Read-IN! to pay tribute to Literary Icons

Many of the events on the 2016 Crop Over Calendar are conceptualised with a fifty-focus and this installation of the Crop Over Read-IN! in association with FLOW and Co-operators General Insurance will be no different.

It is expected to pay tribute to five of our literary Icons – Kamau Brathwaite, Timothy Callender, Jeanette Layne-Clarke, Frank Collymore and Bruce St. John, under the theme ‘In Our Own Words’.   Inspired by the line in the national anthem that exhorts us to ‘Write Our Names on History’s Page’, Read-IN! 2016 will feature in a literal and literary way those who are seeking to write and artistically depict who we, as Barbadians in a globalised world, were, are and will always be. 

As part of the festivities of this July 3^rd event to be held on the grounds of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, there will be a book launch of a celebrated Barbadian writer, Anthony Kellman.

The event’s annual book fair also highlights the publications of a variety of writers – a visual reminder of the fertile and productive literary landscape of this country. 

Throughout the programming year the literary arts desk seeks to equip and inspire aspiring and practising writers to become skilled craftsmen and women with the word.  Two publications have been recently launched, the Arts Etc NIFCA 2013/14 Winning Words Anthology and the 2012-2014 NIFCA Junior Winning Words Anthology.  Combined, these books have published the works of over 50 Barbadians from the ages of 7 to 70, a mass choir of Barbadian voices weaving a literary tapestry of Barbados. 

As part of the ongoing collaboration between the desks of the Cultural Development Department, some participants of the recent En Plein Air painting workshop series will have for display and sale their visual depictions of the gorgeous venue. 

The event starts at 7:00 p.m. where the voices of a diverse cast will take you on a literary adventure into the works of some of Barbados’ established literary icons.