated with readers from St. Martin, St. Lucia, Nigeria, France and the Bahamas—to name a few of the places where the authors are originating this year.

The standard favorites such as the ponum dance, the day-long “In the Children’s Room” (for ages 4 – 12), and the computer/Internet media workshops will return in style. Remember the massively popular celebrity hair-care workshop in 2006? There will be a different twist in 2007, by a French author who will use her book on hair and skin attitudes as the center piece of discussion, said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).

“The Book Fair Committee [BFC] will have its hands full with a record 18 workshops and general sessions. “House of Nehesi is pushing the envelope to have five books ready for book signings and the main book launch, and we added more schools that will be visited by the writers,” said Reiph.

“As usual, we got the multi-lingual features as an aspect of the St. Martin culture, and the BFC is busy with plans to attract more people from all over the island to enjoy and benefit from this new book fair edition.

“This year, also for the first time, we were contacted by tourists, from New York and Puerto Rico, who are coming in especially for the St. Martin Book Fair. So news about this cultural event is growing at home and abroad,” said Reiph.

The St. Martin Book Fair is organized by CLF and HNP, both non-profit NGOs, in collaboration with USM. The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau is the major patron of the St. Martin Book Fair.

Visit www.houseofnehesipublish.com for St. Martin Book Fair 2007 updates. View Book Fair 2006 photos at www.consciouslyricsonline.com.

***

Caribbean writers
Caribbean poetry
Caribbean
Book Fair
Caribbean writing

New Book: Unanimous Night by Cyril Dabydeen,

Cyril Dabydeen’s new book, Unanimous Night, promises to garner further literary acclaim for Dabydeen. Dabydeen’s poetry is "filled with the spirit of exploration, fused with the challenges of immigration and indignation at issues of political injustice," says the publisher’s blurb, and that "his language whisks the reader off in a whirlwind of iconic figures and exotic locations" as diverse as Guevara, Havana, Newfoundland, Shimla, New York, and Guyana. 

The epigraph juxtaposes American poet Robert Lowell with Jose Marti, known as the father of the Cuban nation, to set the tone for the range in the Guyanese-born Canadian writer’s work. Of note is that this new book is the author’s twentieth, and his ninth collection of poetry; indeed, Dabydeen began his writing career with poetry in Guyana after having won the Sandbach Parker Gold Medal for Poetry before he was 20 and not long after he won the first A.J. Seymour Lyric Poetry Prize (1967). More recently, in 2007, Dabydeen was co-winner of the top Guyana Prize for Fiction with his novel, Drums of My Flesh (TSAR Publications, Toronto): a work noted for its symbolic evocations with Dabydeen splicing time and space, Eastern and Western religions and philosophies, and North and South polarities with Jungian underpinning. 

In this new poetry collection, following closely on his Uncharted Heart (Borealis Press, 2008), Dabydeen awakens us to his sense of social justice adumbrated in his first published collection in Canada, Distances (Fiddlehead Books, University of British Columbia, 1977). Then, it was pointed out that Dabydeen goes back "through consciousness or history to describe an original condition of unfragmented wholeness" (Fiddlehead magazine). That same vein is sustained in the new book’s first three sections, beginning with "Out to Sea," with poems that deal with journeying, as the author writes, for instance, of Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator (after his visit to Lisbon, Portugal in 2006), and links it to discovery of a presumed New World a la Columbus; but Dabydeen circumvents linearity with classical touches from Greek mythology as he references, for instance, Odysseus and Poseidon; and throughout the volume, Dabydeen’s imagery is not without the sense of irony in history’s inexorable march. 

Dabydeen also introduces to the yearning for solitude or meditation after 9/11 in the USA with his ambitious poem "Cross-legged in Moonlight" which classically introduces to the wide range in the poet’s thinking as he invokes Manu (Indian) and Socrates (Greek), East and West, in his wide sweep. Other poems do the same, for example, "On Meeting Her Excellency Ram Devi"–Governor of Himachel Pradesh, India--as he also touches on language itself in the title poem, "Unanimous Night," an evocation of Dabydeen’s take on famed Argentine writer Borges, the source for this particular poem dealing with the interiority of poetic language and what’s lost and yet sustained in translation, if only be escaping "the solitude of the labyrinth" in almost authentic Borges’ manner. 

