Blue Flamingo Literary Festival

Kimberly A. Collins

Kimberly A. Collins

Kimberly A. Collins’ author of Choose You! Wednesday Wisdom to Wake Your Soul, teaches English at Morgan State University and conducts Writing for Healing Workshops through her organization SOAR (So Others Ascend Righteously). Collins has one collection of Poetry, Slightly off Center and a forthcoming book of poems Bessie’s Resurrection. Her most recent poetry appears in: Pittsburg Poetry Review; Revise the Psalm: The Gwendolyn Brooks Anthology; Syracuse Cultural Workers’ 2017 Women Artist Datebook, Truth Feasting, and Berkeley Review.

A. Rafael Johnson

Rafael Johnson

Rafael Johnson earned a BA in Drama from The University of Texas, where he studied under performance artist Linda Montano and co-founded the performance art group softmen with Fausto Fernos and Chris Rincòn.  He directed and acted in Austin, mainly at the Vortex Theatre. He also worked as a stage manager at the University of Texas Performing Arts Center (now Texas Performing Arts) and other venues, working with Maya Angelou, Merce Cunningham, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Danny Glover, Willie Nelson, Cesaria Evora, McCoy Tyner, Tori Amos, Charlie Haden, Herbie Hancock, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, and other stars. Sometime in the early 2000’s, A. Rafael Johnson (as ulitave) began Absinthe Party in the Fly Honey Warehouse, a blog chronicling his life as an African-American single parent. Sekou Sundiata workshopped his final piece, 51st (Dream) State with Johnson and other local writers. After a long talk with Sekou, Johnson took his writing seriously. He went on to publish a few short stories, and wrote Whorizontal, a monthly column about sex in Central Texas for Whoopsy! Magazine. A. Rafael Johnson entered The University of Alabama MFA Creative Writing program in 2008. He edited for Black Warrior Review and Fairy Tale Review. He interrupted his studies to teach in post-conflict Liberia as part of USAID-funded reconstruction efforts. Among other things, Johnson taught composition and literature at Cuttington University and was the national distribution manager for Books for Africa. After returning, Johnson completed his MFA and remained on campus, lecturing in composition, literature, hip hop, spoken word, and creative writing. In 2014, A. Rafael Johnson was named a Kimbilio Fellow in African American Fiction. His story, “The Boy Who Climbed His Mother Into Heaven” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. His essay “Wince: George and Trayvon” was also nominated for a Pushcart Prize. From 2014 – 2016, he ran the Pure Products Reading and Lecture Series in Tuscaloosa and Northport, AL. He also coached participants in Poetry Out Loud and Writers in the Schools. In 2015, A. Rafael Johnson began examining old notes from his life in Liberia and his return to the States. He started tinkering with the voices he found running through his notes, who eventually turned into Ben, Adrian, Free Cookie, and other characters in The Through (Jaded Ibis Press, 2017). The Through is currently a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. A. Rafael Johnson co-owns TerraLuna Collaborative, a consulting firm based in Minneapolis. With PEN America and the Dramatist’s League, he has co-produced Writer’s Resist – Twin Cities and Banned Together, events that celebrate creative freedom and resistance. Johnson is currently finishing a collection of short stories called Okahika. He currently teaches Magical Realism at The Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He also writes UNOFFICIAL, which helps readers navigate and resist the Trump Administration.

Tenea D. Johnson

Tenea D. Johnson

Tenea D. Johnson is a musician, editor, and author. Her work includes the poetry/prose collection, Starting Friction, as well as the novels, R/evolution and Smoketown, of which Publisher’s Weekly wrote “the understated, lyrical prose makes even small moments feel triumphant.” Smoketown won the Carl Brandon Parallax Award, while R/evolution received an honorable mention. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies including, Sycorax’s Daughers, Shades of Blue and Gray: Ghosts of the Civil War, and Mothership: Tales of Afrofuturism and Beyond. She’s performed her musical prose pieces in venues like The Public Theater, The Knitting Factory and literary salons. Currently, she’s working on a fiction album. Her novel evolution^® will be out later this year.

