{"id":557,"date":"2009-12-02T14:48:13","date_gmt":"2009-12-02T14:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/?p=557"},"modified":"2015-05-17T11:00:13","modified_gmt":"2015-05-17T11:00:13","slug":"poetry-rap-writing-books-all-alive-in-st-martin-for-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/2009\/12\/02\/poetry-rap-writing-books-all-alive-in-st-martin-for-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry, rap, writing, books all alive in St. Martin for 2009."},"content":{"rendered":"

MARIGOT (December 2, 2009)<\/strong> <\/span>\u2014 High school student Joy Carty won the Collectivity\u2019s English-to-French translation of poetry contest here on Monday, November 30, 2009, said Minerva Dormoy, head of the Cultural Department.<\/p>\n

Collectivity president Frantz Gumbs said that the objective of the \u201csecond annual educational and cultural event is to promote St. Martin literature in the schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second and third prize winners were Lisa Sanchez and Elisabeth Marcon. The prize-giving ceremony was held at the Lycee Polyvalente in Marigot.<\/p>\n

Magloire Hughes, director of the Collectivity\u2019s Human Development sector, greeted the assembly of students, teachers and government officials in English though the language of instruction and the territory\u2019s official language is French.<\/p>\n

Hughes noted that he chose to speak in English, the historical language of the island, reinforcing President Gumbs\u2019s statement last year that students at all levels of the school system in the North of the island should be proficient in French and English.<\/p>\n

The 2009 translation contest included a fiction selection from \u201cThe Wake,\u201d found in the book of short stories Brotherhood of the Spurs<\/span>, said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi (HNP), the book\u2019s publisher.<\/p>\n

In addition to the contest winners, the other participating students were Hyguenec Meredas, Sophia Andrew, Keisha Lake, Carlotta Saint-Hill, Marie-France Genelus, Jean-Philippe Kerilia and Elgeesha Minville.<\/p>\n

The participants all received a certificate and a National Symbols of St. Martin<\/span> book prize. The winners took home more books, travel and money prizes. The judges were Alex Richards (chairman), Anicke Hansen and Jacqueline Hamlet.<\/p>\n

Poetry in particular and literature in general had a busy year among the youth and on both parts of St. Martin. \u201cWe\u2019re honored to be involved as a publisher and enthusiastic observer,\u201d said Sample. \u201cFuture writers and translators are in the making among our young people right before our very own eyes,\u201d said Sample.<\/p>\n

Author Lasana M. Sekou points to \u201ca virtual calendar of 2009 poetry-related highlights. Availability of more quality poetry books published in St. Martin; visits by leading poets; the Poetry in the Garden series; the nation\u2019s first poetry CD set to music and poetry videos online; tourist magazines cautiously offering \u2018wordsmiths\u2019 as part of the traveler\u2019s original experience; the book fair as a recital, reading and listening platform; the just concluded book week; and Rhoda Arrindell\u2019s hands-on and disciplined involvement of USM and Academy students with the \u2018elements\u2019 of what is a national literature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen there was the unprecedented run of open mic recitals \u2013 up to 25 readers at times \u2013 with Ras Mosera holding court at Axum Caf\u00e9 on Frontstreet. Ruby Bute\u2019s gallery in Friar\u2019s Bay held soiree readings. We saw the public unfolding of Yaya Richards\u2019s oral\u00a0vignettes into spoken word poetry, with a distinct village orientation,\u201d said Sekou on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also the growth of individual postings on YouTube, rapping in English, Spanish and Kweyol. What was seemingly new this year is how the teenagers among this group appear to be trying to find their original St. Martin\/Caribbean rap voice, as St. Martin\u2019s children \u2013 instead of just mimicking imported and divisive varieties,\u201d said Sekou.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these spoken word and text activities can\u2019t be isolated acts and events and could be seen as feeding from a dynamic whole, from the times that we\u2019re in, and at the same time fueling the nation\u2019s cultural independence,\u201d said Sekou, who also spoke at the translation contest program earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

L-R: M. Dormoy, head, Cultural Dept.; M. Hughes, dir., Human Dev. sector; D. Mounien, principal, Lycee Polyvalente; A. Hansen, translation judge; Joy Carty, student, 1st prize winner; R. Williams, councilor, Collectivity; L.M. Sekou, author; F. Gumbs, president, Collectivity of St. Martin (11\/30\/09). (CLF photo).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Alex Richards (L), chairman of the literary translation jury, with contest participants during an impromptu workshop following the prize-giving ceremony at the Lycee Polyvalente, Marigot (11\/30\/09). (CLF photo).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MARIGOT (December 2, 2009) \u2014 High school student Joy Carty won the Collectivity\u2019s English-to-French translation of poetry contest here on Monday, November 30, 2009, said Minerva Dormoy, head of the Cultural Department. Collectivity president Frantz Gumbs said that the objective of the \u201csecond annual educational and cultural event is to promote St. Martin literature in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-fair-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":558,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions\/558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}