Dabydeen is keenly aware of language and its poetic use as he writes in "On Liberty Avenue," as he quotes Derek Walcott, that a poem is "perfection’s sweat...fresh as raindrops on a statue’s brow." References to key figures such as Franz Fannon, Joseph Conrad, and Nelson Mandela give the book its focussed socio-political status, as Dabydeen avoids needless self-reflexiveness or solipsism in sometimes minimalist expression. 

A poem such as "Revolution" is also about language in the context of metaphor or motifs, and change occurring all around us with rap music and ghetto violence often being hand in hand. In the third section of Unanimous Night named "A Dim Moon," Dabydeen deals with immigration and the fate of personae from the Third World being universalized with their angst, especially in a poem such as "Niece," as Dabydeen works back through memory in his longing for a "condition of unfragmented wholeness." 

The final section titled "Simple Pleasures" deals with love where Dabydeen’s tonality maintains its ironic tone by touching on love’s elusiveness in often simple but deft lines, even as he invokes the penumbra of Indian mythology in the god-figure Shiva in one of the most arresting poems in the volume, "Cosmic Dance" (remarkable for its conversational tone and idiomatic rhythms), and cultural icon Marilyn Monroe in contextualizing popular myth with human foibles and tragedy. 

Unanimous Night is a numbered publication of Black Moss Press’s Palm Poetry Series, specially designed, according to publisher-poet Marty Gervais of the University of Windsor, who adds that the series is structured along the lines of beat-generation poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Books in San Francisco; the Black Moss series is a hit with libraries and regular readers of poetry, according to the book publisher; and Cyril Dabydeen’s Unanimous Night is no exception for its sustained vision. 

Book Launch : Oct. 25, from 2 to 4.30

Sasquatch Reading Series, 

Royal Oak Restaurant on Laurier Ave. E. 

Open set first, before book launch. 

Free event.

 

Cyril Dabydeen, Unanimous Night, Poetry. Black Moss Press: Ontario, Canada, 2009. $16.95.

 ***

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New on TikTok: Happy Birthday, Marcus Garvey. Today we celebrate 138 years of a man who gave millions pride, purpose, and a plan for freedom. On his birthday, we launch *Unstoppable You: 50 Black Heroes*—a book that carries Garvey’s vision into the hands of a new generation. Fifty stories of brilliance and resilience. From Frederick Douglass to Zora Neale Hurston to Wangari Maathai. Each name is a lesson. Each page is a mirror. Each story is a tool for liberation. This is not nostalgia. This is strategy. Garvey taught us to study great men and women to build our own greatness. Now the blueprint is in your hands. Honor Garvey today. Bring these stories into your classroom. Your library. Your home. Available now on Amazon. That’s not a hack. That’s Garveyism. What did Garvey mean by “a plan for freedom”? Marcus Garvey believed that freedom was not spontaneous. It had to be planned, built, and defended. His plan included race pride, economic independence, education, and global unity. He taught that without a strategy, freedom would always remain out of reach. How can teachers use this book in their classrooms? Teachers can use *Unstoppable You* to anchor lessons in Black history, literature, and leadership. Each hero can launch a research project, writing prompt, or group discussion on resilience, resistance, and cultural legacy. Why is Garvey’s birthday important to celebrate today? Garvey’s birthday reminds us that mental slavery still exists—and so must the fight to end it. Honoring his birthday isn’t just historical. It’s political. It’s about choosing pride, purpose, and progress in the face of erasure. \#MarcusGarvey #MarcusGarveyQuote #UnstoppableYou #BlackHistoryEducation #Garveyism { "@context": "[https://schema.org](https://schema.org)", "@type": "VideoObject", "name": "Happy Birthday, Marcus Garvey + Book Launch", "description": "Celebrating Marcus Garvey’s 138th birthday with the launch of 'Unstoppable You: 50 Black Heroes'—a powerful tool for classrooms, libraries, and homes committed to Black excellence.", "uploadDate": "2025-08-12", "contentLocation": { "@type": "Place", "name": "United States" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The Garvey Classroom" } }

Watch our new video on Tiktok! https://ift.tt/NdJOWV0

A Word for Haiti – Catch a Vibe

Thursday 28th January 2010 saw the launch of the Black Londoners Appeal, an initiative by the Black Londoners Meetup Group and supported by various London based Afro/Caribbean centric grassroots groups and organisations.

