Following another successful Anguilla Literary Festival held May 22 – 25th 2014, all but the Jamaican presenters returned to their homes. Ad-Ziko Simba remained and conducted a two-day workshop, from 26 – 27th May, for seven inmates at Her Majesty’s Prison, with the purpose of sharing with a class of students that understanding of the power of words, with the hope of catalyzing among them the development of ‘word engineers.’
The workshop focused on three areas. First, their written words narrated positive memories from their past, then, they moved on to metaphorical words that represent their present, and finally, they put words of hope to the vision boards they created for their anticipated futures.
When asked how they felt about the workshop, the participants all agreed that it was much more interesting than they had anticipated. Comments like, “She got me thinking”, “This was some good stuff,” and “I can write nuff poems with that brainstorming thing!” were among the many positive remarks overheard as they enthusiastically talked among themselves.
At the closing ceremony, besides the skillful and captivating performances by Ms. Simba and the Jamaican poet Ras Takura, each student selected and presented his own best work. For each, poetry was chosen as his favourite. All guests present were pleasantly surprised by the quality of work that resulted from their attendance at a three-session workshop.
Sharing her view of what was achieved in the short time available, Ad-Ziko Simba said, “This was my first time working in a prison, so I had no experience by which to be guided. What I can tell you is, what was achieved was much more than I expected. I am pleased to have been given the privilege of working with these young men.”
Ms Ingrid Fullington, Prison Tutor, who was responsible for inviting the visiting poets to HM Prison, was delighted with the success of the activity and the response of the students. She said, “Based on the enthusiasm that has been bubbling for days since the workshop, I have a feeling that what was achieved goes way beyond what can be seen.”
The Superintendent and the Sentence Planning Department of HM Prison would like to publicly thank the Tourism Board, Lynne Picard of Irie Life and the Anguilla Library Service, without whose contributions the prison literary workshop would not have been possible.
– Contributed
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
