The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) has been making a concerted effort to encourage and promote Barbadian authorship, as well as stimulate and enhance a desire to read among the national populace.
To this end, as part of the NCF’s National Independence Festival of Creative Arts’ (NIFCA) 50th anniversary celebrations, a Book Fair will be staged this Saturday, November 4, at Golden Square Freedom Park, The City, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Individuals are invited to bring their books and be part of the special occasion.
“There will be used and new books on sale. And even though books will be sold, there will also be literature readings done for everyone,” she said.
Price added that there would be interactive stations for members of the public to engage with creatives. Among the wide variety of book stations will be one for those with culinary interests.
Noting that this was the first of its kind, Price encouraged persons to attend the event which should have a number of local authors in attendance, along with showcasing their works. Price said making the book fair an annual event would be tied to the public’s response to the initiative.
Though remarking that there has been a downturn in reading that extended beyond Barbados, Price said the NCF had embarked on a number of strategies over the years to stimulate an interest in reading and general literacy. She explained that some of these measures included creative writing programmes in schools. This, she added, had even been extended to the penal correction facility at Dodds.
“We have had monthly on-line workshops as well as projects involving audio books and heritage books,” she stated, while adding that the NCF’s Research Desk also played a role in the efforts to promote reading in the island.
She indicated that local writers were not only producing work in standard English but that Bajan dialect was also being utilised, especially as it related to the exploration of Barbadian folklore. She highlighted the excellent quality of some of these works.
Price also invited the public to be a part of the Night of Prose, Poetry and Performance which will see the literary outpourings of several Barbadian creatives on display at Ilaro Court on Wednesday, November 22 starting at 7 p.m. The calendar of NIFCA’s 50th anniversary celebratory events commence this Friday, November 3rd, with Music in the Square: Icon Nights’ Tribute to James Millington at Golden Square and culminates on Sunday, November 26th, with the NIFCA 50th Anniversary Gala at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.
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