The initial focus of the appeal will be a year long appeal for Haiti in 2010 which aims at:

• Raising funds for the appeal’s chosen Haitian charitable organisation, the Lambi Fund

• Raising awareness of the historic significance of Haiti in world events

• Promoting the Haitian cultural experience

A Word for Haiti – A Call for Submissions

Call for submission open to poets, writers, journalists and graphic artists from all backgrounds and origins. We invite you to write in solidarity for Haiti. You can send us poems, song lyrics, short stories, opinion pieces, drawings, paintings or photographs. The work must be about or inspired by Haiti, its people and its culture.

The entries shortlisted will be made into a book. Proceeds of the book sales will be donated to Lambi Haiti Fund. A book launch will take place in London, with writers & poets invited to read excerpts of the book.

Submission deadline: Thursday 18 March

Guidelines:

- Please send poems of 1000 words max. Short pieces of prose should be 2500 words max. Include a short bio about yourself and / or a link to your blog. Documents must be sent as an attachment in .doc format. You can submit up to 3 different pieces

- Drawings / paintings / photographs: send a high resolution picture in a jpeg or gif format. They can be in colour or in Black and White. B&W will be used in the internal pages of the book, colour will be used for the cover.

- Upon agreeing to publication, catchavibe.co.uk and Black Londoners acquires first rights and retains the right to archive the work for an indefinite period. The author retains all the rights upon publication.

- We’ll accept only original, non published work, no reprints.

All submissions and info requests must be sent to: wordforhaiti@googlemail.com

There is no fee involved as this is a charity project. Submission deadline: Thursday 18 March.

A Word for Haiti – A Call for Volunteers

We need a number of skills in order to produce this anthology:

- Researcher: to identify writers or artists we could contact directly + the different networks where we could promote the project

- Editorial Assistant: to shortlist and edit the submissions received. An experience in publishing would be preferable

- Admin Assistant: to manage our incoming messages

- Desktop Publishing Specialist: to help us produce the final book

- Publicist: to manage contacts with the media and create a buzz around the project

Please send an email to wordforhaiti@googlemail.com and we will send you more information about the different roles.

Updates on Haiti

For updates on the situation in Haiti, visit chitchatafrica

***

Via Kalamu @ Yahoo Groups

"Rastafari in the 21st Century" @ the Miami Book Fair

 “Rastafari in the 21st Century – What Life has Taught I&I”

Comes to the 2021 Miami Book Fair

Join Priest Douglas Smith and Ras I. Jabulani Tafari at the 38th annual Miami Book Fair as they host the South Florida launching of their new book "Rastafari in the 21st Century: What Life has Taught I&I.” The Book Fair takes place at the Wolfson Campus of the Miami Dade College in Downtown Miami from November 14 to November 21, 2021.

The Book Fair presentation by Priest Douggie and I-Jabulani and the launch of “Rastafari in the 21st Century” is scheduled for Saturday, November 20 at 5.00 p.m. in Room 8106 (the Magic Screening Room) on the first floor of Building 8.
Rastafari 21st Century Vol 1 Front Cover-smallest.jpg
   
Volume One of the new book by Priest Douggie and I-Jabulani contains the previously unwritten history of the First Generation of Rastafari Elders. Today, many of that First Generation of Rastafari Elders are transitioning on to become Ancestors, and as they do so, their colorful and important life stories are already starting to fade from the collective memory of the people of Jamaica and the world.

This well-illustrated and thought-provoking volume was written as a literary tribute lest the world forget to highlight and honor those Rastafari Elders who sacrificed everything and endured so much with so little in order to establish a new Cultural Tradition and Way of Life.

