A path out of mayhem and murder

On my way to a river lime ('cause it In We Blood, if you know what I mean), but since you asked for a quick statement, here is, until I have time to review what is being said.

The Paris experiences in the midst of the attacks both within and outside UNESCO have made very real to me how fragile is a democracy, and how one or a few misguided individuals can precipitate violent extremist behaviour that is damaging to an entire country or the world. On the other hand, it also brought home to me the need to focus on areas of my much neglected private life, which I am trying to do, for there were times, caught near the attacks and in the ensuing panic aftershocks following the November 13th Paris attacks, I was not even sure if I would make it back home.

I am not a political football, nor ever envisioned being the subject of the latest episode of the national soap opera of slash and burn when I accepted the requests and nominations to serve by legitimate established processes including to serve as Chair of the Education Commission in a process that began at UNESCO in April 2015.

At a time when school children are being murdered, butchered, brutalised, raped and executed on our streets, and schools are increasingly becoming zones of violence and bullying, amidst a host of social ills and economic woes, it is astounding that persons have the time to train rhetorical and metaphorical guns on me, a citizen.

There seems to be a lot of misinformation in circulation that could easily be resolved through dialogue if officials wish to be so engaged, without turning all into a national and international circus. As our leaders set the national agenda, they ought to be sensitive to how their actions impact the society and youths and those who are looking for role models and patterning their behaviours on what they see being played out at senior levels.

I have not yet had the opportunity to examine what was said from the Hansard and I have no intention of engaging with anyone in a ‘he said, she said’ battle as I have been trying to recoup my energies as it was an extremely traumatic situation within UNESCO and outside with the Paris attacks.

When one is abroad it is the national flag one waves. I assure the national community that at all times I sought and received the best possible guidance from UNESCO officials and colleagues to manage some very precipitous situations not just in relation to the Trinidad and Tobago delegation, but other countries’ as well, with internal issues and strife much greater than what we profess to have.

UNESCO has a vast array of experience as a competent organisation charged with ‘building peace in the minds of men and women’ with a lot of experience in managing such situations and I was fortunate to benefit from that expertise in piloting through the challenges being presented as a national in an international environment and I thank the UNESCO officials for this. This was to ensure that the integrity of the established processes were maintained for shaping the UNESCO Global Education Agenda to 2030, which included addressing the rising violence and extremism in societies, failure and drop out rates, the digital divide, illiteracy, and poverty and disempowerment. To all reports those interventions were well administered and well received and there is a solid and forward looking global education agenda to the year 2030 with budgetary provisions that was adopted by international consensus.

UNESCO is a rich arena for workable solutions to many of these social ills that are not just localised to Trinidad and Tobago and energies of those attending the meetings should have been focused on harnessing those opportunities to maximum benefits they could bring home. Perhaps there could have already been pre-emptive interventions implemented to begin stemming this haemorrhaging of our youths in bloody attacks. Perhaps one or two of those lives that have been taken over the past weeks could have been saved, had such energies been redirected to find solutions. Paris itself is a city with a history of struggle in carving, developing and building the world's democratic traditions, as Trinidad and Tobago could well be too.

 One expects that when there are so many demands on our resources, that our country and its leaders are refocusing energies to harvest every opportunity and harness every talent, skill and experience in trying to tide through very challenging social and economic situations and utilise the invaluable opportunities of being at a space as UNESCO, overflowing with visionary solutions for many of these social ills and help positively impact the national psyche.

This is what I am trying to do at the moment, drawing on international knowledge and experiences, those within UNESCO and in the context of the Paris attacks to examine and identify avenues for impacting the levels of violence and extremism and other social ills in our societies. One’s perspectives on life changes when one comes so close to near death, you see, and there were times I was not sure that I would see home again so I have never been so appreciative of meh friends and family and dem, and meh people, people.

As with all my other undertakings, I have tried to perform tasks assigned to me in relation UNESCO to the best of my abilities and to hold up my country in the best possible light in those functions. I hope that I would have contributed something to enlightening and enriching those spaces as they have augmented my life experiences.

None of my work over the last three decades, as a journalist, nor my involvement in strengthening civil society, national and international multilateral and international processes is dependent on the politics of the day, nor the office, nor title I hold which I view as mere transient spaces to be utilised, not to own as one’s private or individual serfdoms, although it is important that the political process understand, engage and dialogue to ensure that benefits are consolidated for the best roll out for the society. I imagine that that was how they have been using the time in Parliament.
I continue to wish the Honourable Ministers and Government every success

Postscript:  I am on private time at the moment, much needed after some 30 uninterrupted years in public virtually round the clock. Could hardly bring myself to listen to the Parliamentary records just based on the feedback I am getting. My work speaks for itself. 

