GREAT BAY, St. Martin (March 13, 2005) — Last Sunday the Culture Time host Fabian Badejo said on PJD-2 radio that the St. Martin Book Fair should now be called the St. Martin International Book Fair.
He had good reason to make such a statement. Only in its third year, the St. Martin Book Fair is set to host over seven authors from the Caribbean, USA, the Middle East, and China.
One of the literary celebrities headed for book fair 2005 is Nidaa Khoury. The author of eight books is the special guest poet at the main book launch and closing ceremony of the book fair on June 4.
The featured book at the launch is House of Nehesi’s newest title, said its projects director, Lasana M. Sekou. The book is called The Angel Horn, an anthology of six never-before published volumes of poetry by the late great Shake Keane from St. Vincent & The Grenadines. Dr. Margaret Bynoe, Keane’s widow who works at Yale University School of Medicine, plans to attend the book party at Great Bay Beach Hotel.
Khoury will recite her work in Arabic with an immediate English translation by another reader. She will also participate in the first House of Nehesi Publishers writer’s retreat from June 2 to June 9.
The leading Palestinian and Middle East poet hails from the Upper Galilee village of Fassota in Israel.
Khoury has published seven books of poetry, several of which have been translated from Arabic to other languages. The Barefoot River (1990) was published in Arabic and Hebrew. The Bitter Crown (1997) was censored inJordan and reprinted as Rings of Salt in 1998.
She has participated in the Conference of Arab Poets (Amsterdam), the Conference of Human Rights and Solidarity with the Third World (Paris), Poetry Africa, (Durban), and the International Poetry Festival of Medellin (Colombia).
Other books of poetry by Khoury include The Prettiest of Gods Cry (2000), The Culture of Wine (1993), The Belt of Wind (1990), Braid of Thunder (1989), and Declaring My Silence (1987).
House of Nehesi Publishers has scheduled a new Khoury poetry collection for publication in St. Martin, which could make her the first important Middle East author to publish in the Caribbean.
The theme of the 3rd annual St. Martin Book Fair is “The national book, a universal offering … .” The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau is the major book fair patron.