“WORDS NEED LOVE TOO!!”

And that is what the Bim Literary Festival and Book Fair is all about. Come 16-20 May, 2012, writers who love their craft and are passionate about it will be meeting in Barbados to light up the place with sheer talent!

This inaugural festival showcases the works of  Barbadian and other Caribbean writers.  This year the emphasis is on fiction, poetry and drama. Next year, we hope to include film, among other genres.

We’re pleased to announce that the Honourable Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister, has graciously agreed to be patron of the event and will be delivering the keynote address at the opening ceremony of the festival.

 

This venture is the brainchild of Writers Ink Incorporated brought together in 2007 by poet, Esther Phillips.

Writers Ink is also working in collaboration with the Ministry of Family, Culture, Youth and Sports; the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus; the National Cultural Foundation and the National Library Service.

Writers Ink members are committed to the promotion of the literary arts. We feel strongly that an alternative must be offered to the dominant “wuk-up” culture in Barbados which claims a 98% literacy. Festivals such as this one will expose the growing number of Barbadian and other Caribbean writers to the best of their own writers, several of international renown.

This exposure will provide the incentive for writers to produce their best work. The body of Caribbean literature can only keep increasing as a result.

The Book Fair will present writers with the opportunity to display and sell their books to the public. What better way to foster a reading public and at the same time create a livelihood for writers!

- by  Esther Phillips