The presentation by the Rastafari authors at the Miami Book Fair on Saturday November 20th will include music, videos and book signings before and after the event. Click the following link for more detailed information about “Rastafari in the 21st Century” at the Miami Book Fair.  

https://www.miamibookfair.com/event/in-conversation-on-rastafari-in-the-21st-century-what-life-has-taught-ii-volume-i/

Looking forward to seeing you all at the 2021 Miami Book Fair!
2021 save the date.

https://www.miamibookfair.com/event/in-conversation-on-rastafari-in-the-21st-century-what-life-has-taught-ii-volume-i/

#MiamiBookFair #MBF21

Facebook https://facebook.com/MiamiBookFair/

Instagram  https://instagram.com/miamibookfair/

Twitter https://twitter.com/miamibookfair

 

 

Book Launch: Dog-Heart @ Bookophilia, March 26, 2010

“Dog-Heart –the tale of a child caught in the clash between the two Jamaicas.”

Diana McCaulay, former newspaper columnist and well-known environmental activist has turned a new page in her career with the 2010 release of her first novel Dog-Heart. Published by Peepal Tree Press, who has a reputation for publishing works of excellence by Caribbean writers like Kwame Dawes and Jan Carew, Dog Heart is a stunning new book that leaves you wondering what else this writer is capable of.

The novel tells the story of the well-meaning attempt of a middle class Jamaican single-mother to transform the life of a boy from the inner city. The book is fast paced and absorbing, full of realistic drama and action as it plays out in present-day Kingston. The novel deals seriously with issues of race, class, taking responsibility for social change and the complexity of relationships between people of different backgrounds. By telling the story in the voice of both the boy, Dexter and the woman, Sahara, Dog-Heart effortlessly highlights the “two Jamaicas” that coexist in one small space.

Diana explained that she wrote her first story at the age of 7 and since then, always wanted to become a writer. When asked what she would say to those who might say that a woman from the upper middle-class had no “right” to tell this story in the voice of Dexter, Diana replied, “What I would want to know from readers is whether the story works. Did they believe Dexter, did they hear him and feel his world? If they did, then it worked.”

The launch of Dog-Heart is scheduled for 6:30 pm on March 26, 2010 at Bookophilia the bookstore located at 92 Hope Road. Bookophilia owner Andrea Dempster commented; “Diana has in one fell swoop placed herself firmly on the list of new writers to watch in the Caribbean. This is the kind of book that we love - it’s easy to read and so thought-provoking. I’m really happy to be able to invite everyone to come and hear her tell the story of Sahara and Dexter on Friday night.”

Diana McCaulay is the Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust, and is an outspoken advocate for Jamaica’s natural environment. She also wrote a popular opinion column for the Gleaner for many years and her short stories have been published by the journal Caribbean Writer. She writes a blog called SnailWriter at www.dianamccaulay.com. Dog-Heart in manuscript form was the Gold Medal Winner in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s 2008 creative Writing Competition. She will also be the recipient of an award at the Amazing Woman Awards Ceremony in May 2010.

Praise for Dog-Heart

“The expendability of life in the ghetto and the perpetual injustice meted out to its inhabitants by the state and so-called civil society lie at the heart of this tale of post-colonial darkness…McCaulay showcases her formidable writing skills in this ambitious, heart-breaking work to excellent effect…the mirror McCaulay relentlessly holds up doesn’t let anyone off the hook, least of all those who read this book without flinching.”

~Annie Paul, University of the West indies, Mona, Kingston

If you would like more information about this topic or to schedule an interview please call (876)978-5248 or email andread@bookophilia.com

Contact:

Andrea Dempster
92 Hope Road
Kingston 6
Tel: (876) 322-1979
Email: andread@bookophilia.com

***

Proud Camden: Bob Marley & the Golden Age of Reggae

© Kim Gottlieb-Walker, Lenswoman.com

PROUD CAMDEN PRESENTS

Bob Marley & the Golden Age of Reggae

Running: 7th April – 15th May 2011

Launch:  6th April 2011

11am to 5.30pm Mon – Sun

The Horse Hospital

Stables Market

Chalk Farm Road

London

NW1 8AH

Website:  www.proud.co.uk

Admission is free

Proud Camden presents Bob Marley & the Golden Age of Reggae, an exhibition of photographs by celebrated photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker. This exhibition is a stunning visual record of the “golden age of reggae” to mark the 30th anniversary of Bob Marley’s death this May. 

