GREAT BAY, St. Martin (September 24, 2003) — The St. Martin poet Changa Hickinson returned here last weekend following his tour of Indonesia where he took part in the Winternachten 2003 overseas literary festival.
The final recital on September 1 at Erasmus Huis in the city of Jakarta, “which drew a large Dutch audience, including a sweep of government envoys,” coupled with the tour of the various cities made “the Indonesian experience exceed all expectations in the positive sense,” said Changa. The published poet enjoyed a brief stop-over with family in The Netherlands on his way back home.
The poems recited by Changa included new verse looking at the challenges of young people in St. Martin who are falling through the cracks of society and relating them to youths in urban setting around the region and the world beset by violence, drugs, lack of conscious direction, and negative life styles and choices.