The St. Martin Book Fair has been offering to the St. Martin
people and our visitors three exciting days of Caribbean books, literature
and cultural performances, and exhibition of educational and media tools,
highlighted with:
• Multilingual/multi-subject
workshops (English, Kréyòl, Dutch, Spanish, Papiamentu,
French).
• Book and multimedia exhibitions;
• Book launches and signings of newly published books.
• Well-known authors and scholars from around the world.
St. Martin Book Fair – “Writing
Justice,” May 31 – June 2, 2007
GREAT BAY/MARIGOT, St. Martin—The 5th annual
St. Martin Book Fair (May 31 –June 2, 2007) will open in Spring
Concordia, Marigot at the Maison des Entreprises (Chamber of Commerce
Building) on Thursday, May 31, at 8pm..
Most of the book fair workshops will be hosted in Great Bay (Philipsburg)
at the University of St. Martin (USM) on Friday, June 1 and all day
on Saturday, June 2.
Famous and new visiting writers will crisscross the island to primary
and high schools. The cultural concert will be held in Cay Hill. The
main book launch and closing ceremony will conclude the St. Martin Book
Fair in Cupecoy, at the American University in the Caribbean, said book
fair coordinator Shujah Reiph.
With its theme of “Writing Justice,” book fair 2007 will
see over five new books released. Workshop topics will range from constitutional
matters to death penalty issues, to one entitled “RasTafari as
Image & Voice of Justice in Caribbean Literature,” said Reiph,
who is also president of Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF).
The cultural night, which was such a hit in 2006, with poets reciting
in their native language, will be repeated with readers from St. Martin,
St. Lucia, Nigeria, France and the Bahamas—to name a few of the
places where the authors are originating this year.
The standard favorites such as the ponum dance, the day-long “In
the Children’s Room” (for ages 4 – 12), and the computer/Internet
media workshops will return in style. Remember the massively popular
celebrity hair-care workshop in 2006? There will be a different twist
in 2007, by a French author who will use her book on hair and skin attitudes
as the center piece of discussion, said Jacqueline Sample, president
of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).
“The Book Fair Committee [BFC] will have its hands full with
a record 18 workshops and general sessions.
“House of Nehesi is pushing the envelope to have five books ready
for book signings and the main book launch, and we added more schools
that will be visited by the writers,” said Reiph.
“As usual, we got the multi-lingual features as an aspect of
the St. Martin culture, and the BFC is busy with plans to attract more
people from all over the island to enjoy and benefit from this new book
fair edition.
“This year, also for the first time, we were contacted by tourists,
from New York and Puerto Rico, who are coming in especially for the
St. Martin Book Fair. So news about this cultural event is growing at
home and abroad,” said Reiph.
Visit www.houseofnehesipublish.com for St. Martin Book Fair 2007 updates.
View Book Fair 2006 photos at www.consciouslyricsonline.com.
The St. Martin Book Fair is organized by CLF and HNP, both non-profit
NGOs, in collaboration with USM. The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau is the
major patron of the St. Martin Book Fair.
Great Salt Pond workshop
at St. Martin Book Fair, full program on Internet
Rueben J. Thompson, project manager, Love the Lagoon
Project, conducts environmental workshop on June 2, at St. Martin Book
Fair.
GREAT BAY, St. Martin (May 12, 2007)—The condition
of the Great Salt Pond and the Simpson Bay Lagoon will get a first class
workshop treatment from Rueben J. Thompson, at the 5th annual St. Martin
Book Fair (May 31-June 2, 2007).
According to book fair coordinator Shujah Reiph, the workshop by Thompson
will take place on Saturday, June 2, at the University of St. Martin.
“The presentation by Rueben Thompson looks at the present state,
future, and importance of St. Martin’s two major wetlands, the
Great Salt Pond and the Simpson Bay Lagoon,” said Reiph.
There is also the possibility of a companion powerpoint and new video
feature. The general public audience will be able to add to the workshop
through discussion, said Reiph.
With the 2007 book fair theme of “Writing Justice,” “there
is no way we could leave out the importance of St. Martin’s environment
to our very cultural identity and economic livelihood now and in the
future,” said Reiph.
Thompson, a leader among St. Martin’s new generation of environmentalists,
is the project manager of Love the Lagoon Project, with the Environmental
Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC).
He holds a Bachelors degree in Environmental Science and Management
and has worked with the Nature Foundation.
The details of the Thompson workshop and his profile are now online
at www.houseofnehesipublish.com/Bookfair07website/newsletter.html. “We
uploaded the first newsletter of the St. Martin Book Fair on Sunday,”
said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi Publishers. The
newsletter can also be viewed through houseofnehesipublish.com.
The Internet newsletter of the St. Martin Book Fair includes, among
other “goodies,” the full three-day book fair program of
book signings, school visits, 18 workshops and general sessions for
the general public, and the photos and profiles of participating authors
and workshop coordinators from the island and abroad, said Sample.
“The Book Fair Committee is busy preparing for a fantastic event,
a book fair for the entire family,” said Reiph.