© Kim Gottlieb-Walker 

During 1975 and 1976, renowned underground photo-journalist Kim Gottlieb-Walker and her husband, Head of Publicity at Island Records Jeff Walker, documented what is now widely recognised as the Golden Age of reggae. Over two years of historic trips to Jamaica and exclusive meetings in Los Angeles, Kim took iconic photographs of the artists who would go on to define an era and captivate a generation. 

Proud Galleries has worked with Kim Gottlieb-Walker to create an exhibition of candid and intimate photographs of the artists and producers who brought the reggae sound to the international stage, including Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Toots Hibbert, Burning Spear, Lee “Scratch” Perry and, of course, Bob Marley. This exhibition includes never-before-seen photographs and is a stunning photographic record of one of the most exciting moments in recent musical history, with a warmth and intimacy born out of the respect between Kim Gottlieb-Walker and the artist. 

Proud Galleries

Proud Galleries was launched in Autumn 1998. Its ethos? To bring the very best in high quality photography to the mainstream market. Proud instantly took the photography world by storm and quickly grew into Europe’s most popular private photography gallery.

Today the Proud brand runs on of the most visited destinations in London. Two galleries, a live music venue, and a Cabaret club have cemented its success and in a harsh economic climate, Proud continues to expand.

Never failing to exhibit the work of the world’s best photographers, Proud has hosted shows by everyone from Terry O’Neill to Jerry Schatzberg, Gered Mankowitz to Ken Russell. With star-studded launch parties and some of the best press coverage in the country, the unique Proud formula has situated the company at the very top of its game.

Kim Gottlieb-Walker

Kim Gottlieb-Walker's incredibly varied career has covered everything from classic rock and roll, reggae, and politics in the 60‟s and 70‟s to working on major motion pictures and television shows. 

While still at UCLA (where she received a BA in Motion Picture production) and shortly thereafter, she shot for the underground Los Angeles press including magazines like Crawdaddy and Music World and shot her classic portraits of Jimi Hendrix when she was only 20. Her High Times cover of Bob Marley remains their most popular cover, ever. In the mid-seventies, she freelanced extensively for Island Records documenting the reggae performers all over Jamaica. She also shot the stills for John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” “The Fog,” “Christine” and Escape from New York” and worked at Paramount for nine years as the production photographer for “Cheers” and five years for “Family Ties.” She has served for over two decades as an elected representatives for still photographers on the National Executive Board of IATSE Local 600, the International Cinematographers Guild. Titan Press has recently published her first photo book Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae.

FOR FURTHER EXHIBITION INFORMATION, SERIAL RIGHTS / USE OF PICTURES / INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES CONTACT:

Lucy Simon at Proud Galleries:  +44(0) 20 7839 4942 | lucy@proudgalleries.co.uk | www.proud.co.uk  

***

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Tigertail Launches Florida Flash.

Tigertail, A South Florida Annual: Florida Flash Reading & Book Launch

Monday, October 17, 2011, 

8:00 pm

Books & Books, 

265 Aragon Avenue,

Coral Gables, Florida

Free.

Tigertail takes great pleasure in launching Tigertail, A South Florida Annual: Florida Flash. This ninth edition of Tigertail's annual publication is edited by noted author Lynne Barrett. About the book, Barrett writes, "The ninth edition of Tigertail's annual publication moves into prose to explore the edges and overlaps between lyrical and narrative approaches in Tigertail, A South Florida Annual: Florida Flash. Fifty-four authors with connections to Florida contribute prose poetry, flash fiction, and flash nonfiction. For each piece, editor Lynne Barrett set a maximum word count of 305—a number representing the original South Florida area code as well as the limits of a single page—and the result is an exuberant collection that captures both scintillant moments and the faceted turnings of memory." Many of the book's 54 authors will participate in the evening's reading. The cover of the book is by Miami visual artist Brian Reedy.

Lynne Barrett is the award-winning author of the story collections The Secret Names of Women, The Land of Go, and, most recently, Magpies. Her work has appeared in many anthologies and journals. She has received the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best mystery story from the Mystery Writers of America, the Moondance International Film Festival award for Best Short story, and fellowships from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches in the M.F.A. program in Creative Writing at Florida International University and edits The Florida Book Review.

