Meet Writing Stars at the BVI Literary Arts Festival
By Claudia Colli
As a writer, the BVI Literary Arts Festival is close to my heart. It is a chance to meet some world-shaking writers and artists, and get my own writing juices flowing. During the course of four packed days from November 6-9, the BVI Literary Arts Festival will feature stars of the written word in relaxed settings. Seminars, and workshops will weave literature with dance and music; social events will blend readers with those who write.
In past festivals, I have had the opportunity to meet and chat with some of the world’s best-known writers. Among them was Jonathan Escoffery, who was here for the 2023 Literary Fest. His debut novel, “If I Survive You” was longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award and short listed for the 2022 Booker Prize, top honors coveted by most serious writers. He was a guest at a well-attended Literary Brunch at Long Bay where he gave a short talk, chatted amiably with attendees and, to the delight of his fans, autographed his book. You could easily imagine inviting him to a dinner party.
It has always been one of my goals to participate in a writer’s workshop. Living in the BVI this was out of reach, that is until the Literary Arts Festival debuted here in 2021. So, I eagerly signed up for a writer’s workshop focusing on memoir writing. To my delight, Charmaine Wilkerson was also in attendance. Charmaine hardly needed lessons in writing. Her novel “Black Cake,” was a gripping story about a Jamaican woman with a dark secret. The book was not only a best seller it was later made into a Hulu television series of the same name. I loved the book and subscribed to Hulu just so I could watch the riveting series. I don’t know about Charmaine, but I learned a few tricks on how to outline and structure a memoir, ideas that I will tuck away for a future project.
This year’s event features a mixture of international and local talent in literature and cultural arts working in a variety of fields from film to book publishing. Here are just a few. For a complete list go to https://bvilitfest.com
Who is Speaking?
Zola Mashariki, a senior executive and independent film producer with over 20 years of experience creating award winning content for film and television will be among the speakers. During her 15 years at Searchlight Pictures she helped develop and produce such prestige films as the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The Secret Life of Bees, The Last King of Scotland and Antwone Fisher directed by Denzel Washington – some of my favorite movies.
Celeste Mohammed is a Trinidadian lawyer-turned-writer and the author of “Pleasantview”(published by Jacaranda, 2021; and Ouida, 2022) which won the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the 2022 CLMP Firecracker Award for Fiction, and was a finalist for the UK Society of Authors McKitterick Prize for Fiction. Celeste holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her short stories have won numerous awards including a 2018 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize.
Johnny Temple is the publisher and editor in chief of Akashic Books, an award-winning Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction. He won the 2013 Ellery Queen Award and is the editor of the anthology USA Noir, which was selected as a New York Times Editors’ Choice.
Marsha Massiah, who has appeared at previous BVI literary festivals, is the founder of the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival. A great believer in the power of storytelling, she will be on hand to share her Caribbean centric family stories.
Tiphanie Yanique is a novelist, poet, essayist and short story writer. From the US Virgin Islands, she is the author of the novel, Monster in the Middle, which was selected as a US Library of Congress Great Read for 2023.
Local cultural and artistic talents include:
Dr. L. Sauda Smith is the Executive Director of Unite BVI Foundation. She is an alumna of Wesleyan University, the University of Wisconsin – Madison and Warnborough University. She is the former Vice President, Associate Vice President and Dean of Arts and Sciences of the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College where she worked for twenty-one years. She is a Fulbright Hayes (foreign language area) Scholar, Marshall Scholar and Phi Theta Kappa International Leadership Facilitator and Instructor.
Kamau Georges is a popular B.V.I. jazz saxophonist, music producer, songwriter & recording artist who continues to garner local, regional and international acclaim. Kamau is a graduate of the distinguished Berklee College of Music in Boston Massachusetts, with a bachelor’s degree in music production & engineering.
Workshops, Presentations and Lectures, Plus Brunch
The event schedule will include a wide variety of speakers, film presentations and workshops. Just a few of the highlights on the full two-day schedule on Friday and Saturday are:
Explore the dynamics of telling a story through film at the “Story in Frame, A filmmaking Workshop” with Zola Mashariki.
Erasures, A Poetry workshop with Traci O’Dea. In this workshop, writers will compose longer prose poems that they will then transform into short “erasures.”
The Body is a Poem: A Choreopoetry Workshop with dancer Amanda Georges and Safiya Kamaria. In this immersive workshop, “movement meets metaphor”s as participants explore the expressive power of the body through a fusion of dance, spoken word, and rhythm
The Distance Between Us: Narrating your Story. Celeste Mohammed explores the use of the third person in story writing.
Capping off the event is the Book Brunch at Long Bay Beach Resort at Tortola’s West End. At the event, brunch goers can meet some of the Festival’s participants in a relaxed social environment.
Keep up with these and additional events as they come available at https://bvilitfest.com
Or check out the Festival’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bvilitfest/
For a look at the 2023 Literary Arts Festival go to: https://thebviinsider.com/bvi-lit-fest-a-star-studded-literature-festival/
