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The Hon Mrs Jacinth Henry-Martin signing copies of her book bought in Nevis. Standing on the right is President of the Nevis Island Assembly, the Hon Mrs Marjorie Morton. |
Charlestown Nevis (April 26, 2004) -- Renowned Kittitian poet and author of Dancing in Bondage, Mrs Jacinth Henry-Martin, has made it known that her new manuscript, which she is about to send off to her publishers has been written in the dialect of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Dialect is our first language whether we want to admit it or not,” commented Mrs Henry-Martin, a former national calypso queen, who is also the Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports in the Federal Government on Friday evening in Charlestown where she was one of the panellists at the fifth Round Table of Authors organised by the Nevis Public Library.
Although the first print of her first book, Dancing in Bondage which is a collection of her original poems, is out of stock, she came to Nevis to do an official launch of the said book, which had been launched in St. Kitts last year. She had only nine copies left, which were all sold out to members of the audience at the Nevis Red Cross Society Building, whom she told that she was very proud of the book.
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Librarian Mrs Sonita Daniel (left) introducing authors the Hon Mr Lynell Nolan (standing left) and the Hon Mrs Jacinth Henry-Martin (standing right). Others are (from right) the Hon Mr Livingston Herbert, Dr Kia Penso, Miss Hazel Brandy and Mrs Ermileta Elliot. |
“But I am even more proud of the manuscript that will shortly be sent off, which is 100 percent dialect, and which really is the true story written in our own language of experiences that we have spoken about, opted not to speak about, boasted about, lived either on our own or through the spirits of those who came before us and the spirits of those that will come after us and that is what the other book is about,” she revealed.
In welcoming the four panellists at the 5th Round Table of Authors meeting, Librarian, Mrs Sonita Daniel said that the event was held to mark the 9th annual international celebration of World Book and Poetry Day. The function was also attended by the President of Nevis Island Assembly, the Hon Mrs Marjorie Morton, and the Junior Minister for Education and Library Services, the Hon Mr Livingston Herbert.
“Since the inception of this round table of authors by the Nevis Public Library Service in commemoration of World Book and Copyright Day in 2000, we have witnessed a relatively significant increase in book publishing and book launching in our country,” observed Mrs Daniel.
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Mrs Henry-Martin recites poems from her book, and Royd Phipps drums in the message. |
She noted that at the Nevis Public Library Service they had seen the publication of some nine books and that they had the honour and the privilege to be associated with the launch of the books, and noted that some of those authors were in the audience, and Mr Lynell L. Nolan, author of Being Black in Scarlet was among the panellists.
The panellists were introduced by the moderator, Mrs Ermileta Elliot, who is the principal of Combermere Primary School. Mr Nolan, who is a nominated member of the Nevis Island Assembly who worked as a police officer in the Canadian Royal Mounted Police said that he was moved to write the book out the experiences he went through while in the force.
“The name (of the book) was chosen from the fact that the scarlet tunic represents the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and normally in North America, when they refer to the people in scarlet, they mean the members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. So, Being Black in Scarlet actually speaks about what a black person in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had to go through.”
The second panellist was Ms Hazel Brandy who said that she did not consider herself as an author, but “because it was the requirement to fulfil the masters degree programme, I had to do a research and because of such Mrs Daniel has invited me here.”
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Part of the audience at the Round table of Authors held at the Red Cross Building in Charlestown. |
She added: “The dissertation was to fulfil the requirement for a masters programme which I took at the Glasgow Caledonian University from September 2002 to November 2003. The purpose of my dissertation was to examine the creation and the development of the Nevis Financial Services Sector and to assess its effectiveness in complying with international standards.”
Dr Kia Penso, the third panellist is a published author of short fiction, essays, poetry, book reviews and journalism and now works as the managing editor of the Nevis-based weekly newspaper, the Leewards Times. She was supposed to talk on writing and editing but read, instead, about a hero who outmanoeuvres a monster. The two short classics were as bamboozling as the series she had started in her paper, entitled, The Big Man.
She however spoke briefly about editing, and uncannily brought out her hero by describing an editor as the person who helps a writer with what they are writing, “because the writing is not you, if the writing was you, you would be the medusa, but you are the hero.”
The night was brought to a fitting end by Minister Henry-Martin who used body language to solidify the message in some of her poems, and was supported by Mr Royd Phipps, a folklore-drumming specialist with the Federal Ministry of Culture and a member of the well-known Okolo Tegremantine group. Junior Minister Herbert delivered the closing remarks, where he praised the staff of the Nevis Public Library for being able to go to the people.
