Reclaiming our own voices:
The Caribbean Publishers Network stages the first international conference
on Caribbean publishing
Jeremy Taylor
Jeremy Taylor is Director of Media & Editorial
Projects Ltd. 6 Prospect Avenue, Maraval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and
Tobago. +1 868 622-3821 (tel), +1 868 628-0639 (fax), email: mep@wow.net;
www.readcaribbean.com
The omens weren't all that good. Hurricane Michelle, the
most damaging storm of the 2001 hurricane season, was lurking nearby,
preparing to batter Havana, and drenching Jamaica with torrential rain.
Not even the brilliant beaches of the Half Moon Resort near Montego
Bay could tempt conference delegates away from the conference sessions.
But even if they didn't get much of a tan, they
certainly left Jamaica in early November with a lot of enthusiasm about
building a really effective Caribbean publishing industry. There were
over 100 delegates from 25 countries, including all the four major language
areas of the Caribbean.
The Jamaican publisher Ian Randle, who is President
of the Caribbean Publishers Network (CAPNET), had given the conference
a theme: 'Reclaiming Our Own Voices'. The focus was on the need for
book and magazine publishing to be recognized as a crucial element in
Caribbean cultural development and identity, and the importance of fostering
an indigenous publishing industry instead of remaining dependent on
overseas publishers. Several of the keynote speakers explored this concept
in detail, including Professor Rex Nettleford (Vice Chancellor of the
University of the West Indies) and Professor Tony Martin, himself a
publisher, who outlined the long and distinguished intellectual tradition
of the Caribbean. Nearly all the speakers and panelists were themselves
Caribbean.
The conference identified several crucial areas
for urgent action in 2002-2004. They included:
Development of a viable marketing
and distribution system, to allow Caribbean books and magazines to reach
readers beyond our small domestic markets - but without the cost and
frustration of trying to penetrate mainstream distribution channels
in North America and the UK
Translation and multi-language
publishing, to allow the different language areas of the Caribbean to
share their writers' work. In a special paper, Dame Pearlette Louisy,
Governor General of St Lucia, also outlined the case for publishing
in Caribbean indigenous languages such as Cr�ole, Papiamento and Garifuna
Professional training, not only
in editing and translation, but in the many entrepreneurial skills that
publishing demands - everything from the art of the deal to effective
marketing. The conference was followed by two fully-subscribed three-day
workshops in Kingston, dealing with marketing and editing, which barely
scraped the surface of the demand
Solid data on the existing publishing industry in the Caribbean,
not only to highlight its needs but also to persuade governments of
the importance of publishing as a cultural enterprise. A preliminary
survey of regional publishing resources, funded by the Department for
International Development (DFID - the UK government agency), was presented
at the conference and will be followed by a final report in 2002
Rapidly advancing technologies,
which will open up a new world of possibilities for forward-thinking
publishers in the next few years. Dirk Koehler from The World Bank and
Michael Smolens of 3Billion Books outlined the shape of things to come,
including a global network of print-on-demand facilities which will
turn conventional printing and distribution patterns upside down
Closer collaboration between existing regional publishers, in
the form of co-publishing, joint ventures, rights sales, co-editions
and mutual distribution arrangements
Publishing that is market-driven rather than project-driven.
Not surprisingly, there was some lively discussion on where to start
- with an idea of what 'ought to be published', or a sense of what the
market happens to want?
A truly regional book fair catering to all language areas of
the Caribbean.
Nearly all the conference delegates were housed
in the Half Moon Resort's sumptuous villas, sharing dining and leisure
facilities. This encouraged a high level of networking and camaraderie,
not to mention carousing. There was also an evening of readings, at
which Austin "Tom" Clarke entertained delegates with his tales of capturing
a Barbadian pig in pursuit of a good pig-tail soup. Several rising young
Caribbean writers performed recent work, including novelist Oonya Kempadoo,
poet Paloma Mohammed, and performance poet Jacinth Henry-Martin, who
is also St Kitts's culture minister.
CAPNET elected a new eight-member Council for
2001-2002, whose members are now developing action plans to address
the issues raised at the conference. The Network plans to publish the
proceedings of the conference, and to stage a one-day symposium, probably
on translation issues, in November 2002 in Belize or Puerto Rico, followed
by a second full conference in November 2003 in Cura�ao. [end] [BPN,
no 29, 2001, pp 3-4.]
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