Many of the book's contributors have been included in previous volumes of Tigertail's annual, and three of them were editors of previous editions. The 54 writers include: Elisa Albo, Jill Allen, David Beaty, Kacee Belcher, Peter Borrebach, Joe Clifford, J.J. Colagrande, Michael Creeden, Jim Daniels, Denise Delgado, Tom DeMarchi, John Dufresne, Denise Duhamel, Andrea Dulanto, Patricia Engel, John W. Evans, Clifford Paul Fetters, Corey Ginsberg, J. David Gonzalez, Lola Haskins, Nathan Hill, Susan Hubbard, Amy Lynn Hughes, Jen Karetnick, N.M. Kelby, Dave Landsberger, Susan Lilley, Christopher Louvet, Kelly Luce, Jamie May, Campbell McGrath, Molly McGreevy, Peter Meinke, Elizabeth Miller, Jim Miller, Jesse Millner, Lyn Millner, Diane Mooney, Lauren Doyle Owens, Yaddyra Peralta, Geoffrey Philp, Laura Richardson, Katherine Riegel, Hugo Rodriguez, Max Ruback, Richard Ryal, Mary Jane Ryals, Dariel Suarez, Ira Sukrungruang, Michael Trammell, Emma Trelles, Ian Vasquez, Elizabeth Vondrak and Norma Watkins.

Tigertail is edited each year by a different guest editor(s), and invited to create a distinctive edition by choosing writing that echoes his or her own personal enthusiasms and concerns.

This book is made possible through support from Aquarius Press; Books & Books; City of Coral Gables Cultural Arts Program; City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Miami-Dade Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners and Vortex Communications.

MEDIA CONTACT:

John Kramel, Tigertail Productions

305 479 0915 (cell)

305 324 4337

media@tigertail.org

Tigertail's 2011/2012 Season is made possible by community partners and supporters including: Aquarius Press; Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation; Biscayne Times; Books & Books; Bresaro Suites; The Children's Trust; City of Coral Gables Cultural Arts Program; City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; Consulate General of Brazil; Consulate General of the Netherlands; E.S. Moore Family Foundation; Florida Dance Association; Funding Arts Network; The Galler Group; Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; John S. & James L. Knight Foundation; JPMorgan Chase; MiamiArtZine; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Library; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Miami River Inn; National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, supported by lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Community Connections Fund of the Metlife Foundation, and the Boeing Company Charitable Trust; National Endowment for the Arts; National Performance Network with major funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), Altria, MetLife Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation; Pridelines; Publix Super Markets Charities; Safe Schools South Florida; Sain-Orr Royak DeForest Steadman Foundation; The Law Office of Linda M. Smith; Sleepless Night; South Arts; State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; The Miami Foundation; VSA Florida; Vortex Communications; WDNA & WLRN FM; Wells Fargo and our many private supporters.

For information and a full schedule of season activities, visit www.tigertail.org or call Tigertail Productions at 305 324 4337. Also see Tigertail's Facebook page for occasional updates – www.facebook.com/tigertailmiami.

Tigertail Productions   

842 NW Ninth Court   

Miami, Florida 33136   

305 324 4337  

www.tigertail.org

Heather Russell Launches Legba’s Crossing in Florida

Dr. Heather Russell

By Christine Craig

It is rare that the launch of an academic book creates a buzz in non-academic circles, but the launch of Dr. Heather Russell’s book, Legba’s Crossing: Narratology in the African Atlantic, was an exception. A large, appreciative crowd turned out for the event held at the Southwest Regional Library in Pembroke Pines, Florida on March 27, 2010.

In offering her congratulations, Jamaica’s Consul General to the Southern United States, Mrs. Sandra Grant Griffiths, said that Prof. Russell was not only outstanding in the academic field, but was also actively involved in the diaspora and so understood what it takes to have gotten here and what it will take to go forward.