Cole Lavalais

Cole Lavalais

Cole Lavalais’ debut novel Summer of the Cicadas was published by Willow Books in 2016. Her short stories have appeared in The Offing, Obsidian, Apogee, Warpland, Tidal Basin Review and others. She is a fellow of the Kimbilio Center for Black Fiction, VONA, and the Callaloo Writing workshops. She holds an M.F.A. from Chicago State University and a Ph.D. from University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the founder/director of the Chicago Writers Studio and a Visiting Writer at Mississippi University for Women.

Dana Mcknight

Dana Mcknight is a multimedia artist and writer located in Austin, Texas (previously located in Buffalo, NY). She is a published writer with an acclaimed short story in the black horror anthology, Sycorax’s Daughters, and she has a full length fantasy novel coming to press through Cedar Grove Publishing later this year. Her writing has been featured in Block Party magazine, The Public and Loop Magazine. She is mostly known for creating art spaces in Buffalo, NY and has been featured in panels at SOLCON (a black/latinX comics expo) for the past three years. Her panels have included John Jenning (the graphic novel adaptation of Kindred) and featured conversations on black and brown women and qtpoc characters in comics and fantasy.

Ernestia Fraser

Ernestia Fraser

Ernestia Fraser was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. She is an author and educator who has received a double B.A. in English and Communication at Messiah College, and also an M.F.A. in Creative Writing: Screenwriting. In 2011, her thesis screenplay, Inside the Fallen Moon, won 1^st prize in the International Storytelling Competition at the Hollywood Black Film Festival.  Shortly after, she attended the Writers Institute for Diversity in Los Angeles, which was facilitated by CBS Television Story Analyst, Harrison Reiner. Fraser has garnered a number of publications, including a creative nonfiction collection called Carnival of Love: A Tale of Bahamian Family. To date, her poems have appeared in literary journals, such as St. Somewhere, Tongues of the Ocean, The Caribbean Writer, Quiddity, Emerge Literary Journal, Blackberry, POUI: Cave Hill Journal and the Caribbean Quarterly. She is currently working as a writing tutor and part-time lecturer at the University of the Bahamas.

Tara Campbell

Tara Campbell

Tara Campbell is a fiction editor at Barrelhouse and an MFA candidate at American University. She is the recipient of the following awards from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities: the Larry Neal Writers’ Award in fiction, the Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding New Artist, and a 2018 Arts and Humanities Fellowship. She is also a 2017 Kimbilio Fellow. Prior publication credits include SmokeLong Quarterly, Masters Review, b(OINK), Booth, Spelk, Jellyfish Review, Strange Horizons, and Queen Mob’s Teahouse. Her debut novel, TreeVolution, was published in 2016, and her collection, Circe’s Bicycle, will be released in spring 2018.

Wendy Coakley-Thompson

Wendy Coakley-Thompson

Wendy Coakley-Thompson, PhD is the President of Duho Books, which publishes fiction and nonfiction for, by, and about The Bahamas and Bahamians. She is also the author of Writing While Black, Triptych, Back to Life (2004 Romantic Times Award nominee), and What You Won’t Do For Love (optioned for cable television). An experienced journalist and blogger based in the Washington DC area, Wendy has written for Examiner.com as the DC Publishing Industry Examiner and has penned articles for Postscript’d, the Grio, and Washington Independent Review of Books. She also serves up commentary in Writing While Blog. She has co-hosted the radio show The Book Squad and earned an Associated Press/Chesapeake Award for her work as a commentator for Metro Connection on WAMU, a Washington D.C. National Public Radio affiliate. For more information, visit www.wendycoakley-thompson.com and www.duhobooks.com.

N.A. Cash

N.A. Cash

N.A. Cash, Bahamian author and Miss Earth Bahamas 2005, channels supernatural suspense through fiction. Cash, a self-described extroverted introverted psychologist, spins tales that merge her own vivid imagination with narratives inspired by her decades-long analysis of mysterious internal worlds of individuals encountered through her practice. My Name is Karma is her first novel.

