Anthony “Wendell” DeRiggs, Hermina Marcellin; Tracy Viergela Pierre
Where exactly is home? Three dynamic wordsmiths of Caribbean descent grapple with notions of longing and belonging as they inaugurate the new season of Poets & Passion – A Caribbean Literary Lime on Friday, March 29 at the Downtown Brooklyn campus of St. Francis College.
Hailing originally from Grenada, St. Lucia and Haiti respectively, Anthony “Wendell” DeRiggs, Hermina Marcellin and Tracy Viergela Pierre now live in Brooklyn, NY. Their work collectively reflect the bitter-sweet narratives of migration, language, race, gender, power and powerlessness.
Anthony “Wendell” DeRiggs, a graduate from Brooklyn College (CUNY), writes both prose and poetry. His most recent poetry anthology, Reflections and Ole Talk was published by Hibiscus Communications in the United Kingdom. Hermina Marcellin is an alumna of Medgar Evers College whose poetry addresses issues of politics, love, and self-empowerment. Tracy Viergela Pierre is a poet, actress, dancer and model, and the creative genius behind Ghetto Getup, a vehicle to teach artistic expression to youth through poetry, dance and fashion.
The Friday, March 29, 2013 program takes place at St. Francis College – Little Theatre, 182 Remsen Street (between Clinton & Court Streets), Brooklyn, NY 11201. The program begins at 7:30pm. Audience members are invited to participate in the Open Mic session after the program.
The series continues on Friday, April 19 with short story writers Keisha Gay Anderson (Jamaica) and Victoria Brown (Trinidad & Tobago), and Friday, May 31 with poets and visual artists Jacqueline Bishop (Jamaica) and Deborah Jack (St. Maarten). The season culminates with ‘Celebration of the WORD’, and afternoon fete of writers, storytellers and lovers of the written word of all ages slated for June 30.
Poets & Passion – A Caribbean Literary Lime, a project of the Brooklyn-based Caribbean Cultural Theatre, is an exciting mixture cultural showcase with critically acclaimed and emerging creative writers, and open mic sessions with literary enthusiasts. Now in its seventh season, the platform has featured such illustrious literary luminaries as novelists Robert Antoni (Bahamas), E. R. Braithwaite (Guyana), Earl Lovelace (Trinidad), and poets Kamau Brathwaite (Barbados), Merle Collins (Grenada) and Linton Kwesi Johnson (Jamaica).
The series is presented with the support of Caribbean Research Center at Medgar Evers College (CUNY), Caribbean Book Review, Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs administered by Brooklyn Arts Council, Golden Krust Bakery & Grill, Materials for the Arts, Mosaic Literary Magazine, Poet & Writers, Inc. via a grant from New York State Council on the Art, St. Francis College – Office of Special Events, and contributions from Friends of Caribbean Cultural Theatre.
The Downtown Brooklyn campus of St. Francis College, 182 Remsen Street (bet. Clinton & Court Sts.), Brooklyn, NY is conveniently served by subway: 2, 3, 4; R – Borough Hall/Court St; A, C; F – Jay St /Metro Tech, and bus lines B25, B26, B38, B41; B52.
