Monday, March 18, 2013

T&T author, Antigua icons in LiTTribute to Antilles

In the News....

T&T Author, Antigua Icons In Littribute To Antilles http://news.caribseek.com/index.php/caribbean-islands-news/antigua-and-barbuda-news/item/41548-tt-author-antigua-icons-in-littribute-to-antilles

Dr. Kris Rampersad
T&T Author, Antigua Icons In Littribute To Antilles
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago -- Trinidad and Tobago’s Dr Kris Rampersad, author of LiTTscapes - Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago will team up with icons of Antigua and Barbuda to stage a literary tribute to the Antilles this Saturday at the museum in St John’s, Antigua.
Dr Rampersad, whose book, LiTTscapes, was launched as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of Trinidad and Tobago last August, has undertaken a series of tributes called LiTTributes to highlight the contributions and value of the creative sectors of the Caribbean.
LiTTscapes has been described as a groundbreaking encyclopaedic yet coffee-table style compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions of the Caribbean and quintessential to the Caribbean diversification agenda as a means of promoting sustainable development through the creative sector in its presentation of  history, politics, cultures and lifestyles, by reviewers as head of the Guyana Prize for Literature and deputy vice chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Al Creighton; Poet Laureate of Port of Spain, Pearl Eintou Springer; former principal and pro vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Dr Bhoe Tewarie and former First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards, among others.
Said Creighton: “Easy to read, LiTTscapes is a work of art, a documentary, a travelogue, a critical work with visual and literary power. It is a quite thorough artistic concept, a portrait and biography of the nation of Trinidad and is attractively, neatly and effectively designed. It reflects a considerable volume of reading, ranging from the dawn of Caribbean literature (as early writings of Walter Raleigh, through to present including Nobel laureates Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul). Whatever one says no one book can do, this one almost does.” 
Rampersad explained:  “The literary tributes, called LiTTributes, celebrate the creative synergies between fiction, the built and natural landscapes and the creative energies of writers, musicians, dramatists, artists, architects and other creators.” She noted that the launch of LiTTscapes was followed by the LiTTribute to the Republic in Trinidad and Tobago in September 2012 and LiTTribute II - LiTTurgy to the Mainland in Guyana in February 2013.
“The Antiguan event is being called LiTTribute to the Antilles and will include presentations by Rampersad and Antiguan writers and performers, including writers as Joy Lawrence, Joanne Hillhouse and Floree Williams with support from the Historical and Archaeological Society of Antigua and Barbuda which operates the museum, and Best of Books, Antigua. It will feature readings and performances inspired by LiTTscapes, which represents some 100 works of some 60 writers, including the Caribbean Nobel laureates for literature, Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul.”
She said: “LiTTributes are meant to make both the creators and our communities aware and heighten appreciation of how we may work in tandem for the benefit of our countries and our region. I am indeed humbled and buoyed at the enthusiasm being showed throughout the region and indeed the diaspora for these as already I also have interests expressed for similar LiTTributes in North American and Europe from where a considerable number of our fiction writers have functioned.
“LiTTscapes is a celebration of ourselves – small islands whose creative energies have generated enormous waves across the globe, as this LiTTribute to the Antilles will endorse. Antigua has given us writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Joanne Hillhouse.  Derek Walcott titled his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, The Antilles – Fragments of Epic Memory. This event is a celebration of that epic Antilles, not as fragments, but for the wholeness of our aesthetics,” said Rampersad.    
Rampersad said along similar lines of the LiTTscapes celebrations, the Antigua/Barbuda event will feature the Caribbean architectural alongside literary, visual and performance heritage. Its staging at the museum building will recognise Antigua’s oldest heritage building which is the former site of an indigeneous marketplace. Previous events were staged at the historic Moray House in Guyana, Knowsley Building in Port of Spain and White Hall, one of Port of Spain’s Magnificent Seven edifices.
2013-0318-ag-tt-littscapes-webLiTTscapes: Key Features
  • Full colour, easy reading, coffee table-style
  • More than 500 photographs of Trinidad and Tobago
  • Represents some 100 works by more than 60 writers
  • Captures intimate real life and fictional details of island life
  • Details exciting literary moments, literary heritage walks & tours
  • Essential companion on T&T for tourists, students, policy makers, academics, lay readers
  • Totally local effort to stimulate local creative industries
  • Encourage literacy and creative activity
LiTTscapes album on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kris.rampersad1.
About the Author – Kris Rampersad
For more than two decades Dr Kris Rampersad has been actively involved in analysing, assessing, critiquing and defining the development agenda for Caribbean societies. She is a journalist and educator in Caribbean literature, culture and heritage.
For details and information, reviews, interviews email lolleaves@gmail.com or visit www.kris-rampersad.blogspot.com.


