Bocas Lit Festival 2015

So, you know that the entire month of April I was purposefully reading and planning for the Bocas Lit Fest. I read five novels by authors who would be in attendance.

As soon as I landed in Trinidad, I had my driver take me straight to the lit fest in order to see Shani Mootoo, the author of Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab which is one of the books that I read in preparation for the festival.

Shani Mootoo

Shani Mootoo

It was so thrilling to hear Shani reading from her book and to be familiar with the reading.

Someone asked her why did she name the book Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab, and she stated something like isn’t that the way life happens; it does not move forward in a straight line? I just loved that answer. One of the many reasons why I love her book is because it is true to life.

Well, you know that I normally read digitally, but I just happened to read Shani’s novel in book form, and I brought it with me so that she could sign it.....

Perfect beginning to the Lit Fest!

Later that same day, I was waiting in the lobby of the hotel to go out for dinner, and guess who walked through the door?

Fred A’guiar, author of Children of Paradise.

Fred and Me

Right there in the lobby, Fred was gracious enough to answer questions and talk about his book. I even asked if he would come to work with my students since he teaches not far away at Virginia Tech. He informed me that he would be moving to teach at UCLA but would more than happy to Skype with my students and me. (Heavy Favor!)

What warmed my heart is that Fred did not seem to mind answering questions, and he even allowed me to take several pictures until I got one that we both liked.

I ran into Fred quite often over the course of my stay in Trinidad, and every single time he was pleasant and nice.

On his assigned day, he read from his book, answered questions, and signed books with complete grace.

What a joy when you meet someone whom you respect, and they don’t seem to take the admiration for granted!

Fred on the panel!

Ok, Do you remember me telling you in a previous post that I was staying in the host hotel for the authors?

Yes, I was staying in the hotel with the authors, and on the second day I got up early to have breakfast and guess who was also having breakfast: Karen Lord, author of The Galaxy Game along with other speculative writers and Tiphanie Yanique, author of Land of Love and Drowning? The Galaxy Game and Land of Love and Drowning are also two books that I read in preparation for the lit fest.

Of course, I didn't want to be pushy, but the authors delighted me by allowing me to take pictures some pictures.

Authors: Karen Lord, Nalo Hopkinson, Tobias S. Buckell, and Tiphanie Yanique

TiphanieYanique and me

Us!

After breakfast, I saw Karen in the lobby, and she encouraged me to ask questions about her book.

I asked Karen how did she take her sci-fi ideas and write them in a manner that was accessible to her readers, and where did she get the ideas for her books?

Karen explained that she is a social economic researcher, and she gets a lot of practice taking complicated ideas and making them plain. She also went on to explain that she gets the ideas for her books from the things that are going on in the world....

I just loved Karen’s intense, warm personality.

Brave New World Panel discussion which included Karen Lord!

Finally, it was time to hear Tiphanie read from Land of Love and Drowning.  However, I was running late after attending another session, and I only got to hear Tiphanie answer questions.

Author Naomi Jackson, Moderator Stephen Narain,  Author Tiphanie Yanique

This session with Tiphanie was very upbeat and lively. Naomi and Tiphanie both live in Brooklyn, NY, and they had a good vibe going with each other.

Tiphanie talked about the title of her book. She was not sure if she should name the book Land of Love and Drowning, because she thought that being a woman writer and including love in the title, would cause the reader to think that her novel was just another love story. However, if you read this book, you will quickly find out that this novel is a love story and soooo much more.

Tiphanie’s personality was just as warm as her book!

Now, the last and final book that I read in preparation for the Lit Fest was A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon Jones, and he was not on schedule for the lit fest until the last day, and I would be on the way home. However, I was on a mad hunt to find Marlon Jones only to find out that he did not make it to the festival.

I was a little disappointed, but I did meet four of the five authors that I wanted to meet so, I decided to focus on the positive....

