Normally, the territory would have observed World Book and Copyright Day on April 24.
“But we all know what happened on the 24th,” joked Dr. Allison Flax-Archer, secretary general of the BVI National Commission for UNESCO.
She was speaking during the Janice Nibbs Book Tour and Meet Local Authors Extravaganza, which was delayed by the general election but finally got under way on May 17 at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College’s Virgin Gorda Centre.
The eight-author tour was the brainchild of Ms. Nibbs, author of I Want to be a Thatcher Man, which was launched by the Department of Culture last November.
“I love World Book and Copyright Day,” Ms. Nibbs said during her remarks at the ceremony last week.
Dramatisation
The programme that day also included other guest speakers and a dramatisation by students from the Bregado Flax Educational Centre Primary Division.
In a performance based on Ms. Nibbs’ book, the young actors depicted how to build a thatch house.
“Coming down to you!” they yelled as they acted out the process. “Take slack! Take slack!”
Other authors
Besides Ms. Nibbs, the participating authors were Arona Fahie-Forbes, Dawn Corea-Lennard, Sesilee Thomas, Janice George-Harris, Andre “Shadow” Dawson, Andria Flax, and Bernadine Louis.
Each read excerpts from their books to the audience of more than 20 people. They also set up booths displaying their books.
Additionally, the event included a “Virgin Gorda authors” exhibition and information on copyright laws.
This session was the first in a series that the authors hope will include visits to the other main islands as well. The tour is a collaboration between the Department of Culture, Library Services and HLSCC’s Virgin Islands Study Programme.