Professor Houston Baker, Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee praised Prof. Russell as “A born egalitarian whose activist scholarship has made a great contribution to diaspora studies.” Also bringing special greetings were Zimbabwean writer Chenjeral Hove and Dr. Donna Aza Weir-Soley, Associate Professor at Florida International University, who kept the event on track with her warm and insightful remarks about Dr. Russell’s many fine qualities as a scholar, teacher, friend and mother.

Dr.  Russell, an associate professor of English at Florida International University in Miami, attended St. Andrew High School in Jamaica, and then, migrated to the U.S. and earned her PhD from Rutgers University. Her parents, Rev. Horace Russell and Beryl Russell headed the family group on hand to add their share of congratulations and good wishes.

Prof. Russell closed the event with readings from her book, introducing the themes of Legba as the intermediary between humans and God - the "divine linguist," and the linkages between history and literature as being practically interchangeable. The books she examines are Salt by Earl Lovelace; No Telephone to Heaven by Michelle Cliff, and John Edgar Wideman’s The Cattle Killing.

Reviewers of the book have praised its scholarship and originality. Author and scholar Arlene Keizer states: “Legba’s Crossing is a fascinating, well-written book of considerable significance to African diaspora literary studies.” And Prof. Carol Boyce Davies of Cornell University says, “Legba’s Crossing puts Heather Russell among the best of her generation of scholars, adept in reading both formal literature and its theory and popular culture. Her work demonstrates a fluidity in its critical movements between Caribbean and U.S. African American textualities.”

Legba’s Crossing was published by the University of Georgia Press and is available from: www.ugapress.org.

***

Christine Craig is Jamaican. Her first published work was children’s fiction, two full-color children’s books in collaboration with artist Karl Craig — Emanuel and his Parrot and Emanuel Goes to Market; published by Oxford University Press. A collection of poems, Quadrille for Tigers, was published by Mina Press, Berkeley, California, followed by a children’s novella, Bird Gang, published by Heinemann Caribbean. Her collection of short stories Mint Tea was published by Heinemann (UK). Her poetry and fiction for adults have been published in British, Caribbean and American anthologies.

***

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Why I’m Switching to Vocal

 

I have always been concerned about the erasure of Black memory. That's why I began blogging at Geoffrey Philp's Blog Spot.

In some of my earliest blog posts, "Why I Continue to Write" and “Why I Continue to Blog,” I explained the reasons for starting the blog and what I hoped to achieve. The blog has served as an important platform for Caribbean literature and culture, connecting Caribbean writers, artists, and a wider audience. It has played a significant role in raising awareness of Caribbean literature and culture.

I'm particularly proud of several posts that I have written:

·         Posts About Marcus Garvey: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search?q=Marcus+Garvey

·         Posts About Bob Marley: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search?q=Bob+Marley

·         Posts From Caribbean and South Florida Writers: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search?q=In+My+Own+Words

·         Posts About Caribbean Writers: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search?q=Caribbean+Writers

·         Interviews With Caribbean Writers: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search?q=Five+Questions+With

·         A Conversation With: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search?q=A+Conversation+With

·         Birthday Posts: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search/label/Happy%20Birthday

I have also participated in a few podcasts, although some of them have been lost in the ether: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search/label/podcast

In the next few days, I will switch many posts to Vocal, where I have written haiku, a short story, and a few bad limericks. I've decided to make this switch for several reasons:

·         Active community:

Vocal has a large and engaged community of writers and readers, meaning others are likelier to see and read my posts. It provides me with a broader reach than I would have on a personal blog.

·         User-friendly interface:

Vocal's interface is designed to be easy to use, making it simple for me to create and publish my content. But most importantly, Vocal compensates writers for their work. For every 1,000 views my posts receive, I will earn $3.80. Additionally, I will earn $0.10 for every share my posts receive. Vocal also offers readers the opportunity to actively support writers by tipping. I plan to use the earnings to help with my travel expenses for research, book promotions, and especially for Archipelagos.

I will continue writing One Minute Book Reviews, announcements about book publications and fairs, and interviews with Caribbean Writers. You can find them on my blog at the following links:

·         One Minute Book Reviews: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/2023/05/one-minu

·         Book Publications and Fairs: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search?q=Book+launch

·         Interviews with Caribbean Writers: https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search?q=Five+Questions+With

In the meantime, I invite you to visit my page on Vocal. If you enjoy a haiku or story, you can subscribe, share it on social media, or leave a tip.