Tony Medina

Tony Medina

Born in the South Bronx and raised in the Throgs Neck Housing Projects and Co-Op City in the Bronx, New York, Tony Medina is a poet, graphic novelist, editor, and author of award-winning books for young readers. The first full professor of creative writing at Howard University, Medina holds an MA and PhD from Binghamton University, State University of New York. He is the author/editor of 20 books for adults and young people, including Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy (Penny Candy Books, 2018), I Am Alfonso Jones (Tu Books, 2017), and Resisting Arrest: Poems to Stretch the Sky (Jacar Press, 2016). Medina’s poetry, fiction, and essays appear in over 100 anthologies and literary journals. A two-time winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People (DeShawn Days and I and I, Bob Marley) and a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet, Medina was awarded the Langston Hughes Society Award, the first African Voices Literary Award, and was a finalist for the Paterson Prize for his poetry collection, My Old Man Was Always on the Lam(NYQ Books, 2010). Medina, who is a veteran of the US Army and a product of the CUNY and SUNY systems, is associated with the New York-based nonprofit literacy organization Behind the Book and the Highlights Foundation of Pennsylvania. He divides his time between the Washington, DC, metropolitan area and his hometown of New York City.  Medina’s social media platform include a website, tonymedina.org, as well as two Facebook pages and a Twitter account, @PoetTonyMedina.

Tobias S. Buckell

Tobias S. Buckell

Born in the Caribbean, Tobias S. Buckell is a New York Times Bestselling Author. His novels and over 50 short stories have been translated into 17 languages and he has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Prometheus and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Science Fiction Author. He currently lives in Ohio.

Jason Harris

Jason Harris

Jason Harris is an emerging writer/futurist based in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Jason is a writer whose work has appeared in Black Enterprise magazine, Voices From Haiti, FreeBlackSpace, BmoreArt online and various other publications. He has participated in the Yale Writer’s conference and is a 2015 Kimbilio Fiction Fellow. He self-published the speculative fiction anthology entitled, “Redlines: Baltimore 2028″ in 2012, which has subsequently been adopted as curriculum material for creative writing and social studies departments in high schools and universities. He is the founder of the Parkside Literary Salon, a Baltimore based writing collective. In 2016, he co-curated “Mothership Connection“, an anchor exhibit for Artscape, the largest outdoor public art festival in the United States. In addition to his involvement in a myriad of community based futurist projects, he is currently working on his first novel, Upside Out, which he will publish this fall. You can find him online at www.newfuturism.com.

Sonia Farmer

Sonia Farmer

Sonia Farmer is a writer, visual artist, and small press publisher who uses letterpress printing, bookbinding, hand-papermaking, and digital projects to build narratives about the Caribbean space. She is the founder of Poinciana Paper Press, a small and independent press located in Nassau, The Bahamas, which produces handmade and limited edition chapbooks of Caribbean literature and promotes the crafts of book arts through workshops and creative collaborations. Her artwork has been exhibited throughout Nassau including at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. She is the author of “Infidelities” (Poinciana Paper Press, 2017) and several chapbooks. Her poetry has won the 2011 Prize in the Small Axe Literary Competition and has appeared in various journals. She holds a BFA in Writing from Pratt Institute and is currently pursuing her MFA studies in Book Arts at the University of Iowa.

Barbara Jenkins

Barbara Jenkins

Barbara Jenkins was born in Trinidad and lives there. Writing came as a late life gift that she opens with great delight when she is not immersed in the green-gold water of Macqueripe Bay or the lives of her scattered children and grandchildren. Her stories have won international awards including Small Axe, The Caribbean Writer, Wasafiri New Writing and The Commonwealth Short Story, Caribbean Region. Winner of the Bocas-Hollick-Arvon Writers Prize for fiction, and the inaugural international writer in residence at the Small Wonder Short Story Festival, Sussex, she has led workshops at the Bocas Lit Fest and at Arvon, UK. Her debut collection of short stories, Sic Transit Wagon and other stories, Peepal Tree Press, was awarded the Guyana Prize for Literature. Her first novel, De Rightest Place, Peepal Tree Press, is due for publication in September 2018.

Leila O’Brien

Leila O’Brien

Leila O’Brien is a 9 year old Principal’s Honor Roll Student at Genesis Academy. She was a runner up in the The Commonwealth Writer’s of The Bahamas Competition for Short Stories in the 7-9 age category in 2016.  She plays tennis and does gymnastics. In her spare time, she likes to read, swim, ride her bicycle and spend time with her friends.  She wants to be an author or fashion designer someday.  Her first book, “Candyland is In Trouble!” is being published now and should be available soon.

