From hosting renowned Caribbean authors to producing published writers, the Bahamas Writers Summer Institute has managed to accomplish a great deal in just over two years. And as the organization approaches its third year, standards and hopes remain high.
The 2011 BWSI workshop will be held from July 4 – 28 at the College of the Bahamas from Tuesdays – Thursdays. Courses are offered in poetry, fiction, memoir, screenwriting and playwriting.
Critically acclaimed Caribbean writer George Lamming will be the Guest Writer. The Barbadian-born author of such noted works as “In the Castle of My Skin”, “The Emigrants” and “Pleasures of My Exile” is currently a writer-in-residence and visiting Professor of Africana Studies and Creative Writing at Brown University in Rhode Island.
Lamming has also been a visiting professor at the University of Texas, Austin; the University of Pennsylvania; the University of Miami’s Institute for Caribbean Creative Writing, and has lectured in Denmark, Tanzania and Australia. He published his first novel, “In the Castle of My Skin” in 1953 and entered academia in 1967 as a writer-in-residence and lecturer at the University of the West Indies.
The program is open to all at a cost of $400. High school seniors and COB students are encouraged to apply; limited scholarships and grants are available. May 31 is the deadline for applications.
Last year BWSI received funding from both the Inter-American Development Bank and the Endowment for the Arts. Grateful for the grants from both entities and others, Bethel emphasized the need for financial assistance to execute this year’s goals as well.