T&T author, Antigua icons in LiTTribute to Antilles ~ Caribbean Entertainment Magazine

http://www.caribbeanemagazine.com/2013/03/t-author-antigua-icons-in-littribute-to.html

This Entertainment Magazine tells of the lifestyle ,celebrities, videos ,music,culture,food, fashion and entertainment of the Caribbean.

Monday, March 18, 2013

T&T AUTHOR, ANTIGUA ICONS IN LITTRIBUTE TO ANTILLES


Trinidad and Tobago’sDR Kris Rampersad, author of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago will team up with icons of Antigua and Barbuda to stage a literary tribute to the Antilles on Saturday (March 23, 2013) at the museum in St John’s, Antigua.

Dr Rampersad, whose book, LiTTscapes, was launched as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of Trinidad and Tobago last August, has undertaken a series of tributes calledLiTTributes to highlight the contributions and value of the creative sectors of the Caribbean.

LiTTscapes has been described as a groundbreakingencyclopaedic yet coffee-table style compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions of the Caribbean and quintessential to the Caribbean diversification agenda as a means of promoting sustainable development through the creative sector in its presentation of  history, politics, cultures and lifestyles, by reviewers as head of the Guyana Prize for Literature and deputy vice chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Al Creighton; Poet Laureate of Port of Spain,PearlEintou Springer; former principal and pro vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Dr Bhoe Tewarie and former First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago DrJean Ramjohn Richards, among others.

Said Creighton: “Easy to read, LiTTscapes is a work of art, a documentary, a travelogue, a critical work with visual and literary power. It is a quite thorough artistic concept, a portrait and biography of the nation of Trinidad and is attractively, neatly and effectively designed. It reflects a considerable volume of reading, ranging from the dawn of Caribbean literature (as early writings of Walter Raleigh, through to present including Nobel laureates Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul). Whatever one says no one book can do, this one almost does.” 

Rampersad explained:  “The literary tributes, called LiTTributes, celebrate the creative synergies between fiction, the built and natural landscapes and the creative energies of writers, musicians, dramatists, artists, architects and other creators.” She noted that the launch of LiTTscapes was followed by the LiTTribute to the Republic in Trinidad and Tobago in September 2012 and LiTTribute II - LiTTurgy to the Mainland in Guyana in February 2013.

“The Antiguan event is being called LiTTribute to the Antilles and will include presentations by Rampersad and Antiguan writers and performers, including writers as Joy Lawrence, Joanne Hillhouse and Floree Williams with support from the Historical and Archaeological Society of Antigua and Barbuda which operates the museum, and Best of Books, Antigua. It will feature readings and performances inspired by LiTTscapes, which represents some 100 works of some 60 writers, including the Caribbean Nobel laureates for literature, Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul.”

She said: “LiTTributes are meant to make both the creators and our communities aware and heighten appreciation of how we may work in tandem for the benefit of our countries and our region. I am indeed humbled and buoyed at the enthusiasm being showed throughout the region and indeed the diaspora for these as already I also have interests expressed for similar LiTTributes in North American and Europe from where a considerable number of our fiction writers have functioned.

 “LiTTscapes is a celebration of ourselves – small islands whose creative energies have generated enormous waves across the globe, as this LiTTribute to the Antilles will endorse. Antigua has given us writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Joanne Hillhouse.  Derek Walcott titled his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, The Antilles – Fragments of Epic Memory. This event is a celebration of that epic Antilles, not as fragments, but for the wholeness of our aesthetics,” said Rampersad.    