If I had to come up with a theme for this festival, it would be Community. There seemed to be a strong sense of community amongst the writers. It was apparent, through their interactions, that they were working together and supporting each other. This festival was confirmation that Community is imperative for so many different reasons.

My people, this is a literary festival that you should definitely add to your list. It was not crowded; therefore, the authors were accessible. Also, Trinidad is such a delightful place and a literary festival is a good reason to travel there. (Not that you would need a reason to travel to the lovely Trinidad)

Here are a few other highlights from the lit fest:

Author Earl Lovelace

Carolyn Cooper: columnist, broadcaster, and professor of literary
and culture studies at the UWI, Mona, Jamaica

Edward Baugh: Professor Emeritus of English, UWI, Mona

Author: Naomi Jackson

I had no preconceived thoughts about Trinidad before I got there; however, I was not expecting to fall completely in love with the land and the culture.

View from a hill

One of the hills that I climbed.

Maracas Beach

Hanging with the locals

Enjoying the view with Shannon from Reading Has Purpose

With our driver, Prince, who escorted us on our trip to the beach.

Had to get a picture of the bike lane sign. Trinidad has bike lanes.

If you made it to the end of this long post, know that I ‘preciate you, and I am happy that you came along for the journey!

In the meantime, I will be frantically searching for another Literary Festival.....

“Seize the Day."

Bocas Lit Fest: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon Jones

 

Five books completed, and it's time to pack for The Bocas Lit Fest......

Awhile back, I religiously went through a six month, intense training program to run in the Marine Corp Marathon. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekly workouts and the long runs on Saturdays. Because of the training, I enjoyed the marathon as much as person can expect to enjoy a marathon. However, after the marathon, I missed the journey to get to the marathon... Crazy Right? I normally love the journey more than the destination. Now, don't get me wrong, I typical love the destination, but the journey to get to the destination is where I get my energy. (I love working towards a goal.)

The journey of reading five books by five different authors who will be at The Bocas Lit Fest has been a great journey that has been completely exhilarating. I have enjoyed purposefully reading with an end result of meeting the authors who wrote the books that I read and so many other authors. I know that the journey of reading these five novels will enhance my experience at my first ever international lit fest.  

Now, I liked the first four books that I read for the lit fest a whole lot, but A Brief History of Seven Killings did not do it for me. I read about 400 of the over 600 pages, skimmed to the end to see if I could find some inspiration to keep reading, and after much deliberation, I decided to let this one go.

A Brief History of Seven Killings is a fictional account of an attempt to murder Bob Marley through the view point of about twenty different characters or more. Each person tells a different piece of this huge puzzle. 

In the beginning I was following the characters and enjoying the different voices. I really admire how Marlon had so many characters with totally unique voices in the same book. This is some quite sophisticated writing. However, after awhile, I could not follow the storyline anymore and was not quite sure what was going on. 

I totally respect Marlon because this had to be quite a difficult book to write. I hope that I run into him during the lit fest so that we can talk about his process of developing so many characters with unique voices.

For taking on this courageous project, I must give Marlon 'the thumbs up'.

If any of you, my dear readers, decide to give this book a try, reach out and let me know your thoughts.

Here are links to the four other books that I read to prepare for this festival:

The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord

The Children of Paradise by Fred D'Aguiar

Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab by Shani Mootoo

Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique

Thursday morning, I will be on a plane heading to Trinidad for The Bocas Lit Fest. I'm super excited about all of the literary possibilities. If possible, I will blog while I am there. So, check back for updates.

To keep with the spirit of the Caribbean, I am going to start reading Somerset Grove by Dionne Peart, which is set in Jamaica.

Set some goals, My People.....

Bocas Lit Fest: Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique

 

Four books down, and one more to go before The Bocas Lit Fest....

Oftentimes when I write a review of a novel, I will put the cover of the book at the beginning of the post so that when a person is in a book store, she may remember the book cover, remember my review, and decide if she should give the book a try. However, with this book, I put the picture of Tiphanie at the beginning of this post, because Tiphanie is a truly, gifted storyteller who should be recognized all over the world.