“We welcome all of the St. Martin people to participate as one
family and have a great time with us and our visitors.”
American University
of the Caribbean, a patron of St. Martin Book Fair 2007
L-R: Dr. Bernard “Buz” Salafsky, Dean of Basic Medical Services,
Dr. Susan V. Atchley, Professor of Immunology and Director of
Community Services and External Affairs, Shujah Reiph, president of
Conscious Lyrics Foundation and Coordinator of the St. Martin Book Fair.
GREAT BAY, St. Martin (May 8, 2007)—The American
University of the Caribbean – School of Medicine (AUC) is an arts
patron for the 5th annual St. Martin Book Fair (May 31 – June
2), said Shujah Reiph, the book fair coordinator.
While much of the nation was gearing up for what became a successful
Carnival 2007, Reiph was busy about the business of book fair 2007.
Reiph met at AUC with Dr. Bernard “Buz” Salafsky, Dean of
Basic Medical Services, and Dr. Susan V. Atchley, Professor of Immunology
and Director of Community Services and External Affairs in April 2007,
about the possibilities of the university’s participation in the
book fair.
AUC will sponsor the closing ceremony of the St. Martin Book Fair on
Saturday, June 2, at its campus at #1 University at Jordan Road in Cupecoy
(near Atlantis Casino), said Reiph. Each year, the closing ceremony
is highlighted with the main book launch of a new book published in
St. Martin.
“AUC has been generous in its offer. In fact, Dr. Atchley had
expressed to me and to House of Nehesi before the interest of AUC to
be involved with our community activities.
“I am really glad that we are able to work together on this book
fair for the entire family,” said Reiph, who is also president
of Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF).
“This is another example of unity for a good cause when we can
involve the two universities in St. Martin.
“The idea and action of cultural unity, of one nation, is the
same reason why we alternate the opening ceremony each year between
both capitals of our island,” said Reiph. The opening ceremony
of book fair 2007 takes place on Thursday, May 31, at the Chamber of
Commerce Building (Maison des Entreprises) in Spring Concordia, Marigot.
The University of St. Martin (USM) in Philipsburg is home to the main
book fair day (June 2) of workshops, general sessions, and the day-long
children’s workshop of storytelling and one jewelry-making class.
CLF and House of Nehesi Publishers are the organizers of the St. Martin
Book Fair, in collaboration with USM. Since 2004, the St. Maarten Tourist
Bureau has been the main book fair sponsor.
St. Martin Minister Brooks writes book
about AIDS and healing
GREAT
BAY, St. Martin (May 7, 2007)—HIV/AIDS – A Christian
Perspective of Healing for the Caribbean by Stéphane G. Brooks
is scheduled for release here on May 31, 2007, said Jacqueline Sample,
president of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).
The author of the slim volume is a St. Martin minister of the Methodist
Church.
HIV/AIDS is one of five books scheduled for publication here for the 5th
annual St. Martin Book Fair (May 31 – June 2). “Writing Justice”
is the theme of book fair 2007.
HIV/AIDS – A Christian Perspective of Healing for the Caribbean
is “a ‘wake-up’ call to the Church in the region in
particular,” said George Mulrain, Connexional president of the Methodist
Church in the Caribbean and the Americas.
Using scientific and socio-economic facts, HIV+ interviewees, and bible
stories about disease and healing, Brooks bravely goes where few church
leaders in the region have gone in writing, said Sample.
As Mulrain puts it, the author “affirms that Christians in the Caribbean
must be faithful to their missionary mandate.”
The book’s challenge and insightfulness may just be in how Brooks
arrives at his position through scripture; culture; economic concerns;
and taboos about what is considered “nasty” about certain
sexual practices and mores in St. Martin, Barbados, Antigua, Jamaica and
throughout the Caribbean, said Sample.
Min. Brooks takes a humble but potent message straight to the church as
“a community” and not just to its leadership. The author is
a graduate of the University of the West Indies and the United Theological
College of the West Indies.
The book also focuses on “faith-based organizations … as healing
congregations to the individual, the community and the nation” affected
by HIV/AIDS, said Suzette Moses, program manager of the St. Maarten government
HIV/AIDS Program.
HIV/AIDS – A Christian Perspective of Healing will be released by
HNP at the book fair workshop “Healing Congregations – The
Church and AIDS in St. Martin, in the Caribbean.” Min. Brooks will
conduct the workshop at the University of St. Martin on May 31 (4 pm –
5:30 pm), said book fair coordinator Shujah Reiph.
According to Min. Brooks, he has ministered throughout the Caribbean to
hundreds of people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.
The husband and father of three pastors the Guadeloupe mission of the
Methodist church and coordinates the NGO Chrétiens et Sida (Christians
and AIDS) in Guadeloupe. He is pursuing a masters in business management
from ESSEC School of Management. Photo caption: Min. Stéphane G.
Brooks writes book about AIDS and healing.
