This year, the Virgin Islands Literary Festival and Book Fair is teaming up with The Caribbean Writer (TCW) in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences of the University of the Virgin Islands to host the 10th anniversary edition of the VI Lit Fest under the theme “Legacies: Reckoning and Resilience.”
That theme will be shared with Volume 38 of TCW, which is currently being readied for publication.
“The VI Lit Fest is premier destination for bibliophiles, literary aficionados, readers, musical and visual artists, aspiring filmmakers, photography buffs as well as new, established and emerging writers,” said VI Lit Fest co-chair Alcess Lewis Brown, who is also the editor-in-chief of TCW. The annual focus on Caribbean writers and literature, she said, “is a celebration of the imagination and a toast to competing ideas.”
This year’s headliner is Eleanor Shearer, author of “River Sing Me Home.” The novel, which tells of a mother’s desperate search to find her stolen children and her freedom, was selected as a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, and earned a spot on Time Magazine’s list of must-read books for 2023. Ms. Shearer, the granddaughter of Windrush generation immigrants to the United Kingdom, conducted fieldwork in Saint Lucia and Barbados ahead of her first novel.
VI Lit Fest will also feature Cyril Dabydeen, an Indo-Guyanese writer who now resides in Canada. Widely published, with appearances in over 60 literary magazines and anthologies worldwide, Mr. Dabydeen is a former Poet Laureate of Ottawa and currently teaches creative writing at the University of Ottawa.
The four-day festival will also feature discussions, readings, and workshops, one of which will be led by acclaimed Caribbean author Jamaica Kincaid, who will share insights on conversation and writing.
A key feature of this year’s Lit Fest will be a tribute to David Hall, who is retiring as President of the University of the Virgin Islands after 15 years at the helm. The tribute is intended to honor Dr. Hall for his years of support for the festival, which began in 2013 at UVI’s Albert Sheen Campus.
Interested participants can view the full schedule and description of events from the Lit Fest website, and may register for the festival’s many activities through the site or through Eventbrite.
