Friday, 25 May 2012 – Today I attended the Anguilla Lit Fest 2012 at Paradise Cove Boutique Hotel on the Cove Road in West End. The literary festival (or jollification as we call it in the Caribbean) celebrated the art of writing and featured headliner authors, actors/actresses, editors and publishers such as Hill Harper, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Terry McMillan, Randall Robinson, Lasana M. Sekou, Malaika Adero, Marie-Elena John, Marva Allen, and our very own Dwayne J. Adams, Patricia J. Adams, David Carty and Stephanie Stokes Oliver who representa few of the poets, historians, boat builders, writers and artists in residence on Anguilla. It was “a writer’s dream becomes reality” for me to meet this calibre of individuals, up close and personal, in an intimate setting.
What an amazing day it was listening to and speaking with these celebrities, world-renowned Brothers and Sisters of the African diaspora who are rooted in the cultures and societies of the islands of the West Indies and the continent ofNorth America. We all felt blessed to bask in the light of their accomplishments as writersand to be in their presence in a beautifully set environment decorated with the orange, turquoise and white national colours ofAnguilla. The words they spoke and the words they read uplifted our souls. They inspired us to pursue the craft of writing, to hone our writing skills and to published, if we so choose, those manuscripts that we might have hidden away in the closet. These distinguished guest speakers encouraged us to continue to put down on paper our thoughts and authentic stories to share with others—or, as we do in this age of technology, to utilize PCs or Macs, Smart Phones like BlackBerry or iPhone, iPads or some other electronic media to record our written words.
I don’t know how all the delegates viewed the presentations and panel discussions that were presented on creative writing and publishing, but I sensed from my chats with a few persons, including students from theAlbenaLakeHodgeComprehensiveSchoolin The Valley, that they felt it was worth their while to attend this significant landmark event. An expression used by one young lady was, “It was a motivational tool.” For me, personally, it was the most inspiring day that I have had in many months, and it helped give me a renewed sense of purpose for living life.
Ms McMillan gave tips on best practices in writing. Mrs Ralph explained to us the true meaning of the word “Diva” which she wrote about in her book, Redefining Diva, Life Lessons from the Original Dreamgirl. Mr Harper shared with us how he came about writing his first book, Letters To A Young Brother, as a response to the hundreds of emails that he received on a weekly basis from young men, which was a compilation of answers to their pressing questions and even includes a reply from President Barack Obama to one young man. We heard from Mistress Allen and Mary J. Walters about publishing with small pressesor publishing houses. And the mother and son duo – of Mrs and Mr Adams – along with Monsieur Sekou, gave us interpretive readings of their poetry written on subjects that all us island folks can relate to like rain falling and cock fights.
One of the most important recommendations made by this dynamic group of distinguished speakers was to write without editing your words and to write from the heart. Now I can write from my heart, yet to write and not edit at the same time is difficult for me to do. Writing is my passion, but I also have the gift of having a keen eye that edits whatever I read and write, particularly because I worked for a number of years writing and simultaneously editing a variety of business communications, proposals and marketing materials.So how does a writer separate the two tasks—writing and editing? That is a question I could not answer.Yet it was a query I had a chance to pose to Ms Walters when I spoke with her in private. I do not recall what she said to me, so will just have to keep on with my writing practices and re-train myself to write with fewer editorial inputs made during the initial writing process.
The impact of the presentations, and interactions or connections with the participants atAnguilla’s first literary festival, were so powerful that I was propelled on Friday night to get out of my bed, shortly before midnight, to write about the day’s activities. I took pen and paper in hand to write down the words that were rushing through my head about what I had observed and experienced. SinceI was too tired to sit at my writing desk, I propped myself in bed and wrote by hand. I got out of bed three times, during the wee hours of the morn, to write down additional words because the thoughts kept flowing through my brain and would not stop. Isn’t it crazy how sometimes the words in our heads force us to compose or record them at the oddest times of day and night?
Not only did we learn about how to improve our writing skills, and various ways to publish our written words, but we also had lessons in the history of Black people and their struggles to win back their freedom inHaitiandSouth Africa. Mr Robinson like the great African-American actor, writer, activist Paul Robeson, educated us on human rights for people of colour. In his brief reading from the novel that he wrote entitled Makeda, he also shared with us memories of our ancestors from Africa—those who ruled as free men, women and children and were captured, enslaved and brought to the Americas. He urged us as writers to take on the conscious responsibility of writing about social issues within our communities. His words have inspired me to write more in the coming months on these kinds of subjects.
I also felt sheer delight to have the ALHCS students present at the Lit Fest. The boys and girls actively paid attention during the presentations. They seemed to be enraptured listening to each of the speakers. Now, had they been in class at school, the teachers probably would have been struggling to bring order out of chaos and get the youth to be quiet so they could teach lessons. But today, at the literary jollification, they listened quietly and respectfully, and I must compliment them for exhibiting well-behaved manners. The youths showed us that they really want to learn about writing and posed some excellent questions to the panellists. Young people showing a keen interest in learning is something we should all strongly advocate in our society.
From this gathering of literary minds, everyone who attended gained a wealth of knowledge. Networking connections were made that would not have been possible if the setting had been anywhere else other thanAnguilla. I say this because there is a magical atmosphere that surrounds this smallCaribbeanisland,which does not exist in any other place as far as I have seen from my own travels and residence abroad.
Unfortunately, I am sorry the girlfriends whom I had told about the literary festival made the choice not to attend. They missed a golden, once in a lifetime, opportunity to hear great authors talk, and to socialise with other aspiring writers and readers who reside locally in our community, on our neighbouring islands of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten and Antigua or in the USA. They also could have had the authors autograph copies of their books purchased from the Anguillian-owned Coral Reef Bookstore, a Book Lover’s Haven, located in Little Harbour. Dawn Reid and staff operated a small shop set up underneath the gazebo at Paradise Cove for the Fest. Many people purchased a number of books written by the authors who participated in this year’s Lit Fest as well as works from other writers who were not present.
As people of theCaribbeanand as educators, teachers and students, I believe we should never pass up the chance to learn from our own regional writers, as well as others in the African diaspora and worldwide. So if you missed attending the 2012Anguillaliterary jollification, then save the date for next year. Check with the Anguilla Tourist Board to confirm the exact dates and to register for the Anguilla Lit Fest 2013. Telephone 264 497 2759 or visit the official website www.ivisitanguilla.com. You can also see the ATB on Facebook.
If you’re a writer, or aspiring to become one, you will definitely want to be at this wonderfully organised event. We anticipate that next year will be even better with more people attending, both local residents and visitors from overseas. Sign up early to make sure you have a space. You’re guaranteed to have a great time learning about the art of writing. A bonus option that may be available is reading your own work out loud.You just might have the opportunity to share some of your own composed words by reading them to the audience of participants like some of the delegates did for Lit Fest 2012. Terry McMillan gave a writing exercise during her Master Class on “Honing Your Gift” and several persons got to read what they had written. Wouldn’t you like to publicly showcase your writing talents?
Participating in this Anguilla Experience, the Anguilla Lit Fest, will positively change your mind-setand inspire you to write your own words and share your stories. So come on and join our local writers’ circle of multi-talented individuals and let the world see (or read) your writing gifts. Like myself, I hope you too will be inspired to write and further develop your skills.
Editor’s note: Kay M. Ferguson is an experienced writer who is inspired to write about cultural events, health and healing, social conditions, environmental issues and matters of significancethat challenge theAnguilla community. She encourages others—whether young or old, no matter the age—to speak out and voice their own thoughts and opinions about current affairs or what’s going on in our local “Island Life”.