Rhoda
Arrindell represents St. Martin writers at book fair 2007
Rhoda Arrindell (standing, R) next to librarian Ans
Koolen during research
fieldtrip with participants of the Creative Writing Program, Philipsburg
Jubilee Library. (File photo/Saltwater Collection)
GREAT BAY, St. Martin (April 22, 2007)—Rhoda
Arrindell will represent St. Martin writers at the 5th annual St. Martin
Book Fair (May 31 –June 2, 2007), said Jacqueline Sample, president
of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).
Arrindell is the editor of Brother Rich, Nana Sweetie – Creative
Writing in St. Martin, a new book of stories that will be released at
the book fair on May 31, 2007.
“We always try to have a St. Martin author represent the island’s
writers among the roster of excellent participating authors from around
the world,” said Sample.
“Brother Rich, Nana Sweetie includes 13 new and aspiring writers.
As its editor I am honored to be selected by the book fair to represent
St. Martin writers and books,” said Arrindell.
The writers in the anthology of mostly short stories and vignettes and
a few poems, took part in the HNP Creative Writing Program in 2003.
The writers range in age from under 20 to over 60.
“Brother Rich, Nana Sweetie is proof of creative thinking and
writing skills developed in the writing course,” said Sample.
“It also gives a whole new set of people a chance to be in a book
and share their original stories with St. Martin and a world of readers.”
Arrindell is the Language Division head at University of St. Martin
(USM), where she lectures in English and literature. She is currently
pursuing her doctorate.
5 new books in 3 days
A record five new books published in St. Martin will be released for
the first time at the 5th annual St. Martin Book Fair, said book fair
coordinator Shujah Reiph.
“This has never happened before. We are happy to offer this feature
to the growing number of people attending the book fair from St. Martin
and neighboring islands,” said Reiph.
“This year, also for the first time, we were contacted by tourists,
from New York and Puerto Rico, who are coming in especially for the
St. Martin Book Fair. So news about this cultural event is growing at
home and abroad.”
The book fair opening ceremony will be held at the Maison des Entreprises
(Chamber of Commerce Building) in Spring Concordia, Marigot. Each year
the opening ceremony alternates between both capitals of the island.
The main fair day of book sales and workshops will be held at the USM
campus in Great Bay (Philipsburg) on June 2. The 2007 book fair theme
is “Writing Justice.”
Shujah Reiph awarded SGA Pelican Award
MARIGOT/Great Bay (April 8, 2007)—Last week, Shujah Reiph,
the president of Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF), was awarded the first
Pelican Award by the University of St. Martin Student Government Association
(SGA).
SGA created the Pelican Award in April to recognize St. Martin citizens
for outstanding contribution to culture and community development, said
Lenworth Wilson, Jr., the student government president.
“Shujah
Reiph is our first recipient for his outstanding contribution in culture
and community development for the past 15 years with the Conscious Lyrics
Foundation,” said Wilson, Jr.
The award reception was held at the USM campus. Reiph said, “While
we at Conscious Lyrics do not see our cultural contribution to the community
as outstanding and in need of receiving an award, it brings a wonderful
feeling to one’s heart to see that it is the younger generation
who are appreciating our contribution.”
Reiph is currently busy with plans and seeking funds for the 5th annual
St. Martin Book Fair (may 31 – June 2, 2007). He and the book fair
committee, which includes USM students, hold weekly meetings at the USM
campus.
“We still welcome volunteers and financial contributions
from friends, sponsors, and patrons of the arts are vital for this cultural
event, with which St. Martin could make another exciting name for itself
in the Caribbean cultural, book, literature, and travel fields,”
said Reiph.
St. Martin Book
Fair Committee 2007 in high gear
GREAT BAY, St. Martin (March 26, 2007)—The St.
Martin Book Fair Committee (BFC) has been meeting for a couple of weeks
now and it is stepping up plans for the 5th annual St. Martin Book Fair,
said book fair coordinator Shujah Reiph. With its theme of “Writing
Justice,” the fair is scheduled for May 31 – June 2, 2007.
A number of authors have already been confirmed, from one distinguished
Harvard University scholar to noted Caribbean authors. Workshops will
range from storytelling for children to banking in Marigot. In above
photo, BFC members pose with Reiph at the University of St. Martin.
(L-R): (standing) Leandra Edwards, Shujah Reiph, Lily Warning, Candyta
Richardson, Conneir Thelwell, Merlyn Williams; (seated) Ari Sutton,
Rochelle Ward, Lenworth Wilson, Jr. (CLF photo)
Meet and talk with our St. Martin and visiting
authors, workshop coordinators and booksellers.
Enjoy exciting workshops, general sessions, book
buys and book signings throughout this three-
day book fair for the entire family ... at the
University of St. Martin, Maison des Enterprises,
Belair Health & Fitness Club, American University
of the Caribbean, and high schools throughout
St. Martin.
Sponsors:
Organizers:
Conscious Lyrics Foundation &
House of Nehesi Publishers
in collaboration with the University of St. Martin
Contact Information Book Fair Coordinator
Shujah Reiph
Addresses Conscious
Lyrics foundations
P.O. Box 774
Philipsburg, St. Martin
Caribbean
House of Nehesi
Publishers
P.O. Box 460
Philipsburg, St. Martin
Caribbean