The Valley, Anguilla – 8th July 2022 – This year Anguilla joined with St. Martin and other Caribbean islands to celebrate Caribbean Literature Day on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, with an ‘Evening of Storytelling’ and other readings from Caribbean literature, at the Old Boys School, The Valley, from 5 – 7 pm. This was a free event and the public was invited to attend. Other activities to mark the celebration of this important day included the broadcast of readings from Caribbean literature on various local radio stations on the island, a televised book discussion on KCN, and a Caribbean literature display at Coral Reef Book Store in Little Harbour.
The general public was invited to celebrate Caribbean Literature Day 2022 by reading the works of their favourite local and Caribbean authors; buying Caribbean books, published in the Caribbean and beyond, and by Caribbean authors; and presenting Caribbean books as gifts. Many persons celebrated the day with books, recitals, and with discussions about books, of poetry, fiction, drama, art, music, and all the other genres by Caribbean writers.
The idea of a Caribbean Literature Day was birthed by Lasana Sekou writer and Director of Projects at the House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP) in St. Martin, following the hosting of the 18th Annual St. Martin Book Fair 2020, and first observed July 12, 2020. The day was envisioned as the first pan-Caribbean literature day, celebrating the roots, range, and excellence of writings and books across the language zones of our region.
According to Sekou, “460 years ago, on July 12, 1562, the Spanish Franciscan priest and bishop of Yucatán, Diego de Landa, with soldiers and colonial authorities in attendance, burned the sacred books of the Maya people. As July 12 marked the destruction of the first known books and library containing knowledge spanning millennia in the widest space of this region, we are inviting all of you to grace this day with the attributes of the Maya Itzamna’s creative force of writing, of Legba, the opener of the gates of languages, of a brilliant phoenix, and now celebrate Caribbean literature, one of the world’s youngest and most resilient literatures, which continues to flourish within the same region that had at its most ancient recorded foundation, encoded and written in books, the orature and literature of a great people.”
– Press Release
