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| Lasana Sekou |
Great Bay, St. Martin (April 1, 2014)—St. Martin author Lasana M. Sekou was the
keynote speaker at the first conference of the Virgin Islands Writers Association
(VIWA) held in St. Croix on Monday, March 31, 2014, said VIWA principal Valerie
Combie.
“One major
concern of our writers is to get their work published. The committee thought
that Mr. Sekou could enlighten us on the process by describing some of the
challenges a writer may encounter, especially a writer in the Caribbean,” said
Combie, who is an associate professor of English at the University of the
Virgin Islands (UVI).
During his
presentation Sekou pointed out challenges writers may face during the writing
process and in preparing their manuscript for an agent or publisher to consider
or review for publication. He also gave tips on tackling these challenges.
Sekou was also
asked to “tell us about the possibility of having our work published by House
of Nehesi Publishers,” said Combie. Sekou is the projects director at
House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).
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| Valerie Combie, UVI associate professor, organizer of the Virgin Islands Writers Association Conference |
Mostly VI
writers from St. Croix attended the one-day conference where about 10 writers
read from their book or manuscript. One high school drama group performed three
monologues. The conference started at 8 AM and concluded at 3 PM. UVI dean
Dr. Simon Jones-Hendrikson, folklorist Wayne “Bully” Peterson, Annette Michael,
Dr. Frank Mills, doctoral student Brianna J. Grantham, Dr. David Gould, and
high school student Victoria Smith, were among the readers.
Sekou’s
50-minute presentation included a question-and-answer period and a reading from
the French Quarter cockfight story is his book Brotherhood of The Spurs.
He also promoted the upcoming 12th annual St. Martin Book
Fair among conference participants.
The theme
of the writers conference was “The Faces of V.I. Writers” – organized in
collaboration with the Virgin Islands Writing Project and UVI.
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