Cindy Armbrister

Cindy Armbrister

Farrell Goff

Farrell Goff is an engineer by training, Senior Manager of a large Tech company by profession and a radio/social media personality in his spare time. He advocates for critical and logical thinking and a general respect and love for all human beings outside of our varied differences. Education and a respect for others are his true passions. He wants nothing more than to see The Bahamas join the other progressive, successful countries of the world driven of course by a strong educated and respectful populous.

Erin Greene

Erin Greene

Erin Greene is a local Human Rights Advocate, with a focus on LGBT rights, women’s rights and food security. Erin is also a political satirist, actor and a performance and visual artist. She is also a regular co-host on ‘Connected with Lester Cox’ a local radio program.

Arlene Nash Ferguson

Arlene Nash Ferguson

Mrs. Arlene Nash Ferguson was born in Delancey Town, Nassau, The Bahamas, and educated at St. John’s College and the Government High School. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of the West Indies, and a Masters in Education rom the University of Miami.

A veteran educator, Mrs. Ferguson served formally in the field of Education for twenty-four years, during which time she held the positions of Senior Mistress at the Government High School, lecturer in History and Assistant Chairperson of the Social Sciences Division of the College of the Bahamas, and Vice Principal of both the Preparatory and Secondary Departments of St. John’s College. The last nine years of her formal service in the field of Education were spent as Principal of St. John’s College, the largest school operated by the Anglican Diocese in The Bahamas.

Mrs. Ferguson is an avid proponent of Bahamian culture, and has participated in the Junkanoo parades from the age of four. She has served on the National Junkanoo Committee, the Steering Team of the One Family Junkanoo and Community Organization, and the Junkanoo Development Association. She has published two books, one on Junkanoo and one on Thomas A. Robinson.

Mrs. Ferguson’s community involvement has also included membership on the Central Advisory Committee on Education, the Council of the College of the Bahamas, The Bahamas National Commission on Culture, The Bahamas National Advisory Council on Crime, volunteer teaching at Her Majesty’s Prison, and Consultant on Culture for the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.  She has received numerous awards for her work, including the British Empire Medal for outstanding service in Education and Culture, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2010.

She is the co-host of the radio show Junkanoo 242!, and she and her husband Silbert are the Co-Founders of Educulture Bahamas Ltd, an enterprise that offers support services to schools, cultural and educational consultancies, and houses a Junkanoo Museum and Resource Center.

Mrs. Ferguson is the daughter of the late Mrs. Olga Bosfield Nash and the late H. O. Nash.

A. Marie Sairsingh

Marie Sairsingh

Marie Sairsingh is an Associate Professor in the School of English Studies at The University of The Bahamas where she teaches a range of Composition and Literature courses including Reading and Rhetoric, Advanced Composition, Bahamian Literature, American Literature, Caribbean/West Indian Literature, Contemporary and African Literature.

A veteran educator, Ms. Sairsingh has taught at St. Anne’s School, and headed the English Departments at Aquinas College, St. John’s College, and Bahamas Baptist College. At the tertiary level, she was Adjunct lecturer at the former College of the Bahamas from 1984 to 2000, when she joined the English faculty. She has also taught at Nova Southeastern University, Benedictine University College, and at Howard University during her graduate studies there.

Ms. Sairsingh has published various articles in peer reviewed academic journals including “Transcending Conventional Identity Structures: Dorothea Smartt’s Re-negotiated Self-Projections” in Journal of English and Literature (2012); “The Archeology of Memory: Ontological Reclamation in Danticat’s Brother, I’m Dying and The Farming of Bones” in International Journal of Studies in English Language and Literature (2013); “Reclaiming Sexual Identities in Patricia Powell’s A Small Gathering of Bones and Curdella Forbes’s ‘A Permanent Freedom’ “ in The Journal of West Indian Literature (2013);  “Diasporic Connections: Erna Brodber and Toni Morrison’s Literary Explorations of Black Existentiality” in  College Language Association Journal (2013). She also published a short essay, “Brathwaite’s Afrodiasporic Consciousness: Recuperating ‘Uncle Tom’” in ArtsEtc (2014) on the occasion of Kamau Brathwaite’s  Birthday. In NAGB NE7 Catalogue, her essay, “Bahamian Identity: Reshaping the Narrative of Belonging” (2015), was published.  She serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Bahamian Studies, a publication of the University of The Bahamas. Her area of special interest is Literatures of the African Diaspora with an emphasis on women writers.