Rampersad said along similar lines of the LiTTscapes celebrations, the Antigua/Barbuda event will feature the Caribbean architectural alongside literary, visual and performance heritage. Its staging at the museum building will recognise Antigua’s oldest heritage building which is the former site of an indigeneous marketplace. Previous events were staged at the historic Moray House in Guyana, Knowsley Building in Port of Spain and White Hall, one of Port of Spain’s Magnificent Seven edifices.

For details and information, reviews, interviews email  or visit Website 

In Brief:

LiTTscapes: Key Features

·        Full colour, easy reading, coffee table-style

·        More than 500 photographs of Trinidad and Tobago

·        Represents some 100 works by more than 60 writers

·        Captures intimate real life and fictional details of island life

·        Details exciting literary moments, literary heritage walks & tours

·        Essential companion on T&T for tourists, students, policy makers, academics, lay readers

·        Totally local effort to stimulate local creative industries

·        Encourage literacy and creative activity

See: LiTTscapes album on Facebook


About the author – Kris Rampersad

For more than two decades Dr Kris Rampersad has been actively involved in analysing, assessing, critiquing and defining the development agenda for Caribbean societies.

She is a journalist and educator in Caribbean literature, culture and heritage.

Copyright 2013 Caribbean E-Magazine All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without credit..

Sunday, March 17, 2013

LiTTscapes author to celebrate the Antilles in Antigua

365antigua.com - what 2 know, where 2 go in Antigua

LiTTscapes author to celebrate the Antilles in Antigua

http://www.365antigua.com.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobal//cms/content/arts-literature-littscapes-author-celebrate-antilles-antigua#.UUY2pL2uN7Q.blogger


The creativity of the islands of the Antilles will come into focus with LiTTribute to the AnTTiles to be staged at the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda on March 23, 2013.
This is the third in a series of tributes to the creative heritage of the Caribbean to be staged by author of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago Kris Rampersad.
Rampersad will team up with Antiguan writers and performers, the Historical and Archaeological Society of Antigua and Barbuda which operates the museum, and Best of Books, Antigua for the event which will feature readings and performances inspired by LiTTscapes with input from artists in the oral and literary heritage of Antigua.
It follows the recent successful staging of LiTTribute II – LiTTurgy to the Mainland hosted by the Guyana Prize for Literature and Moray House Trust in Georgetown, Guyana and the LiTTribute to the Republic on Trinidad and Tobago’s 36th anniversary as a Republic. LiTTscapes was launched as part of Trinidad and Tobago’s golden jubilee of Independence festivities in August 2012 along with LiTTours and LiTTevents.
“LiTTscapes is a celebration of ourselves – small islands whose creative energies have generated enormous waves across the globe, as this LiTTribute to the Antilles will endorse. Antigua has given us writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Joanne Hillhouse.  Derek Walcott titled his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, The Antilles – Fragments of Epic Memory. This event is a celebration of that epic Antilles, not as fragments, but for the wholeness of our aesthetics,” said Rampersad.    
Acclaimed as a groundbreaking encyclopaedic yet coffee-table style compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions of the Caribbean as represented in more than 100 fictional works by some 60 writers, LiTTscapes, she explained, is geared to stimulate interest in reading, literacy and connect the Caribbean through synergies with the creative industries and sectors of the Caribbean.
Rampersad said along similar lines of the LiTTscapes celebrations, the Antigua/Barbuda event will feature the Caribbean architectural alongside literary, visual and performance heritage. Its staging at the museum building will recognise Antigua’s oldest heritage building which is the former site of an indigeneous marketplace. Previous events were staged at the historic Moray House in Guyana, Knowsley Building in Port of Spain and White Hall, one of Port of Spain’s Magnificent Seven edifices.
For details, preorders, reviews, interviews email lolleaves@gmail.com or visit kris-rampersad.blogspot.com.

