Admission by the editors of Shouts from the Outfield: The ArtsEtc Cricket Anthology—that they are “two cricket-know nothings”—might tempt some people not to buy and/or read their book. But either option would be a mistake. For although Linda Deane and Robert Sandiford grew up outside the West Indies, in Britain and Canada, respectively, they had Barbadian (Bajan) parents, through whom, somehow, they seem to have imbibed an abiding love of West Indian cricket.

It is so captivating when a writer lifts off the stereotypical veneer of a tourist-dependent society as “paradise” and excavates the real lived experiences of the people. Shakirah Bourne does just that in her collection of short stories, In Time of Need. For those who reside in Barbados or those who have a good knowledge of Barbadian heritage, the opening words to the national anthem immediately come to mind when they hear Bourne’s title. “In plenty and in time of need when this fair land was young” is the beginning of an anthem that describes the struggle of a nation.

Terry Connolly’s cover photo, Soon Ripe, suggests the many branches of Bajan Lit.  It won gold at NIFCA.

MARTIN M. BOYCE, a self-styled occasional writer, is the winner of The Carolle Bourne Award for Literary Innovation for 2016.

Boyce won with “Thin Line Between,” a piece that meshes (or mashes) poetry and prose, Standard English with Nation Language, Barbadian culture seemingly with every culture—challenging them all along the way.   

Read2Me!, ArtsEtc’s latest literary adventure, is up and running.

The six-week pilot programme sends writers and storytellers into schools and other venues to read to and engage with young people.

It began January 10, 2015, and forms part of a joint literacy outreach by Writers Ink and ArtsEtc, and is sponsored by Oxford University Press (OUP), Days Books and Apex Eye Clinic.

Three Barbadian primary schools (Milton Lynch, Grantley Prescod Memorial and St. Margaret’s) are the first to benefit along with Days Books serving as a fourth venue for the sessions.

ArtsEtc recently announced its sponsorship of the inaugural Carolle Bourne Prize—a new award for the 2014 National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA), and one that specifically targets innovation.

We are truly honoured to be doing something in Carolle’s name and excited to be teaming up with US-based Bajan suspense writer Ronald A. Williams to make it a reality.

GREEN READINGS is an annual eco-literary event that ArtsEtc began in 2008 after a request from the Ministry of the Environment, which was seeking fresh ways to promote its public message.

The themed readings typically featured six Barbadian writers over two weekends in June (Environment Month) at outdoor locations. The 2013 Green Readings, pictured here, was staged at Queen’s Park in Bridgetown and on the Boardwalk in Hastings, Christ Church.