Cindy Lee Cartwright Armbrister hails from Cartwrights, Long Island. She attended the former Buckleys All-age school now known as the N. G. M. Major High school; her tertiary educational experience includes COB (the (College of the Bahamas) and UWI the University of the West Indies) where she earned an Associate of Arts in English Double Option and a Bachelors of Education in Secondary Education specializing in Literature and History, respectively. Additionally, she has earned a Master of Arts degree in English language from UWI. Consequently, Cindy Lee has taught English Language and Literature at various secondary and tertiary schools in the Bahamas. Presently, she teaches English and Literature at Kingsway Academy in Nassau, Bahamas.

Her writing career began in the 1980s when she was a student of Telcine Turner Rolle’s Eng. 122 Creative Writing class. Her very first publishing experience was the inclusion of her short story “Louis and then Chogers” in the Once Below A Time anthology. Several years later in 1995, her first book Runnin’ Sheep was published. Subsequently, she has published a number other works including a supplementary text for Runnin Sheep, Broken Fences, From Ashes to Beauty, Rendezvous In The Wilderness, I want My Daddy and A Good Thing. Currently, she is working on a couple of manuscripts.

Several life experiences have colored and inspired her personal and professional life. These experiences have led to a rich, productive writing career and to life coaching for single women and their children through conferences, counselling and philanthropic activities. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, her role as a mother and grandmother is the nucleus  of her existence.

Tanya Shirley

Tanya Shirley

In Kei Miller’s anthology, New Caribbean Poetry (2007), Tanya Shirley was selected as one of eight poets in whose hands the future of Caribbean poetry was secure. Her debut collection, She Who Sleeps With Bones (Peepal Tree Press, 2009) garnered many positive reviews. Her work is published in several anthologies and journals including: Another English ed. Catherine Barnett and Tiphanie Yanique; Atlanta Review; Sx Salon; The Normal School; Teaching Caribbean Poetry ed. Beverly Bryan and Morag Styles; and Poetas del Caribe Anglofono ed. Keith Ellis. She is also a featured poet on www.poetryarchive.org.  Shirley has read her poems and conducted writing workshops in Venezuela, Canada, the U.S.A., England, Scotland and the Caribbean. She has been interviewed by the BBC in Scotland, England and Newfoundland.

Shirley was awarded an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland, USA. She lectures in the Department of Literatures in English at The University of the West Indies, Jamaica where she is also pursuing doctoral studies.  She has been writer-in-residence twice at Sierra Nevada College, Lake Tahoe and is a proud Cave Canem Fellow. Her second poetry collection, The Merchant of Feathers, published by Peepal Tree Press, UK, was longlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and shortlisted for the Guyana Prize for Literature, Caribbean Award. In 2017 she was awarded a Silver Musgrave Medal from The Council of the Institute of Jamaica for her outstanding contribution in the field of Literature.

Tina Klonaris-Robinson

Tina Klonaris-Robinson is an intuitive artist, author and speaker. Born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas, Tina graduated from St. Andrews School in 1994. She then went on to Study Theatre, Dance and Music at Derby University, England and Philosophy with Religion at Middlesex University, England.

Tina became a self taught, intuitive painter as she struggled to find her way through the unbearable grief of losing her daughter Meah. Tina shares that she paints to quiet her mind, to express feelings for which she has no words, and to connect with the divine. Painting has become her spiritual practice and a way to connect her interior world to those around her.

As a writer and speaker, Tina has always been intrigued by stories, especially stories that have the ability to go deep into the heart and soul of a person and change their ways of thinking and perceiving. In December of 2016, Tina Published her first Book, Fly, My Love, Fly: Inspiration for Living Your Highest Potential, which features her inspired paintings and motivational messages. Her second book, Inspiration: A workbook for Living Your Highest Potential, is a workbook designed to help you to tap into the gifts of your soul, reveal your purpose and spark your creativity so that you may live a life with meaning and purpose.

Tina currently lives in Nassau, Bahamas with her husband Curtis and three boys Matthew, Thomas and Aidan. Her business Good Energy Works creates art, products and events that Feel Good! Its mission is to uplift, heal and inspire people to take positive action in their own lives and in the lives of others.

