2021 was both a trying and hopeful year. With vaccination came the hope of a return to normalcy. Yet we continue losing love ones to COVID and new strains of the virus are creating greater uncertainty. We would like to express our sincere condolences to all those who have lost family, friends, and coworkers during these trying times, and we hope that 2022 is the year that will allow us to say that we are well on track to a return to normalcy.
Kudos to St. Lucian authors, because despite the pandemic they have remained productive. The 2021 St. Lucia bookshelf revealed that St. Lucian authors had no less than 10 books published in 2021. These included two novels (This Other Island, Lady Under the stairs; two memoirs (My Journey, and You Left Me Broken), two commentaries on St. Lucian Art and culture (The Reign of Terra, and Dance Footprints), a children’s book (The Reunion: The adventures of Froggy-T & Bunnie), a book of poetry (Ear to My Thoughts), and a commentary on St. Lucian politics (No Man’s Land: A Political Introspection of St. Lucia). Added to this list is Scream, a murder mystery novel by McDonald Dixon, a leading St. Lucian poet and novelist, to be launched this month.
Regarding 2021, we would like to single out St. Lucian-Canadian poet, Canisia Lubrin, who with two critically acclaimed poetry collections—Voodoo Hypothesis and The Dyzgraphxst—is making deep imprints on the literary landscape. 2021 was a particularly rewarding year for her. The Dyzgraphxst won no less than four prestigious 2021 awards, including Windham-Campbell Prize, overall OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, Griffin Poetry Prize, and the Derek Walcott Prize. These awards signaled that Canisia Lubrin has emerged as St. Lucia’s most acclaimed living poet.
The Derek Walcott Nobel lecture is one of the highlights of the annual, month-long St. Lucia Nobel Laureate Festival. The 2021 lecture was delivered by Dr. Adrian Augier, a poet, essayist, dramatist, production set designer, and a Caribbean Laureate for Arts and Letters who is one of St. Lucia’s most highly esteemed cultural creators. In the eyes of Kennedy “Boots” Samuel, another St. Lucian cultural icon, Dr. Augier’s lecture, which spoke to the very essence of our St. Lucian-ness and the danger of it vanishing, was a definite 2021 cultural gem. Samuel praised the lecture as the best of all the Nobel lectures. High praise indeed, because the crop of Nobel lecturers included such literary and intellectual giants as Jamaica Kincaid, Wole Soyinka, and Edward Baugh, just to mention a few.
We are also thankful that Dr. Reynolds didn’t allow the pandemic to slow down his writing and publishing. Besides the publication and launch of his fifth book, No Man’s Land: A Political Introspection of St. Lucia, early in the year the author published several well-developed articles on the St. Lucian political and socio-economic landscape, including Aftermath: A Provocative Post-Election Analysis of St. Lucian Politics, The Fear of COVID Vaccines, Chastanet A Blessing in Disguise, and Taking Stock: The Youth Economy (his first installment of a series of articles on the Youth Economy, with Alexander Clarke as coauthor).
Dr. Reynolds has more treats in store for us in 2022. This month he will be publishing the second installment on the Youth Economy—The Youth Economy and the Economics of the Cultural Industry. And later in the year he will publish yet another book on St. Lucian politics—They Called Him Brother George: Portrait of A Caribbean Politician—this time focusing strictly on George Odlum, perhaps the most controversial and enlightening politician in St. Lucia’s history and a candidate for St. Lucia’s Man of the Century.
Talking about 2022, it would be remiss of us not to mention what is likely to be the year’s cultural gem. St. Lucia’s acclaimed and award-winning actress and movie maker, Mathurine Emmanuel, who, with four movies under her belt (including Ribbons of Blue, winner of the M&C Prize for Best Film and the New York Independent Film Festival Award for Best Director), has single-handedly pioneered the St. Lucia movie industry, announced that her long-awaited movie (5-years in the making), Shantaye’s World will premiere later in the year. Filmed in St. Lucia and London, the movie is a timely period piece that captures the post-World War II emigration experiences of the Windrush generation, a term referring to the West Indians who emigrated to the UK between 1948 and 1971. The movie is timely because recently the UK government was mired in scandal when it erroneously deemed members of the Windrush generation illegal immigrants and threatened them with deportation.
In 2017 Dr. Reynolds went on an international book tour with stops in Toronto, London, and several American cities. On the tour the author was taken aback by the praise, pride, and appreciation of St. Lucians for his books and contributions to St. Lucia society. Upon his return home, it occurred to him that he should devote the rest of his life to writing books on St. Lucia and, as such, he should publish a book every two years. We are pleased to share with you that with the publication of My Father is No Longer There in 2019 and No Man’s Land: A Political Introspection of St. Lucia in 2021, and the soon to be published They Called Him Brother George, Dr. Reynolds has kept his pledge, and with the near completion of the first draft of what is likely to be his 7th book, Race and St. Lucian Politics, the author is well ahead of schedule.
Besides the works of Dr. Reynolds and the other 758 cultural creators, and notwithstanding COVID-19, St. Lucians, especially the artist community, have good reason to feel optimistic about 2022 and the next four years. Because the Philip J. Pierre government has signaled in no uncertain terms its intended focus on preserving our cultural heritage. Accordingly, we can expect the government to undo some of the setbacks that art and culture endured during the previous administration. For example, here is the prime minister in his 2021 Emancipation Day speech to the nation.
As one people we are to respect our patrimony and observe our cultural heritage. The government of St. Lucia will always support the preservation of our heritage… this government will take steps to ensure that the African, Caribbean, and St. Lucian history is taught at all levels of our schools, we will also examine the possibilities of making creole an official language of our country… We pledge to fight against the mental, economic, and social attitudes that remind us of the terrible days of slavery and fight for a truly democratic society and equal opportunity for all…
We would like to end our first 2022 communication with you with a big thank you for continuing to support and patronize St. Lucian literature and art and culture, and for allowing us to share Dr. Reynolds’ works with you. We wish you a wonderful and bountiful New Year.
