Fabian Adekunle Badejo (St. Martin), author of Claude – A Portrait of Power, Salted Tongues – Modern Literature in St. Martin, and Fantasies – Love-making poems. He has produced concerts by kaisonian Mighty Dow and humorists Paul Keens Douglas and
Fernando Clark. He has directed plays and film documentaries and presented scholarly papers on St. Martin’s literature and culture at regional and international conferences.
Between 1989 and 2005, the former Nigerian diplomat was the managing director/editor, publisher, and news director respectively of The St. Maarten Guardian, St. Martin Business Week, and Today Newspaper. Badejo is the producer/host of “Culture Time,” the weekly cultural magazine on PJD2 radio. The poetry book SOS: Season of Storms by Fabian Adekunle Badejo was published by HNP in 2021 (https://bit.ly/3DkT2xd)
Rochelle Ward [Faizah Tabasamu] is a St. Martin poet. She holds an MSc in Management Studies from The University of the West Indies. The English and Literature teacher at St. Maarten Academy high school has recited her poetry at demonstrations, slams, concerts, and literary festivals in Anguilla, Dominica, St. Martin, and Nevis.
Ward’s poetry encompasses womanhood, Caribbean nostalgia and culture, and the urgency to preserve and engage in nature. As curator at saltfish & Lace, she blogs about hair and beauty care, Caribbean lifestyle, and fashion, and reviews books. Ward is a recipient of the Catapult Lockdown Virtual Salon grant. He poetry appears in the anthology Where I See the Sun – Contemporary Poetry in St. Martin. The debut collection Tangle by Rochelle Ward [Faizah Tabasamu], was published by House of Nehesi (HNP) in 2021.
The Alliouagana Festival of the Word organising committee is pleased to invite you to the Author’s Gala. This will be the closing night event for the 13th Annual literary festival and we hope you will join us.
The evening will feature readings and interviews with our guest authors.
This is a catered event and the dress code is Classy.
Music will be provided by Genysis Steel Orchestra.
Tickets are on sale at the Montserrat Arts Council office upstairs the Little Bay Market and at the Montserrat Public Library at the BBC complex in Brades.
BRADES, Montserrat – Journalist and calypsonian Edwin “Red Ride” Martin will release his latest work A Century of Montserrat Cricket at the upcoming Alliouagana Festival of the Word (AFW LitFest) in Montserrat which runs from November 18 to 20, 2021.
The 88-page magazine-style book will be one of seven featured releases at the festival’s Author Gala on Saturday, November 20 at the Montserrat Arts Council.
A Century of Montserrat Cricket chronicles the history of Montserrat’s national sports pastime over the past 108 years as 1913 marked the advent of the annual Leeward Islands Tournament. The book not only reveals the top cricket stars of the past century, but it also delves into other aspects such as how class, race and religion played a factor in the early years. The publication also includes rare photos, many feature stories, year-by-year results, annual lineups, and in-depth statistics.
“In 2013 while starting research on my book Stranded Batsman about our most famous cricket star Jim Allen, I visited the Hyde Cricket Club in Central England where Jim played in the late 1970s and early ’80s. The club provided me with a thick book that covered their history starting in 1901. Hyde is a small club, not a major club like Yorkshire, Lancashire, and others. But they still documented their history. I immediately thought to myself, ‘Why don’t we have a similar book about Montserrat cricket history?’ I decided that once I finished the book on Jim Allen that I would write a book on our entire cricket history. I began writing it in August of 2020 during the height of Covid and completed it in September of 2021,” Martin revealed.
The author, who has been a journalist since 1986, worked at the Miami Herald from 1986 to 2016. One of the highlights of his early career came in 1991 when he interviewed the NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. In 2017, Martin published Stranded Batsman: The Jim Allen Story, his first major book. It has been critically praised by several publications, including CricketWeb.Net, which wrote: “Martin has done a splendid job of reconstructing Allen’s story. The story that Martin tells is a thought-provoking one, very well written and thoroughly researched.” Read More
Here’s your chance to be one of our readers for Good Night Montserrat.
Select a children’s story which can be read in no more than seven minutes.
Record yourself reading the book in a well-lit space. (The light should be on your face not behind you. Read facing windows to add light.)
Record the video with your phone in a horizontal position.
Start your video with your name, tell us the name of the story, the author and read with as much engagement and inflections as possible. Be sure to end with Good Night Montserrat.
Send your entry by November 12 by emailing goldenmediamni@gmail.com.
BRADES, Montserrat – The Alliouagana Festival of the Word is back for its 13th rendition this November.
Slated for November 18th to 20th under the theme Our Future, Our Stories, the festival will be a blend of online and offline events.
Festival Coordinator Nerissa Golden of Goldenmedia said she was delighted to be facilitating another exciting programme to celebrate the best of Montserrat’s literature.
Partnering with the festival committee to deliver events this year is the Montserrat Arts Council and the Ministry of Education through the Montserrat Public Library and the local primary schools. The library will host a week-long exhibition called Write Montserrat: A Literary Retrospective of Our Island’s Authors. Opening on Monday, November 15, the display will showcase the works of local authors in a variety of genres.
“Montserratians at home and abroad have been contributing to building our literature in many fields. We are honoured to present this collection for visitors to the library to enjoy,” Sonja Smith, the Librarian and Exhibit Curator said.
The Book Parade will be held on Thursday, November 18 and allows primary school children to bring their favourite storybook characters to live in costumes in a colourful street parade.
