Skip to main content

READING REVOLUTION at St. Francois Girls College, Belmont, Trinidad





At St. Francois Girls School in Belmont, Island Fiction seres editor, Joanne Johnson and Trinidadian authors Lisa Allen Agostini (The Chalice Project), and Francis Escayg (Escpae from Silk Cotton Forest) took the Reading Revolution to the tweens -
and they loved it!

Courtesy the school and with the support of principal and visionary Mrs. Pat Mc Intosh, each student received
her own Island Fiction tween novella. All six titles were made available and each girl from the three Forms 3, one hundred and thirty-five in all, took one home, with a few remainders going to he school library, which now carries the entire Island Fiction series.

The girls were encouraged to swap with friends so they could read the series, not just one book
and to meet their favorite authors online via the Island Fiction community. Some expressed an interest
in purchasing all the books in the series and were directed to RIK stores throughout Trinidad or to Amazon online.

Having the author himself, Francis Escayg read excerpts from Escape from Silk Cotton Forest was a world class
opportunity. The students were introduced to his hero, the young goan Domino,
and his sly mongoose partner Peenuts, whose 'extempo' singing in Market Square brought the house down.

Lisa Allen Agostini followed up with a power point presentation on Creative Writing which drew on the relevance
of the Island Fiction series and her title The Chalice Project. Students and teachers alike were inspired
by the ideas and insights of this prolific, local author, poet and journalist.

Series editor, Joanne Johnson was sure to stand proxy for the other authors who do not live in Trinidad and so were not present. She read from Time Swimmer, Night of the Indigo, Delroy and the Marog Kingdom and Legend of the Swan Children.
Book Trailers for Indigo and Delroy, now on YOU TUBE delighted and excited the girls who gave the local authors
their rapt attention. The value of these trailers was very evident and worth the authors' efforts based on the buzz worthy response from this group.

It is intended that other school visit opportunities will become available in the coming school year, and may include
visits from the other (non Trini) Island Fiction crew.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UP A Tree, With a Good Book...

Think of your young readers this way: up a tree, with a good book and worried that the sixth book in the series marks the end, because then what will he do!  All 6 Island Fiction titles are available as e-books at: https://macmillancaribbeanebooks.com/  or jump to Time Swimmer by Gerald Haussman, one of my all time favorite teen titles: https://macmillancaribbeanebooks.com/timeswimmer.html Or why not kick start August reading with: Night of the Indigo by Michael Holgate which won a Silver Moonbeam Medal for "Teen Spirituality" https://macmillancaribbeanebooks.com/night-of-the-indigo.html Pictured: Battle of the Labyrinth, Percy Jackson Photo credit and copyright: J. Johnson What to read when Percy Jackson comes to an end? Now young Caribbean readers have a series rich in speculative fiction sci-fi, fantasy, magical realism. Check out all 6 titles of the  Caribbean's first-ever teen series with cinematic writing that even reluctant readers will...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Presumed Power of Publishers and Getting Published

Above All, Happy Writing, JJ Diversity Is Not Enough: Race, Power, Publishing “The publishing industry looks a lot like these best-selling teenage dystopias: white and full of people destroying each other to survive.” Click link:  Read article here  before my discussion: I agree that this is apparently so.   Also, I do think the conversation requires more finesse and maturity if we are to break the vicious cycles that enforce limitations. Everything is subject to change including any glass ceiling, especially if we loosen our mass belief in it. Let's narrow this discussion down. It is in being specific that we may be most likely to access universally accurate assessments and solutions. And I will quote the article itself in fact to underscore my point: "By blaming an intangible force, the (publishing industry) absolves itself of any responsibility…" brackets are mine Exchange the words in  brackets and it is easy to see that this sentence ...
2 comments
Read more

Bravo! Joey Clarke - My Tribute to Joey Clarke

  BRAVO JC! A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF JOEY CLARKE A moving tribute service took place in Trinidad  on Saturday January 22 nd 2011 at the Top of the Mount, Mount St. Benedict at from 4 to 7 p.m.  Bio: Master Playwright, Director, Actor, Producer, Writer, Broadcaster and Copywriter Joey Clarke passed away in Belize on Monday 17 th January 2011 from a massive heart attack.  He was forty-seven years old.  For more than three decades his prolific talents graced both the Arts and Advertising Industries locally, regionally and internationally.  Born in the UK of Jamaican parentage, his early life and career blossomed in Jamaica where he wrote, produced and directed.  In 1995, Clarke came to Trinidad and joined the Sugar House Drama Company run by Patti-Anne Ali.   Between 1996 and 1999 Sugar House staged five original productions– Matrimoney(Clarke), Maubee (Ali&Clarke), Treasure(Clarke), More Maubee (Ali&Clarke) and Devilish (Cl...
Post a Comment
Read more