President of the Collectivity Hon. Daniel Gibbs (center) and his predecessor the Hon. Frantz Gumbs (R) pose with Bahamian poet, essayist and lawyer Marion Bethel (L) at the president’s office here on Friday morning. Bethel paid a courtesy call on the Collectivity government leaders and engaged a lively discussion about "the nation of the imagination." The author concluded her morning with a visit at the Collège Mont des Accords to discuss literature and "how to love reading" with the junior high school English class of teacher Jacqueline Hamlet-Lubino.
On Saturday, April 25, Bethel will conduct an HNP Poetry Workshop at the public library. On Saturday evening Bethel will recite what Guyanese critic Petamber Persaud calls her "shamelessly beautiful" poems at the Poetry & Pan concert at the Collectivity Garden (former Mairie’s location). The public concert, which starts at 7.30 pm, is the finale of the "Poetry in the Garden" program organized by the culture department and hosted by the territory’s government, said culture department head Minerva Dormoy. Leading steel pan man "Mighty Dow will provide the exceptional musical entertainment. There will be an Imbali dance performance and readings by Laurelle Richards, Joseph Maccow, Montauban Marjorie and poets from the One Poet Society," said Dormoy. Bethel, a Harvard University scholar, is also on the Friendly Island to launch her new book at the Poetry & Pan concert. Her award-winning poetry collection, Guanahani, My Love, was published by House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).