In Brief:
  • LiTTscapes: Key Features
  • Full colour, easy reading, coffee table-style
  • More than 500 photographs of Trinidad and Tobago
  • Represents some 100 works by more than 60 writers
  • Captures intimate real life and fictional details of island life
  • Details exciting literary moments, literary heritage walks & tours
  • Essential companion on T&T for tourists, students, policy makers, academics, lay readers
  • Totally local effort to stimulate local creative industries
  • Encourage literacy and creative activity

See: LiTTscapes album on Facebook

About the Author – Kris Rampersad
For more than two decades Dr Kris Rampersad has been actively involved in analysing, assessing, critiquing and defining the development agenda for Caribbean societies.
She is a journalist and educator in Caribbean literature, culture and heritage.
See: https://sites.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobalhttp://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com

LiTTscapes for LiTTribute to Antilles


Trinidad and Tobago’s Dr Kris Rampersad, author of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago will team up with icons of Antigua and Barbuda to stage a literary tribute to the Antilles on Saturday (March 23, 2013) at the museum in St John’s, Antigua.
Dr Rampersad, whose book, LiTTscapes, was launched as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of Trinidad and Tobago last August, has undertaken a series of tributes called LiTTributes to highlight the contributions and value of the creative sectors of the Caribbean.
LiTTscapes has been described as a groundbreaking encyclopaedic yet coffee-table style compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions of the Caribbean and quintessential to the Caribbean diversification agenda as a means of promoting sustainable development through the creative sector in its presentation of  history, politics, cultures and lifestyles, by reviewers as head of the Guyana Prize for Literature and deputy vice chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Al Creighton; Poet Laureate of Port of Spain, Pearl Eintou Springer; former principal and pro vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Dr Bhoe Tewarie and former First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards, among others.
Said Creighton: “Easy to read, LiTTscapes is a work of art, a documentary, a travelogue, a critical work with visual and literary power. It is a quite thorough artistic concept, a portrait and biography of the nation of Trinidad and is attractively, neatly and effectively designed. It reflects a considerable volume of reading, ranging from the dawn of Caribbean literature (as early writings of Walter Raleigh, through to present including Nobel laureates Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul). Whatever one says no one book can do, this one almost does.” 
Rampersad explained:  “The literary tributes, called LiTTributes, celebrate the creative synergies between fiction, the built and natural landscapes and the creative energies of writers, musicians, dramatists, artists, architects and other creators.” She noted that the launch of LiTTscapes was followed by the LiTTribute to the Republic in Trinidad and Tobago in September 2012 and LiTTribute II - LiTTurgy to the Mainland in Guyana in February 2013.
“The Antiguan event is being called LiTTribute to the Antilles and will include presentations by Rampersad and Antiguan writers and performers, including writers as Joy Lawrence, Joanne Hillhouse and Floree Williams with support from the Historical and Archaeological Society of Antigua and Barbuda which operates the museum, and Best of Books, Antigua. It will feature readings and performances inspired by LiTTscapes, which represents some 100 works of some 60 writers, including the Caribbean Nobel laureates for literature, Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul.”
She said: “LiTTributes are meant to make both the creators and our communities aware and heighten appreciation of how we may work in tandem for the benefit of our countries and our region. I am indeed humbled and buoyed at the enthusiasm being showed throughout the region and indeed the diaspora for these as already I also have interests expressed for similar LiTTributes in North American and Europe from where a considerable number of our fiction writers have functioned.
 “LiTTscapes is a celebration of ourselves – small islands whose creative energies have generated enormous waves across the globe, as this LiTTribute to the Antilles will endorse. Antigua has given us writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Joanne Hillhouse.  Derek Walcott titled his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, The Antilles – Fragments of Epic Memory. This event is a celebration of that epic Antilles, not as fragments, but for the wholeness of our aesthetics,” said Rampersad.    
Rampersad said along similar lines of the LiTTscapes celebrations, the Antigua/Barbuda event will feature the Caribbean architectural alongside literary, visual and performance heritage. Its staging at the museum building will recognise Antigua’s oldest heritage building which is the former site of an indigeneous marketplace. Previous events were staged at the historic Moray House in Guyana, Knowsley Building in Port of Spain and White Hall, one of Port of Spain’s Magnificent Seven edifices.
For details and information, reviews, interviews email lolleaves@gmail.com or visit kris-rampersad.blogspot.com.

