The quest led me on a journey that was international even though I never moved from the shores of Anguilla. It was a journey that led me to halls of fame such as CuisinArt and Paradise Cove. It allowed me to get close and personal with famous literary persons on the international, regional and local spheres.
Where else can you rub shoulders and have personal conversations with people like Leigh Haber, the book editor of O, the Oprah Magazine and realize she is down to earth; listen to Jessica Strawser, editor of Writer’s Digest, expound on traditional vs self publishing and hear her give recommendations; and meet passionate Yona Deshommes, Associate director of Publicity at Atria Books, third famous publishing house in the United States? Where else can you meet and greet Joanne Hillhouse, of Antigua, author of ‘The Boy from Willow Bend’ and see her associating with children who have read and studied her book as one of their literature texts? And where else can you see local folk like Marilyn Hodge, author, and Alexis Ryan, poet, moving comfortably among them all as equals and hosts? Only at Anguilla Lit Fest.
The question of the what, why and wherefore of Lit Fest was answered so beautifully in conversations with a few folks, and I wish I could share with you the entirety of the conversations but I’ll share with you some of the gems I heard:
“A Lit Fest is a place where you have people of similar interests coming together – both the author and the people who enjoy the work the authors produce. And so you have these like minds and spirits coming together to be inspired by each other” (BA).
“I find the whole concept of a Lit Fest creative, imaginative and intellectually stimulating. It is not the sort of thing you get to immerse yourself in on a daily basis – hearing poets and authors recite their pieces, describe what motivated them to do the work they do. It’s a weekend of immersion in emotions, and in intellectual information” (AC).
“When I looked at what was going to be happening in Anguilla, I said I have to come to Anguilla and be part of it. The fact that they are not just looking at the writing of the book, but the publishing, the editing, you know, the various areas of writing” (LG).
“I’ve been coming for three years and the thing I like about it is that it is always different” (BL).
“I think what it does for you is that it validates your role as a writer. It makes you feel that what you have been doing all this time is good, and that there is some value to it – and it forces you to consider making it more available to the public” (LB).
“Expression is everything to the human life and if you could inspire a whole new generation of writers to document their own history – if you could expose people who have never thought to become writers to become writers – if you could use this an opportunity to encourage more literacy (more involvement with reading and writing and creative writing expression), then you have a whole new world of people who would report the lives of Anguillians and other people around the world” (TR).
“The books we read since as children are from people who shared their ideas with us – so we’ve got to share, especially with the youth” (LG).
“It stimulates you to do more with the talent you have. You get to rub shoulders with those who have been writing and publishing for years. Sometimes we are afraid about ourselves. We get too caught up in everything so we don’t set aside the time to share what we have in a more formal way with the rest of the world. So it really opens the door to the world for Anguillian writers. It allows you to learn from those who’ve been doing it and the possibilities are endless” (LB).
“The beautiful thing about the ‘spoken word’ is its expression. It can be done in all kinds of venues. I think ‘spoken word’ is the future because it integrates so many different things – it’s acting, it’s music, it’s poetry. It is a blend of so many different things that it’s appealing, especially to the youth. I think it is therapy for a lot of them” (YD).
“The thing that interested me about the Book Fest the last time, and it is present in this one, is the fact that you are including the young people” (LG).
“The difference in the Anguilla Book Fest versus others is that it seems to be tied to the community very tightly. It is unique in how they are changing their own communities and promoting change abroad. We’ve been speaking to students. Those students are a new generation of people who are going to affect the world. We affect them, they affect us and everybody goes into different parts of the world from the book festival. That makes this book festival very different, because it could change lives from a very deep space” (TR).
“You all have a mass of talent. At the Governor’s residence I was listening to those poems, and I said, boy these people are way, way better than the so called ‘senior poets” (LG).
“I continue to be touched by the talent we have in Anguilla in so many ways, but particularly the ability of our people in writing and speaking” (AC).
“I think that Anguilla, as small an island as it is, and the fact that they can produce this festival for four continuous years – I say that it is a remarkable thing and we need to keep it going. Bigger islands wouldn’t even think of it. This is grand and great for a small island… I was disappointed though, not so many Anguillians came” (LG).
I highly recommend it. It is a great getaway. It is a fabulous, warm environment and like so many things in Anguilla, because it is so small, you tend to get real close to people, and generally people are nice. These sort of experiences help you to re-nourish the soul.
In conclusion, I found that a Lit Fest is a place where I rediscovered the power of words – words that make you gasp or cry or ponder, or be in wonder, and words that make you remember and give you intimate knowledge of that which you thought you knew – words that made that which was boring and mundane seem exciting and relevant. It allowed my soul to bask in the expression of the fine art of the literary kind – food for the soul. It inspired me to write this little poem:
Lit Fest is the best.
Be it in the North, South, East or West.
Only you can tell – If you are impressed.
