Minister of Education and Culture Hon. Silveria Jacobs last Friday attended the opening of the 11th annual St. Martin Book Fair which was held at the Chamber of Commerce building at Spring Concordia. The fair featured words of welcome from President Shujah Reiph and a most riveting Keynote address by bestselling author, Foreign Policy Advocate Professor Randal Robinson.
Dr. Robinson brought key thoughts forward of promoting reading and inspiring this generation and the next to raise the bar on literacy. He spoke of us as a people learning about ourselves, our history and our ancestors as a stepping stone to paving the way to the future. His address brought forth memories of the Minister’s first real lesson of the Caribbean in literature such as "From Columbus for Castro" which was required reading in her Literature class at the University of the Virgin Islands.
The evening was also featured a poetic recital by internationally acclaimed artist Mischu Laikah, one of our own, who is currently on St. Maarten on her "Back to my Roots" Tour. The songstress read and sang one of her poems and showed the links between the poetry she has always written which has evolved into lyrics she now pens as an expression of her deepest feeling.
Minister Jacobs was deeply inspired by the entire program, including the featured book launch "Where I see the Sun – Contemporary Poetry in St. Martin, which features 25 poets and spoken word artists.
"This launch must be commended as artists of every age, some as young as sixteen, had the opportunity to be published by this most prestigious House of Nehesi publishing house. Congratulations to Lasana Sekou (editor) and the House of Nehesi on this great achievement, which forms part and parcel of St. Martin cultural development," Minister Silveria Jacobs said on Monday.
The Minister Jacobs would also like to congratulate and commend Robin Boasman, elementary teacher and now author, on the launch of her children’s book Lizzy Lizard which was also launched during this 11th Annual St. Martin Book Fair.
"This is a proud moment for Boasman and the entire teaching core, who I believe should be inspired to follow suit. Many teachers have created big books for their students to enjoy, and it would be a great accomplishment for us a country to produce even more literature at all levels, where we can identify ourselves in the stories and poems," Minister Jacobs pointed out.