Literary Exchange
The Reading Festival Sint Martin is a successful initiative that is organized on the island of Sint Martin annually. This year the Reading Festival program will consist of two days: a school day for first form students and a festive family day. Both days will be held at the festival campus at the University of Sint Martin.
The Literary Exchange brings a new, additional component to the Reading Festival. Authors and literary professionals from the Netherlands, Bonaire, Aruba and, Curaçao have been invited to travel to Sint Martin. On the island the authors will work together on the following activities.
- School Visits to Second Form Classes
Authors will visit secondary schools second form classes. During these visits literary exchange will play a central role; what do authors write, in what language and from which cultural perspective, and how does this literary voice relate to the multifaceted reality of Sint Martin? Students will respond, ask questions and bring their own language and context to the discussion. - Reading Festival Saturday Program
The visiting authors will perform on the spoken word stage alongside local Sint Martin. Diverse literary voices from the Dutch language area will come together in front of an audience of all ages. The authors will also provide workshops based on their own expertise and artistic background, such as writing workshops about multilingualism and cultural identity, spoken word and performance workshops, or sessions about writing from a complex varied or postcolonial context.
Personal Encounters
Authors will talk about how their own language, island, or neighborhood influences their writing. By putting authors from different regions of the Dutch language area side by side – at school and on stage – a lively conversation emerges about how culture, language, and identity are expressed in literature.
In Sint Maarten, Dutch, English, Papiamento, and French are spoken side by side every day. This multilingualism is embraced during the activities, and authors are invited to talk about the role of language in their work. Students are able to discover that their own language is of great value to literature.
Knowledge Exchange
Through this exchange, the authors and participants learn about each other’s literary culture. Authors from outside Sint Maarten learn about the Caribbean literary context; the oral traditions, multilingualism, postcolonial voices, and local writing practices. Local authors and students get to know the literary culture and practices of colleagues from the Netherlands and the ABC islands.
Visiting Authors
From Sint Maarten
Ralph Cantave, Rochelle Ward, Joselyne Arnell, Safiyya Chance en Greta Rodney Thomson
From Abroad
Sharlon Willams (Bonaire), Ange Jessurun (Curaçao), Liliana Erasmus (Aruba), Rima Orie (Nederland), Marvin Hokstam Baapoure (Nederland, Suriname)
Partners
- MECYS (Ministry of Education of Sint Martin) – access to schools, coordination with Second Form
- Help Our Children Foundation – local coordinators and additional fundraising
- 721 Kids Foundation – inclusion volunteer coordination
- Sint Martin Library – selection of literary materials and contact with local authors
- University of St. Martin – student assistants during school visits and spoken word performances
- CAFY – voluntary support
With Thanks To
This literary exchange is made possible thanks to the Literary Exchange Subsidy from the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the Dutch Language Union, and Flanders Literature.
