St. Croix Celebrates National Library Week

 National Library Week was celebrated at the Florence Williams Public Library, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, with a Poetry Lecture and Workshop, “Poetry: Styles and Techniques.”

Published poets, Mark Sylvester, Richard Schrader, Edgar Lake and Dr. Marvin Williams of the University of the Virgin Islands, were joined by Ms. Sharon Charles, English Teacher, Lew Muckle Elementary School, conducting workshops for 31 young and older poets.

            In a presentation before the separate workshops, Mr. Lake prompted the audience with a quiz about poetry traditions in the Caribbean, contributions of Virgin Islands poets - and poets of the wider Caribbean - in world literary movements. His screen-projected presentation included (Narrative Poetry) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Wreck of the Hesperus;” (Speaker and Tone Poetry ) Gwendolyn Brooks’s  “The Sonnet-Ballad,” and Samuel Allen’s “To Satch;” (Lyric Poetry) Conrad Aiken’s “Music I Heard,” and Octavio Paz’s “The Street;” and (Dramatic Poetry) W.H. Auden’s “O What is That Sound.”  Lake identified rhyme patterns, masculine and female vowel structures, sound devices, various meter schemes, categories of style and the basic elements of poetry within these poets’ works.

            In the Young Poets/Young Writers workshop, Ms. Sharon Charles introduced aspects of language used in poetry (Metaphor and Simile), and introduced sensory and autobiographical elements of style. Together, the interns constructed a poem using all these components. Young Poets/Young Writers workshop attendees were: Yvanna Mills, Deja Ballardo, Ilan Rivera, Adrian Gillem, Yanique Bean and J’wa Charlery.

            The workshops conducted by Mr. Richard Schrader, and Mark Sylvester provided answers of readying manuscripts for publishing, copyrighting, and important distinctions between publishing books and printing chapbooks. 

            Dr. Williams introduced two recent books to the audience, the new anthology of Virgin Islands writings, “Seasoning for the Mortar,” and, a collection of writings, “Our Town Frederiksted.” He is also the author of the first anthology of Virgin Islands poetry, “Yellow Cedar Blossoms.”

The Hampden Sydney Poetry Review’s recent Caribbean Poetry issue, was also mentioned as a recent showcase of Virgin Islands poetry.  This issue can be purchased by sending $8.00 to the editor: Tom O’Grady, The Hampden Sydney Poetry Review, P. O. Box 126, Hampden-Sydney, Va. 23943.

Poetry Reading @ Your Library, a monthly program at the Florence Williams Public Library is a two-year project, directed by Mrs. Denise Ellis, Librarian, Athalie McFarlane Petersen Public Library; and is sponsored by The Friends of the Florence Williams Public Library. The Reading Poetry @ Your Library project’s support staff includes: Wallace Williams, Territorial Head Librarian; Ms. Zoraida Jacobs, St. Croix Reading Campaign Coordinator; and Edgar O. Lake.

 Special Acknowledgements must be given to Patricia Ramirez, Library Technician, The Caribbean Collections; also,   Edith Gordon Librarian, who also lent her volunteer efforts to the success of this National Library Week workshop.

Below, are the answers to the Poetry Quiz.

-         Edgar O. Lake

QUESTIONS
1) Name a favorite poet, and favorite poem (one optional).
t2) Name a poetry circular, journal
3) Name a memorial fund, or literary project named after a poet
4) Name 3 male Virgin Islands poets
5) Name 3 female Virgin Islands poets
6) Name a Virgin Islands poet who published in the Harlem Renaissance
7) Name a Caribbean poet who was a part of the pan-African Movement
8) Name 3 Caribbean poets who were part of the Negritude Movement
9) Name one international female poet for whom the Virgin Islands offered respite
10) Name 3 international poets deeply associated with the Virgin Islands
11) List two Virgin Islands poetry anthologies
12) List two recent poetry anthologies showcasing Virgin Islands poets
13) List three early Caribbean literary magazines
14) List a Virgin Islands Press that published Caribbean poets
15) List 2 Caribbean poets who have won the Nobel Prize for Literature
16) List one Caribbean poet another language group: Dutch____French____Spanish_____ 

 ANSWERS 
2) American Poetry Journal, Callaloo Journa
3) Joseph Brodsky Memorial Fellowship, The James Dickey Writing Project,
Audre Lourde Literary Award
4) Marvin Williams, Clement White, Richard Schrader
5) Erica Beatrice Lee, Althea Romeo Marks, Audre Lourde
6) J. Antonio Jarvis
7) Paul Niger
8) Leon Damas, Aime Cesaire, Edouard Glissant
t9) Edna St. Vincent Millay
10) Derek Walcott, William Carlos Williams, James Dickey
11) Yellow Cedars Blossom, Seasoning for the Mortar
12) "Hampden Sydney Poetry Review" "Caribbeana: An Anthology of English Literature 1657-1777"
13) Kyk-over-al, Bim, Journal of Caribbean Poetry
14) J. Antonio Jarvis’s “The Art Shop Publishing Company”
15) Derek Walcott  (1992), Saint-John Perse (1960)
16)Theo Djolwitt (Dutch); Rene Depestre (French); Nicholas Guillen (Spanish)