In Brief:

LiTTscapes: Key Features
Ø  Full colour, easy reading, coffee table-style
Ø  More than 500 photographs of Trinidad and Tobago
Ø  Represents some 100 works by more than 60 writers
Ø  Captures intimate real life and fictional details of island life
Ø  Details exciting literary moments, literary heritage walks & tours
Ø  Essential companion on T&T for tourists, students, policy makers, academics, lay readers
Ø  Totally local effort to stimulate local creative industries
Ø  Encourage literacy and creative activity

See: LiTTscapes album on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kris.rampersad1
    About the Author – Kris Rampersad
For more than two decades Dr Kris Rampersad has been actively involved in analysing, assessing, critiquing and defining the development agenda for Caribbean societies.
She is a journalist and educator in Caribbean literature, culture and heritage.
See: https://sites.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobal; http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com



‘LiTTscapes delivers Walcott’s visual surprise’

‘LiTTscapes delivers Walcott’s visual surprise’ | The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2013-03-16/%E2%80%98littscapes-delivers-walcott%E2%80%99s-visual-surprise%E2%80%99


Saturday, March 16, 2013

LiTTscapes with LiTTribute head to the Antilles in Antigua - news, business, entertainment, sport

LiTTscapes with LiTTribute head to the Antilles in Antigua - news, business, entertainment, sport

LiTTscapes to celebrate the Antilles in Antigua.
The creativity of the islands of the Antilles will come into focus with LiTTribute to the AnTTiles to be staged at the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda on March 23, 2013.
This is the third in a series of tributes to the creative heritage of the Caribbean to be staged by author of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago Kris Rampersad.
Rampersad will team up with Antiguan writers and performers, the Historical and Archaeological Society of Antigua and Barbuda which operates the museum, and Best of Books, Antigua for the event which will feature readings and performances inspired by LiTTscapes with input from artists in the oral and literary heritage of Antigua.
It follows the recent successful staging of LiTTribute II – LiTTurgy to the Mainland hosted by the Guyana Prize for Literature and Moray House Trust in Georgetown, Guyana and the LiTTribute to the Republic on Trinidad and Tobago’s 36th anniversary as a Republic. LiTTscapes was launched as part of Trinidad and Tobago’s golden jubilee of Independence festivities in August 2012 along with LiTTours and LiTTevents.

“LiTTscapes is a celebration of ourselves – small islands whose creative energies have generated enormous waves across the globe, as this LiTTribute to the Antilles will endorse. Antigua has given us writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Joanne Hillhouse.  Derek Walcott titled his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, The Antilles – Fragments of Epic Memory. This event is a celebration of that epic Antilles, not as fragments, but for the wholeness of our aesthetics,” said Rampersad.
Acclaimed as a groundbreaking encyclopaedic yet coffee-table style compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions of the Caribbean as represented in more than 100 fictional works by some 60 writers, LiTTscapes, she explained, is geared to stimulate interest in reading, literacy and connect the Caribbean through synergies with the creative industries and sectors of the Caribbean.

Rampersad said along similar lines of the LiTTscapes celebrations, the Antigua/Barbuda event will feature the Caribbean architectural alongside literary, visual and performance heritage. Its staging at the museum building will recognise Antigua’s oldest heritage building which is the former site of an indigeneous marketplace. Previous events were staged at the historic Moray House in Guyana, Knowsley Building in Port of Spain and White Hall, one of Port of Spain’s Magnificent Seven edifices.
For details and information, reviews, interviews email lolleaves@gmail.com or visit kris-rampersad.blogspot.com.
In Brief:

LiTTscapes: Key Features
       Full colour, easy reading, coffee table-style
       More than 500 photographs of Trinidad and Tobago
       Represents some 100 works by more than 60 writers
       Captures intimate real life and fictional details of island life
       Details exciting literary moments, literary heritage walks & tours
       Essential companion on T&T for tourists, students, policy makers, academics, lay readers
       Totally local effort to stimulate local creative industries
       Encourage literacy and creative activity

See: LiTTscapes album on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kris.rampersad1

About the Author – Kris Rampersad
For more than two decades Dr Kris Rampersad has been actively involved in analysing, assessing, critiquing and defining the development agenda for Caribbean societies.
She is a journalist and educator in Caribbean literature, culture and heritage.
See: https://sites.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobalhttp://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com
http://www.caribbeannewsreview.com/index.php/caribbean1/entertainment/857-littscapes-with-littribute-head-to-the-antilles-in-antigua