This book is set in the Virgin Islands. I've never been to the Virgin Islands, but after reading this book, I am adding the Virgin Islands to my list of places that I should visit soon. 

The main characters are Eeona and Anette. However, there are many minor characters that Tiphanie carefully developed as much as she did the main characters, and their development added to the richness of this text.

This stories traces the history of the Virgin Islands and the lives of the sisters Eeona and Anette. I absolutely loved this story, and here are a few reasons why:

• Character Development: Tiphanie helped me to get to know these characters by telling their stories completely but not in a manner that was confusing. We get to know the characters quite well and you can't help but to love them, even those who aren't likeable, when we understand why they do what they do. 

• Narration:  Tiphanie uses four different narrators to tell this story: Eeona, Anette, Jacob, and a third person narrator. For each character who spoke, Tiphanie helped us to really hear their voice and understand their perspective. With Anette, she even used a Caribbean dialect that was quite fascinating. However, the narrator who tells most of this story is the third person narrator, and it felt like she was sitting in my house telling me this captivating story: the narrator would actually address the reader and include me in the story by using words such as 'we.' 

By the way, Tiphanie's narration reminds me of the writings of the late and great J. California Cooper. If you have not tried anything by J. California, You Must! A good story to start with by J. California Cooper is In Search of Satisfaction. I can guarantee that you will thoroughly enjoy it, or I refund you the money that you spend on the book. (Just Playing!)

  

• Atmosphere or Mood:  An author normally uses atmosphere or mood in order to affect the reader emotionally and psychologically and to provide a feeling for the narrative. And, Tiphanie did a superb job of doing just that. I could clearly envision every scene, and it felt like I was in the book. I was connected to this novel, and found myself pulled to the Virgin Islands over and over again: the characters, the place, the mysticism! Speaking of mysticism, the mysticism was used in this novel in a manner that made me believe that there is something to it. The supernatural was subtle but very present. As a matter of fact, I currently teach a study from St. Croix who stated that most people in the Virgin Islands do believe in the Supernatural, and he stated that almost every person has had at least one experience with the supernatural. Interesting right?

I've listed the three reasons why I absolutely loved this book; however, I could go and on and on about this book and its writer.

I believe that Tiphanie and her storytelling will definitely stand the test of time. I hope that Tiphanie writes, and writes, and writes and not die with one ounce of her talent still inside of her....

I got my fingers crossed for Tiphanie to still be in the lineup for The Bocas Lit Fest; It would be a great treat to meet her.

Get to know Tiphanie and her writings!

My last book to finish before The Bocas Lit Fest is A Brief History of Seven Killings:

 
So, I downloaded this book, and it is over six-hundred pages, and I thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" So, I read the reviews, and this book is highly acclaimed, and I can't wait to read every single word...

By the way, I just love this picture of Marlon James, the author of A Brief History of Seven Killings:

Marlon Jones

Purposeful reading feels good......

Happy Hump Day, My People!

The Trinidad and Tobago Literary Festival - Bocas Lit Fest

Karen Lord, author of Galaxy Games, and she will be at the lit fest.

At the end of April, the beginning of May, I will be spending time in Trinidad for the Bocas Lit Fest.

Now, I had never thought about traveling to an international book festival, but my friend and fellow blogger, Shannon, from ReadingHasPurpose, stated that she was going, and I sort of invited myself.

Not sure what to expect from this festival, but I know that when you get writers, readers, books, and great location together, that usually creates something close to perfection.

So, to prepare for the lit fest, I am going to read five books, by five different authors who are going at be at the festival.

Below are links to the five books:

The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord

Moving Forward Sideways like a Crab by Shani Mootoo

Children of Paradise by Fred D'Aguiar

Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

Ambitious goal right?

I'll see what I can do.....