Devoting much needed time to close friends and family only for some much needed regeneration of spirits and re- immersion in my country in perhaps the best season to so do, Carnival.

Hope and trust the public can respect that. Will revert with responses when I feel sufficiently renergised to resurface.

I continue to wish the Ministers and Government every success, and a happy Carnival to all.

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OverCopulation - The Archbishop The Priest The Politician & The Journalist
Ask About LiTTscapes,

Ask about LiTTours and LiTTributes

                                                        CARNIVAL FEVER GRIPS LITTSCAPES FANS: 

BioCultural synergies at LiTTribute to LondonTTown

The ecology, literature, culture, sustainable development and their convergence in Caribbean fiction will feature at LiTTribute to LondonTTown to take place in London on Monday (July 15).

The symbolic and actual representations of nature in fiction from the section NaTTurescapes in LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago by Kris Rampersad will be among the highlights of the literary tribute that aims at exploring new approaches to culture-centred development.

Among those to participate in the LiTTribute will be Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, Vijay Krishnarayan, the Trinidad-born former head of the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute who has worked with civil society to devise actions for sustainable development through land-use planning.

BBC World Have Your Say Host, Ros Atkins and London-based Caribbean author, Lakshmi Persaud will also present perspectives on cultural linkages across the Atlantic.

High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Garvin Nicholas views the event as an important platform for highlighting the complex history and fascinating social landscape of Trinidad and Tobago to a British audience and notes that In ‘Littscapes’, Dr. Rampersad has brought to light Trinidad and Tobago’s rich literary tradition and unique heritage.

As has been the vision behind production of LiTTscapes, LiTTous and LiTTributes, this will demonstrate the connectivities between and among what may seem widely disparate subjects and disassociated development challenges. These may be peculiar to our national communities but the also have resonance internationally. This has been the thread that runs through our activities and the book itself which explores the natural environment, peoples, lifestyles in the context of fiction.

As has been done in LiTTributes held earlier this year – to the Mainland in Guyana and to the Antilles in Antigua  - this will encourage  rethinking how we may better engage with and utilise the rich literary outpourings as represented in LiTTscapes to develop synergies with the international community for social and economic development in film, music, entertainment and education sectors.

LiTTscapes represents this relationship from the earliest writings of Sir Walter Raleigh to the current day among the 100-plus works by more than 60 writers, including those who made London their home such as Naipaul, Selvon, Lakshmi Seetaram-Persaud and others. For invitations to LiTTribute to LondonTTown email lolleaves@gmail.com.

LiTTscapes has been acclaimed as a groundbreaking pictoral yet encyclopaedic compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions in its full colour easy reading documentary/travelogue/biography representation of Trinidad and Tobago and its fiction as represented in more than 100 fictional works by some 60 writers.

LiTTribute to LondonTTown follows on the recent LiTTribute to the Antilles staged in Antigua in March,  LiTTurgy to the Mainland in Guyana in February, and LiTTribute to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, hosted by the First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards and Dr Rampersad in September 2012. LiTTscapes was launched at White Hall – one of Trinidad and Tobago’s Magnificent Seven buildings as part of the islands 50^th anniversary of independence in August 2012.

LiTTscapes is Rampersad’s third book and follows Finding a Place and Through The Political Glass Ceiling; a fourth Letters to Lizzie, an exploration of empire making and colonialism in the contexts of the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and the golden jubilee of Trinidad and Tobago’s independence is to be released shortly.

For invitations and details Email: lolleaves@gmail.com. See: kris-rampersad.blogspot.com, https://sites.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobal;  facebook.com/kris.rampersad1.

Special LiTTour Port of Spain as never seen before June 19

Special LiTTour to Port of Spain. June  19, 2013. From 9 am. Duration 3 hours. By Invitation Only.

Experience Trinidad's capital as never before through the eyes of fiction since 1595 by some 60 writers of more than 100 books.

Email your requests for information and details Call 1-868-377-0326 or email  lolleaves@gmail.com. Read/Listen to review by Professor Al Creighton, Head of Guyana Price for Literature Professor Al Creighton at:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/02/an-innovative-approach-to-literature.html

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151238027306800.519613.686406799&type=3

LiTTour and LiTTscapes in Spotlight - Final 2 days of Special LiTTour offer

LiTTour and LiTTscapes in spotlight as Bocas LiTFest Begins Thursday
Last 2 Days for Free LiTTour Offer: Register Now! call 1-868- http://goo.gl/pcZxm
see also:
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/featured-news/Bocas-Lit-Fest-begins-tomorrow-204384801.html

Bocas Lit Fest begins tomorrow

Story Created: Apr 23, 2013 at 8:18 PM ECT

Story Updated: Apr 23, 2013 at 8:20 PM ECT 

 At the third annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest which starts tomorrow at the National Library the very first Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Literature will be awarded to Trinidadian John La Rose (posthumously) and Sarah White for their own exemplary work publishing and promoting Caribbean writers.