See you on Vocal!

#BlackMemoryMatters 

#CaribbeanCulture

 #CaribbeanLiterature 

 #VocalPlatform 

#SupportWriters 

#AmplifyBlackVoices

Book Launch: Legba’s Crossing: Narratology in the African Atlantic

You are cordially invited to attend the launch of 

Legba’s Crossing:  Narratology in the African Atlantic
by Heather Russell, Ph.D

March 27, 2010

South West Regional Library (SWR)

Pines Center

16835 Sheridan Street. Pembroke Pines, FL 33331
  
1-5pm (reception from 1-2pm)



RSVP:(954)257-8731 or russellh@fiu.edu

Sponsored by:South Regional/Southwest Regional

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About the author:

Dr. Heather Russell’s research interests examine narrative form and its relationship to configurations of national/racial identities. Her latest book, Legba’s Crossing: Narratology in the African Atlantic, was published by the University of of Georgia Press. She has also published in African American Review; Contours; The Massachusetts Review; and American Literature and has essays in a collection on John Edgar Wideman, Jacqueline Bishop’s, My Mother Who is Me, and Donna Aza Weir-Soley and Opal Palmer Adisa’s Caribbean Erotic.

At the undergraduate level, Dr. Russell regularly teaches C19th and C20th African American Literatures; Major Caribbean Writers; Black Citizenships and Black History and the Fictive Imagination. For the graduate curriculum, she teaches African Diaspora Women Writers and Narratives of Enslavement and Resistance.

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Related articles by Zemanta

• New Book: Legba's Crossing by Heather Russell (geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com)

Save the Dates: Geoffrey Philp reads from Dub Wise

USpeak KICK-OFF

Friday, September 24 · 6:30pm - 8:00pm

University of Miami,

Oasis Deli at the Whitten University Center,

Coral Gables, FL 33146

Book Launch of Dub Wise

Saturday, September 25 · 2:00pm – 4:00 p.m.

South Regional/Broward College Library,

7300 Pines Boulevard,

Pembroke Pines, FL 33024,

Praise for Dub Wise

“Without losing the joy of play or the play of the rhythms, Dub Wise celebrates the burdens and delights of love, friendships and the responsibility of being at home in the world.” --Olive Senior

“Geoffrey Philp...sensitively explores his complex heritage, alert to the environment he has entered and to his Jamaican roots.” --Mervyn Morris

“Above all, there is the continuing infolding of a ‘Jamaica Tradition’ as being established in the voices of Morris & Dawes, plus also the acknowledgment of McNeill, Baugh, Mikey Smith & Garvey, and the NL of Jean Binta Breeze.” --Kamau Brathwaite.




About Geoffrey Philp:


Geoffrey Philp is a poet and fiction writer who teaches English at Miami Dade College, where he also chairs the North Campus' College Preparatory Department. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he attended Mona Primary and Jamaica College, where he studied literature under the tutelage of Dennis Scott. When he left Jamaica in 1979, he went to Miami Dade College and after graduating, studied Caribbean, African and African-American literature with Dr. O.R. Dathorne and creative writing with Lester Goran and Isaac Bashevis Singer at the University of Miami, where he earned both a baccalaureate degree and Master of Arts in English. In 1991, he returned to the U. of Miami as a James Michener Fellow and studied poetry under Kamau Brathwaite and fiction with George Lamming.

Prof. Philp has published five collections of poetry; a children's book; two books of short stories, Who’s Your Daddy? and Uncle Obadiah and the Alien, and a book of poems and short stories titled Twelve Poems and a Story for Christmas. His master's thesis, Benjamin, My Son, was published by Peepal Tree Press in 2003. A critically acclaimed author, Philp's work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Small Axe, Gulf Stream, Canopic Jar, Wheel and Come Again: An Anthology of Reggae Poetry, the Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, and the Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse.

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Upcoming Posts:

A Conversation With…Diana McCaulay, Charmaine Valere, Andrea Shaw, Garfield Ellis, and Anton Nimblett.

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