Friday, March 15, 2013

Virgin Queen vs Black Virgin – The Vatican Files LettersToLizzie

Dear Lizzie,
A new Pope from these parts – measure of success of plantings by the Spanish imperial MISSION over seedlings of the Church of England? Falkland haunts as Vatican files secrets of the virgin queen vs the black virgin. What Dan Brown missed now in Letters to Lizzie on shelves soon… as memories aroused of a day at the Vatican. Picture it. Rome. 20xx...Huddled under an umbrella in St Peter's Square at the Vatican by the side of Father  ... for a glimpse of a Pope. Sounds familiar?... see www.kris-rampersad.blogspot.com

 

On the buzz  lines:

The first southern pope

…It is as the world’s largest membership organisation that the church has its biggest role. It makes its 1.2 billion people—rich and poor, of all ages and conditions—feel that they are part of some sort of larger world order; that even in the poorest and most benighted country, their hopes and fears count and that someone in authority is listening to them. For this last reason alone, Francis is an earthquake … http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573563-pope-francis-inherits-mess-has-great-opportunities-he-will-need-act-quickly-first

 

Pope Francis: 20 things you didn't know

He's had a girlfriend, he loves the tango, and at one point he worked as a bouncer… http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/9931413/pope-francis-20-things-you-didnt-know.html

 POPE FRANCIS AND THE DIRTY WAR

The new Pope, Francis the Humble, as he perhaps would like to be known, is an Argentine with a cloudy past. This in itself is not an offense but, rather, is in keeping with a religious institution that has long been marked by secrecy. From the smoke signals with which the papal conclave makes the fact, if not the process …http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/03/pope-francis-jorge-bergoglio-argentina-dirty-war.html#ixzz2NaforqhN

'I was Pope Francis's childhood love,' claims Argentinian woman
A woman who claims she was the childhood sweetheart of Pope Francis said

 

Falkland Islands Catholics want new pope to visit them

Catholics on the Falkland Islands want the new Argentinian pope to visit the territory, according to a Brazilian newspaper….
"We are very happy, it is great having a new pope. In a few months it will not matter where he's from, …says McPartland …
During the Falklands war, McPartland negotiated with the Argentinian troops to continue giving mass in English.
The 300-strong congregation of St Mary's includes 29 Catholics with dual British-Argentinian nationality.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio: First Latin American, first Jesuit and first Pope Francis to lead the world's Catholics
…He had told a crowd of some 100,000 people packed in rain-soaked St. Peter's Square just after his election that he intended to pray to the Madonna "that she may watch over all of Rome."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/jorge-mario-bergoglio-first-latin-american-first-jesuit-and-first-pope-francis-to-lead-the-worlds-catholics-8532365.html

Who is Pope Francis?
(Vatican Radio) The man elected to be the 265th Successor of Saint Peter in the conclave, is Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ordinary for Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina who lack an Ordinary of their own rite. He was born on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires. He was ordained … http://www.news.va/en/news/who-is-pope-francis

....and then, Letters to Lizzie ... comming soon ... preorder now lolleaves@gmail.com