In the 1940s Henry Swanzy was the editor in what is now the BBC World Service of the weekly Caribbean Voices programme that featured creative writing from the English-speaking Caribbean. It became pivotal in shaping the development of the region’s post war literature, now regarded as the Golden Age of Caribbean writing. 

The programme helped launch the careers of many writers who achieved international fame: Trinidadians Sam Selvon and Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul; the other Caribbean Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott from St Lucia; Kamau Brathwaite and George Lamming from Barbados; Jamaicans Gloria Escofery, John Figueroa and Andrew Salkey; Guyanese Edgar Mittelholzer, Wilson Harris and Ian McDonald; and EM ‘Shake’ Keane from St Vincent. 

Between 1943 and 1955 when Swanzy left, 400 stories and poems along with plays and literary criticism had been broadcast by 372 contributors. On Swanzy’s departure the Times Literary Supplement wrote “West Indian writers freely acknowledge their debt to the BBC for its encouragement, financial and aesthetic. Without that encouragement the birth of a Caribbean literature would have been slower and even more painful than it has been”. Naipaul noted that Swanzy brought to the programme ‘standards and enthusiasm. He took local writing seriously and lifted it above the local’. 

John La Rose migrated to Britain in 1961. With his partner, Sarah White, he founded in London in 1966, New Beacon Books, both a pioneering publishing house and a specialist bookshop focusing on writers and writing from the Caribbean. For him publishing was a vehicle to give independent validation to one’s own culture, history and politics, a way of achieving cultural and social change. They published works by writers such as Wilson Harris, Andrew Salkey, Errol Hill, Dennis Scott, Erna Brodber, Mervyn Morris, and numerous others. 

La Rose co-founded with Andrew Salkey and Kamau Brathwaite, the Caribbean Artists Movement, providing a platform for Caribbean artists, poets, writers, dramatists, actors and musicians. In 1982 he co-founded and directed the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books until 1995. The George Padmore Institute, an archive, library and educational research centre housing materials relating to communities of Caribbean, African and Asian descent in Britain and continental Europe, was established in 1991.

On Thursday at 5 p.m. Horace Ove’s film on La Rose Dream to Change the World will be screened, followed by a short talk by Sarah White on the work of the late John La Rose and presentation of the inaugural Award. 

Every year the NGC Bocas Lit Fest and the National Museum and Art Gallery partner to invite an artist to create a limited-edition work of art. The first numbered piece becomes part of the unique Festival Art Collection of the National Museum and Art Gallery. Funds raised from the sale of the signed, numbered works go to the Lit Fest.

The 2013 festival artist is Wendy Nanan whose piece for this year’s event was unveiled on the First floor of the National Museum and Art Gallery, Frederick Street, Port of Spain. Born in Port of Spain in 1955, she obtained the BFA (Painting) in the UK and currently lives and works in Port of Spain. She has been exhibiting regularly since 1985, including shows in France, Britain, Canada, and the Dominican Republic.  

Transmission pursues Nanan’s interest in the book form, and the idea of the transfer of knowledge.  

A special tour of Port of Spain through the eyes of award winning fictional writers and famous characters began last Saturday.

Based on the critically acclaimed LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago by Kris Rampersad, the LiTTour starts 8 a.m. by prebookings only, leaving from the South Quay compounds of the Public Transport Service Corporation, through the capital city: landscapes and lifestyles; institutions, cultural life, politics, architecture and will be free to persons who, until tomorrow, purchase, a copy of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago. 

LiTTscapes presents Trinidad and Tobago through some 60 writers in more than 100 works since 1595. Head of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Professor Al Creighton described LiTTscapes as a work of art; a documentary, a travelogue, a critical work with visual and literary power.  It takes us on a tour of the country, giving some exposure to almost every aspect of life. 

In conjunction with LiTTscapes and LiTTours, launched last August, Rampersad has also introduced LiTTributes – events in tribute to Caribbean cultures and creativity which have to date been staged in Guyana, Antigua and Trinidad and Tobago and soon in the UK and USA. They are meant to promote literacy, creativity and interactive appreciation of the global multicultural milieu Trinidad and Tobago.   

Customade LiTTributes and LiTTours based on district, theme or body of literature are available on request. For details contact 377-0326 or email lolleaves@gmail.com and visit: www.kris-rampersad.blogspot.com.

