Caribbean Cultural Theater promises an amalgam of creative expressions on June 30 when almost 30 talents present their work from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at St. Francis College, 182 Remsen St. (between Clinton & Court streets).
“We’re especially excited that as we welcome almost 30 authors, poets and storytellers, from over a dozen countries for our afternoon-long book festival, many of them have books specifically written for younger readers,” Ewayne McDonald, artistic director stated.
He said workshops and special presentations will include illustrations, graphic and costume design, steel pan demonstrations and storytelling. Below is a listing of categories, times and titles planned for the day.
Book Business
2:00 p.m.
Balancing Creativity and Commerce in Caribbean Literary Expression
Marva Allen – CEO of Hue-Man Book Store, and co-publisher of “Open Lens” an imprint of Akashic Books
Crystal Bobb-Semple – owner of Brownstone Bookstore
Ron Kavanaugh – founder and managing editor of Mosaic Literary Magazine, exploring the literary arts created by writers of African descent
Summer Edward – founder and managing editor of “Anansesum,” Caribbean children’s literature ezine
Victoria Brown, author, “Grace in the City” – Moderator
Young Readers
3:15 p.m.
Culture Making – Literature that Defines Us (Under 8 yrs)
Shabana Sharif (US/Guyana), “Ins and Out of Queens”
Tiphanie Yanique, (Virgin Is), “I am the Virgin Islands”
Ibi Zoboio (Haiti), “A is for Ayiti”
4:30 p.m.
Memory and Myth – Rooted in history and the fantastical
(8 – 15 yrs)
Tracey & Harmony Pierre (US/Haiti)
Clyde Veichweg (Grenada), “CaribbeanTwilight; Tales of the Supernatural”
5:40 p.m.
Off Island – Journeys in time and place
(Teens – Young Adults)
Zetta Elliott (St. Kitts-Nevis), “Ship of Souls”
Devon Harris (Jamaica), “Yes I Can”
Adult Book Writers
3:15 p.m.
Where We’re From – Identity and Influence
Carmen Bardeguez Brown (Puerto Rico), “Straight from the Drum”
Ethaniel Ben Yehuda (US/Trinidad & Tobago), “The Chronicles of Air, Water, and the Source”
Anna Ruth Henriques (Jamaica), “The Book of Mechtilde”
Monica Matthew (Antigua & Barbuda), “Journeycakes: Memories with my Antiguan Mama”
4:30 p.m.
Memory and Myth – Our History Clings to Us
Keisha Gay Anderson (Jamaica)
Lynn Grange (Trinidad & Tobago),”Freedom and the Cashew Seed”
Petra Lewis (Trinidad & Tobago), “Sons and Daughters of Ham”
Bernice McFadden (US/Barbados),
“Nowhere is a Place”
5:40 p.m.
Off Island – Migration and Displacement
Elsie Agustave (Haiti), “The Roving Tree”
Elizabeth Nunez (Trinidad & Tobago), “Boundaries”
Sandra Ottey (Jamaica), “Runaway Comeback”
7:00 p.m.
Get Up Stand Up – Texts of Empowerment
Deborah Jack (St Martin/St Maarten)
Rosamond King (US/Gambia/Trinidad), “At My Belly and My Back”
Hermina Marcellin (St. Lucia)
David Mills (US/Jamaica), “The Sudden Country”
Ras Osagyefo (Jamaica), “Psalms of Osagyefo”
Jive Poetic (US/Jamaica)
Maria Rodriguez (US/Puerto Rico)