Sunday, March 10, 2013

LiTTscapes pays tribute to Antilles in Antigua



The creativity of the islands of the Antilles will come into focus with LiTTribute to the AnTTiles to be staged at the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda on March 23, 2013.
This is the third in a series of tributes to the creative heritage of the Caribbean to be staged by author of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago Kris Rampersad.
Rampersad will team up with Antiguan writers and performers, the Historical and Archaeological Society of Antigua and Barbuda which operates the museum, and Best of Books, Antigua for the event which will feature readings and performances inspired by LiTTscapes with input from artists in the oral and literary heritage of Antigua.
It follows the recent successful staging of LiTTribute II – LiTTurgy to the Mainland hosted by the Guyana Prize for Literature and Moray House Trust in Georgetown, Guyana and the LiTTribute to the Republic on Trinidad and Tobago’s 36th anniversary as a Republic. LiTTscapes was launched as part of Trinidad and Tobago’s golden jubilee of Independence festivities in August 2012 along with LiTTours and LiTTevents.
“LiTTscapes is a celebration of ourselves – small islands whose creative energies have generated enormous waves across the globe, as this LiTTribute to the Antilles will endorse. Antigua has given us writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Joanne Hillhouse.  Derek Walcott titled his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, The Antilles – Fragments of Epic Memory. This event is a celebration of that epic Antilles, not as fragments, but for the wholeness of our aesthetics,” said Rampersad.    
Acclaimed as a groundbreaking encyclopaedic yet coffee-table style compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions of the Caribbean as represented in more than 100 fictional works by some 60 writers, LiTTscapes, she explained, is geared to stimulate interest in reading, literacy and connect the Caribbean through synergies with the creative industries and sectors of the Caribbean.
Rampersad said along similar lines of the LiTTscapes celebrations, the Antigua/Barbuda event will feature the Caribbean architectural alongside literary, visual and performance heritage. Its staging at the museum building will recognise Antigua’s oldest heritage building which is the former site of an indigeneous marketplace. Previous events were staged at the historic Moray House in Guyana, Knowsley Building in Port of Spain and White Hall, one of Port of Spain’s Magnificent Seven edifices.
For details and information email lolleaves@gmail.com 
In Brief:

LiTTscapes: Key Features
Ø  Full colour, easy reading, coffee table-style
Ø  More than 500 photographs of Trinidad and Tobago
Ø  Represents some 100 works by more than 60 writers
Ø  Captures intimate real life and fictional details of island life
Ø  Details exciting literary moments, literary heritage walks & tours
Ø  Essential companion on T&T for tourists, students, policy makers, academics, lay readers
Ø  Totally local effort to stimulate local creative industries
Ø  Encourage literacy and creative activity

See: LiTTscapes album on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kris.rampersad1
   

Sunday, March 3, 2013

NikkiMinajPoundsdAlarmLettersToLizzie

Dear Lizzie,
Pound d alarm. Much rage over Nikki Minaj's nothing place but u can show d girls who own dem not on d trail of American Idol but palace files near begnnings of dis Roman empire's Raj on shelves lettered H or R or W or P including S near T...details forthcoming in LettersToLizzie Pre-Order Now see https://sites.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobal
PS: Waffle to baffle: No just d late arrival, but using waffles to baffle and taking the long, scenic colourful route to pronouncig judgement on American Idol - it's a Trini thing...



'We came from nothing!' Nicki Minaj bonds with Liberian refugee... as American Idol's final ten women are revealed

Trinidadian-born rapper Nicki Minaj wasn’t born with much, and she fought tooth and nail to gain her stardom.
That could be why the Pink Friday singer got so emotional on American Idol this week, when a Liberian refugee, Zoanette Johnson, brought the house down with Circle of Life.
Always one of the most riotous contestants Zoannette, 20, has been in the US since she was two - after escaping from her war torn motherland.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2285707/Nicki-Minaj-likens-Liberian-refugee--singers-axed-American-Idol.html

Pound The Alerm Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYK4ffyETqc


Living in Liberia:  http://www.guardian.co.tt/editorial/2013-03-03/living-liberia

Published: 
Sunday, March 3, 2013A small social media-fuelled storm erupted soon after entertainer Nicki Minaj commiserated with American Idol competitor Zoanette Johnson about the challenges of their childhoods. “I’m proud that this place right here gives people like you and me that came from absolutely nothing, from a country that we probably didn’t think we would make it out alive, it gives us a shot.” 
 Ms Minaj, once known as Onika Maraj during her first five years of life at Bournes Road, St James, has had an undeniably challenging life, often leveraged to promotional advantage. Nationalists quickly began pointing out the differences between this country and Liberia while Ms Minaj’s supporters quickly pointed out just how specifically difficult her life experiences were in Trinidad and Tobago before her migration to the United States. 

The fame that Nicki Minaj has been enjoying has been a tempting lure for the Government. In October 2010, the performer gave a concert at the Hasely Crawford Stadium that was partly underwritten by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs. The youth outreach effort came under criticism from Diego Martin Central MP Dr Amery Browne, who accused the Sports Minister of spending $900,000 on the money-losing event, half of the allocation for youth development projects. 