The NGC Bocas Lit Fest is free and open to all. It runs from April 25-28 at NALIS.

Free, secure weekday parking is available in Queens Park Savannah with a free hourly shuttle service to NALIS and back. For more information about the Festival programme, visit www.bocaslitfest.com.

The 2013 NGC Bocas Lit Fest 

Schedule for Thursday

The 2013 NGC Bocas Lit Fest officially kicks off!

Writers vs. Politicians 

with Martin Daly, Paula Gopee-Scoon, 

Sunity Maharaj, and Ralph Maraj

Looking ahead to our Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference debates, local luminaries read portraits of politicians — hilarious, ironic, tragic — from classic and contemporary works of Caribbean fiction by Jamaican John Hearne, Barbadian Austin Clarke, Trinidad-born

Monique Roffey, and Guyanese Pauline Melville

9–10 am • Old Fire Station

WORKSHOP

Getting started

with Marlon James

For new writers: how to find your subject and voice, and break through the barrier of the opening line

10 am–12.30 pm • 1st Floor Seminar Room

FATHER FIGURES

Colin Grant and Hannah Lowe

chaired by Ruth Borthwick

Prose and verse portraits of Jamaican fathers, by the authors of Bageye at the Wheel and Chick

10.30–11.30 am • Old Fire Station

POETRY

Marion Bethel and Cyril Dabydeen chaired by Nicha Selvon-Ramkissoon

Readings by poets from the Bahamas and Guyana

10.30–11.30 am • AV Room

NEW TALENT SHOWCASE

Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné

The first of our New Talent Showcase writers reads from her poems and discusses her work

12–12.45 pm • Old Fire Station

PERFORMANCE POETRY AND OPEN MIC

Lunchtime jam

A selection of performance poets take their vibe to the streets of the city. Plus a chance for budding

writers to share their work

12–1 pm • Abercromby Street Arcade

FILM

Barbado’ed, dir. Shane Brennan and Paul Arnott

The poorest community in Barbados is the Redlegs, the direct descendants of Scots transported to

Barbados in the 17th century.

Scottish author Chris Dolan discovers what they know about their roots, and what their prospects are

12–1 pm • AV Room

FORGOTTEN STORIES

Andrea Stuart and Chris Dolan

chaired by Margaret Busby

Forgotten parts of the history of Barbados, retold by the authors of Sugar in the Blood and Redlegs

1.00–2.00 pm • AV Room

WORKSHOP

Length matters

with Cyril Dabydeen

There are stories that need a few dozen pages, and some that need a few dozen words. An introduction to short-short fiction

1.30–4 pm • 1st Floor Seminar Room

DISCUSSION

Beyond a Boundary at 50 with Deryck Murray and Arnold Gibbons, chaired by Kenneth

Ramchand C.L.R. James’s great book on sport, politics, and society celebrates its half-century in 2012. A panel of sportsmen and scholars discuss its continuing relevance

1.30–2.30 pm • Old Fire Station

MUSIC

Lovey and Co.

with John Cowley

The first Trinidadian musicians ever to be recorded were Lovey’s Original Trinidad String Band, in 1912. The author of Carnival, Canboulay, and Calypso tells the story, and discusses Lovey’s legacy with Trinidad Express features editor Deborah John

2–3 pm • AV Room

FICTION

Courttia Newland and Ifeona Fulani

chaired by Ryan Durgasingh

A reading of new fiction by the authors of The Gospel According to Cane and Ten Days in Jamaica

2.30–3.30 pm • Old Fire Station

FICTION

Kerry Young and Diana McCaulay

chaired by Giselle Rampaul

Jamaican family histories transformed into fiction by the authors of Pao and Huracan

4–5 pm • Old Fire Station

SHORT TALK

Alison Donnell and Michael Bucknor talk to Barbara Lalla about the Routledge Companion to Anglophone Caribbean Literature, and our evolving literary canon

4–5 pm • AV Room

ONE-ON-ONE

Marina Warner

The British author of Alone of All Her Sex and Stranger Magic talks to Lawrence Scott about myths, history, and stories

5–6 pm • Old Fire Station

FILM

A Dream to Change the World: A Tribute to John La Rose, dir. Horace Ové, CBE

A documentary about the life of the late John La Rose, poet, essayist, publisher, trade unionist, cultural and political activist, and founder of New Beacon Books and chairman of the George Padmore Institute in London

5–7 pm • AV Room

BOCAS HENRY SWANZY AWARD

The presentation of the inaugural Bocas Swanzy Award, recognising distinguished service to Caribbean letters, to John La Rose (posthumously) and Sarah White of New Beacon Books

7–8.30 pm • AV Room