GREAT BAY/MARIGOT, St. Martin (May 29, 2012)—Aspiring writers, poets, avid and now-and-then readers, young and seniors, families, and lovers of all things cultural are being invited by organizers to the 10th anniversary St. Martin Book Fair, which actually started with pre-Book Fair activities on May 28 and will run to June 2, 2012.
Among the some 20 exciting activities are a workshop on how to write your life’s story by Master Teacher Jacqueline Bishop and a recital by award-winning poet, novelist, and journalist Nicole Cage.
Cage will recite her poetry and read from her novels at the Public Library in Marigot, on Saturday, June 2, at 9 am.
Her works include l’espoir, a collection of poems for children, Aime comme musique ou comme mourir d’aimer’, and Palabras de paz por tiempos de guerra.
Her novel C’est vole que je vole was awarded the Prix Gros Sel in 2006. Cage is a winner of the prestigious Casa de las Americas award for her writing.
Cage’s work has been translated into Creole, Albanian, English, and Spanish and she’s been published in Venezuela, Martinique, and France. The author has performed in poetry festivals in Colombia, Tunisia, and Romania among other countries.
The Martinique-born Cage, who is also a Spanish teacher and a psychotherapist, is scheduled to visit a school in St. Martin and talk with students on June 1, 2012. The writer speaks French, English, and Spanish.
Another must-attend activity on Saturday, June 2, is the “Writing Your Life’s Story” workshop by Jamaican-born author Jacqueline Bishop – at the University of St. Martin, Room 101, starting at 9 am.
The highly anticipated workshop will give attendees an introduction to how to go about writing their own memoir, autobiography, or specific life experiences, said Shujah Reiph, book fair coordinator.
Features of the workshop include how to identify a unique story to tell in your life and, importantly, the ethics of writing about real people.
Bishop teaches writing and literature at New York University. Her works include My Mother Who Is Me: Life Stories from Jamaican Women in New York, Writers Who Paint/Painters Who Write: Three Jamaican Artists, and two poetry collections, Fauna and Snapshots from Istanbul. She also authored the novel River Song.
Bishop is an accomplished visual artist with exhibitions in the USA, Morocco and Italy. The Fulbright Fellow has received the Cultural Development award in Jamaica for her fiction and poetry.
All book fair activities are open to the public and are free of charge. For Book Fair updates visithttp://www.houseofnehesipublish.com/book_fair2040.html.
Conscious Lyrics Foundation and House of Nehesi Publishers organize the St. Martin Book Fair in collaboration with St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, the Ministry of Education & Culture (MECSY), the Collectivity of St. Martin, and the University of St. Martin (USM).
Nicole Cage, poet, novelist (Martinique)
Jacqueline Bishop, poet, novelist, artist, master teacher (New York University/Jamaica)