Her stated interest in the country of her birth, and perhaps her experience at that concert, led her to produce a Carnival-flavoured video for her song Pound the Alarm, celebrated as a national PR coup. Last week’s commentary, which paralleled her childhood experiences in T&T with a Liberia still recovering from bloody civil wars, are the flip side of depending on celebrities to promote a national image. 

In November 2012 the singer announced that a fifth of this country’s population had died from HIV/Aids, a figure that’s closer to 25,000. Somebody needs to brief this young woman about the country of her birth, and quickly. Far too much of our image building has been done on the backs of individuals who by virtue of their hard work and sometimes even their personal mistakes, have come to global attention. 

It’s a lazy and potentially lethal shortcut and no replacement for a properly formulated and designed plan to create a consistent and attractive tourism product and to promote it using all the myriad media tools available for modern communication with the world. Nicki Minaj was never a magic bullet for tourism promotion for this country, nor has the appointment of high-profile tourism ambassadors done much for us generally. 

The Ministry of Tourism and its agencies of execution continue to make dangerously naive assumptions about the value of our tourism product in a world full of nations aggressively working to package their assets, charms and uniqueness as lures for the curious visitor. As the tourism sector in Tobago gently collapses through lack of visitor interest, Ms Minaj’s comments come as a welcome wake-up call, a pounding of the alarm, as it were, that we’re playing the fool with our tourism assets and it’s time to stop.


T&T no different from Liberia says Minaj

Published: 
Friday, March 1, 2013
Yvonne Baboolal     http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-02-28/tt-no-different-liberia-says-minaj
Trinidad-born rapper Nicki Minaj compared T&T to Liberia on television on Wednesday, saying she didn’t think she would get out alive. Liberia is known for having endured bloody civil war during the past two decades, in which more than 200,000 people died and a million sought refuge in neighbouring countries. 

Tourism Minister Stephen Cadiz said yesterday he could not comment on Minaj’s latest comment on the “nothing” place she came from, since he was not sure exactly what location she was referring to. Minaj, on the American Idol show last Wednesday, likened her own underprivileged background to that of contestant Zoanette Johnson, a Liberian refugee living in the US, the UK Daily Mail reported yesterday.

Minaj said, “I’m so proud that this place gives people like you and people like me, who came from absolutely nothing, a place that we didn’t think we’d make it out alive from, it gives us the chance. Thank you.” The story in the Mail said: “Trinidadian-born rapper Nicki Minaj wasn’t born with much, and she fought tooth and nail to gain her stardom. “That could be why the Pink Friday singer got so emotional on American Idol this week, when a Liberian refugee, Zoanette Johnson, brought the house down with Circle of Life.”

Zoannette, 20, has been in the US since she was two, after escaping from her war-torn motherland, the newspaper reported. “Listen, Zoanette, you make me so emotional, you came from Liberia, all those siblings, they are going to get a chance to see you on this show. I am so proud of you. So proud of you,” Minaj said.

Minaj, born Tanya Onika Maraj, is from Bournes Road, St James. She lived there with her grandmother until the age of five, when she migrated to Brooklyn, New York, to be with her parents.Cadiz said he could not comment because he was not sure whether Minaj was referring to a hard life she lived in Brooklyn or in St James. “I have no idea what her family life was like,” he said.

Cadiz said he would not like to think of St James as a “nothing” place and noted that Minaj would have had some kind of good opportunity in order to reach the US. “I am not casting aspersions on Brooklyn but I don’t know if she had a hard life in the States...She would have to explain what she meant,” he said. The minister recalled that not long ago Minaj spoke about the high number of Aids cases in T&T and quoted totally erroneous figures.

In November, she was quoted in the UK Guardian as saying 250,000 people in T&T were living with the disease. The actual figure is reported as being a tenth of that. 

Nicki Minaj video sells 'sweet T&T'

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Nicki_Minaj_video_sells__sweet_T_T_-164690936.htm

lBy Wayne Bowman wayne.bowman@trinidadexpress.com

The video for Nicki Minaj's "Pound The Alarm" filmed in Trinidad and Tobago several weeks ago pays a great tribute to the land of her birth.

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