The Alphonsus “Arrow Cassell” Memorial Lecture Series has been moved to Friday evening and will be aired virtually on the festival’s Facebook page. On the programme are two panels, one will look at Harnessing the Power of Arrow’s Legacy and the other What is the Story of Montserrat in the Future?Read More
How did one of Arrow’s earliest songs change Montserrat calypso? Was there really a Jean Under the Bed?
These questions are asked and answered in the upcoming Alphonsus “Arrow” Cassell Memorial Lecture Series scheduled to premiere on Thursday, November 19, 2020 on the Alliouagana Festival of the Word Facebook page.
The festival has gone virtual this year and so has the lecture series. In tribute to the 10th anniversary of Arrow’s passing, a panel of cultural experts will discuss Tracing Montserrat’s History Through Arrow’s Lyrics. The panel comprises journalist and calypsonian Edwin “Red Ride” Martin, ZJB Radio Station Manager and Calypso Commentator Herman Sargeant, and ZJB Radio Morning Show Host Basil Chambers.
The trio will discuss Arrow’s music from his start as a young calypsonian, his transition to soca and becoming a global star. They will analyse his lyrics and connect it to Montserrat’s broader socio-economic story. Martin leads the 50-minute conversation, which will stream from 7:30PM online. Read More
Minister of Agriculture Crenston Buffonge is one of the readers for the Good Night Montserrat series.
A vervet monkey named Chee Chee, a little boy who loves masquerade and a pig who lives on the beach are some of the characters which feature in the Good Night Montserrat reading series.
Good Night Montserrat is a new addition to the Alliouagana Festival of the Word programme for the virtual 2020 edition, which began on Sunday November 15 and runs until Sunday, November 22 nightly at 7PM on the festivals Facebook page.
“The focus was two-fold, the literary festival page has a small audience on Facebook, and we wanted to create content which would bring attention to the upcoming festival. Children are an important part of the focus of the festival and as it is virtual, we wanted to create multiple short bursts of entertainment which parents could share with them each night,” explained festival organizer Nerissa Golden of Goldenmedia.
Over the coming week, ten books will be featured primarily from authors who publish with CaribbeanReads, a small imprint out of St. Kitts. “We are pleased to support the literary festival and the Good Night Montserrat series. An important part of CaribbeanReads’ mission is to increase the stock of quality, interesting, relevant, and intellectually accessible books available to Caribbean children. We believe that providing Caribbean children with books set in the Caribbean is one key to capturing the upcoming generation, channelling their energies, and shaping a successful future for them. To this end our books are all either representative of Caribbean culture or written by Caribbean authors,” said the publisher Carol Mitchell.
Sunday night’s readings of Chee Chee in Paradise was by reigning Miss Montserrat Janet Turner, while Wilbur the
Miss Teen Montserrat Rodine Daley (right) and 1st Runner Up Girandi Alcala
Beach Pig: Remember When was presented by Miss Teen Montserrat Rondine Daley.
Other notable faces who will be reading nightly are Minister of Agriculture Crenston Buffonge, Morning Show Host Basil Chambers, businesswoman Lorraine Lewis and the incomparable Rose Willock, OBE, OE.
The readings were recorded at Chez Mango Villa and Iris Way Villa with support of the Government Information Unit.
The Alliouagana Festival of the Word will begin Friday, November 20 at 10AM on Facebook.com/afwlitfest. It can also be viewed on the Discover Montserrat YouTube channel. Main sponsors for Good Night Montserrat are the Montserrat Arts Council, Goldenmedia, Governor’s Office and Caribbean Reads.
About Caribbean Reads
CaribbeanReads is a St. Kitts-based publishing company which has been producing children’s books since 2009. We began with a single title, Adventure at Brimstone Hill by founder Carol Mitchell and now have more than fifty titles including softcover, hardcover, eBooks, audio books, and foreign language editions. Our children’s books range in target age from kindergarten to young adult and include two prize-winning titles and activity books. Our books can be found in schools, bookstores, libraries, and homes in almost every island in the Caribbean, the US, the UK, Canada, Denmark, and Australia.
Aspiring writers will have a chance to learn how to write their first children’s book as well as promote it during this week’s Alliouagana Festival of the Word Nov 20 – 22, 2020.
The festival, which will be held virtually for the first time, opens on Friday morning at 10AM and the workshops will air on Saturday from 10AM until 12:30PM.
The first workshop with author and children’s publisher Carol Mitchell will be on How to Write Your First Children’s Book and will be live on the Facebook page. Viewers will be able to ask questions of the presenter and follow along as she guides them through the steps from idea to publication.
Starting at 11AM Author and Writing instructor, A-dZiko Simba Gegele will present on Exploring the Black Lives Movement as a Catalyst for Creative Writing. This is a lead up to a more extensive workshop that writers can sign up to participate in at no additional cost in the coming weeks. Read More
Poetry and Spoken Word will feature heavily in the 12th edition of Montserrat’s literary festival, which begins on Friday, November 20 until Sunday, November 22, 2020 online.
The Alliouagana Festival of the Word will be 100% virtual this year considering restrictions on public gatherings on island.
Curated and hosted by Nerissa Golden of Goldenmedia LLC, the festival features several first-time authors as well as a few veterans. New authors to be introduced are Montserratians Myrle Roach and Patricia C. Daway, Tamara Groeneveldt of St. Martin and Dion Johnson from the United Kingdom/Jamaica. Author of more than 22 books Sharmen Greenaway will discuss her latest work which looks at preserving Montserrat’s dialect.