Www.goodenergyworks.com

Ava Turnquest

Ava Turnquest is the Chief Reporter at the Nassau Tribune. She has more than seven years experience in reporting on a wide range of topics, including but not limited to: human rights (minority groups: women, migrants, LGBT), politics, crime, and environmental issues. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Media Journalism from the College of the Bahamas. She is passionate about media literacy and expanding research theory on the relationship between news media agenda setting, media uses and gratification, and social development in post-colonial, small island developing states.

Marion Bethel

Marion Bethel

Ms. Bethel has published two poetry books, namely, Guanahani, My Love which won the Casa de Las Americas Prize in 1994 and Bougainvillea Ringplay which was published in 2009 by Peepaltree Press, Leeds, England. In 2012 Ms. Bethel produced a documentary film entitled Womanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights and Democracy, The Women’s Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas 1948-1962. This film chronicles the journey of the enfranchisement of women and underscores the significant contribution of this suffrage movement to the larger civil rights, majority rule and independence movements in The Bahamas.

Renbert G. Mortimer

Renbert G. Mortimer II is a graduate of the College of the Bahamas, completing his A.Arts in Sociology (2009) and Bachelors in Psychology with a concentration in Industrial Organisational Psychology(2012).

As a creative leader, he continues mentoring children in 6th grade and above, helping them use their God giving talents to elevate other. He has been an inspirational speaker for over 10 years speaking to thousands of young people in The Bahamas and United States of America, and as a author. Illustrator in numerous project, most noteworthy is his own, publishing his book “How to Tame the Beast” which has sold over 300 copies since its release in 2017 and hosting workshops in Cedar Harbour Abaco, Fresh Creek Andros and  Freeport, Mr. Mortimer is well travelled and experienced. He is also noted for continue volunteering throughout New Providence speaking at P.A.C.E for over 10 years and being involved with an international project and publishing by Dr Eneas, International Ambassador, on the 100 Greatest Black Leaders of all time.

He is the Chief Graphic Designer for RGMII Waynehead Productions, a marketing, concept design and animation company, recent contracted to Brand the University of The Bahamas Athletic Department MINGOES designed its logo, 3D mascot and other graphic illustrations. He has completed many illustrations and digital graphic services, but mostly, he is  known for WAYNES, his whimsical caricatures completed at weddings, parties and other celebrations and digital caricature which is recently the brand of the Carl Jr. BOSS BURGERS. He is the only Caribbean and Bahamian registered under the International Society of Caricature artist, and continues to compete against artist that are the best in the world in this form of exaggerated feature/caricature, being featured in the society website and publishing and drawing along them at theme parks like Disney World.

C. A. Newry

C. A. Newry lives in Fox Hill, The Bahamas. He studied Business Management at the College of the Bahamas, and now works in tourism, managing a small restaurant.  He is an avid socio-political commentator, who maintains a colourful, controversial, interactive blog on face book.  Cecil has published 2 books of poetry, a number of short stories within online magazines and a number of articles featured on various online blogs.  Email canewry@hotmail.com<mailto:canewry@hotmail.com>

Tanya R. Taylor

Tanya R. Taylor is the author of several #1 bestsellers on Amazon.com as well as the Amazon UK store and Amazon Canada. She has been writing ever since she can remember holding a pencil and published her first book titled: A Killing Rage as a young adult.

She is the author of both fiction and non-fiction literature, and all of her books have made Amazon Kindle’s Top 100 Paid Bestsellers’ List in several categories. Cornelius climbed to #1 in the Teen & Young-adult Multi-generational Family Fiction category in November 2015. And her supernatural, suspense/thriller – INFESTATION: A Small Town Nightmare is a multiple times #1 international bestseller.

Tanya writes in various genres including: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Thrillers, Science-fiction, Mystery and Suspense. Many of her books have elements that can easily fit into most of the genres in which she writes. TheCornelius Saga series, currently consisting of seven books, has been hugely popular with readers of all ages and of various ethnicities. One reader wrote:

“Now this author rocks. I read CORNELIUS last evening, and immediately followed it with the sequel, REVENGE OF CORNELIUS, today. Hmmhmmhmm. Tanya Taylor knows how to elicit readers’ emotions and make our heartstrings both thrum like a harp and weep bitter tears.”

Another bestseller Haunted Cruise: The Shakedown was released on May 22, 2016 and was well received by the international audience. America’s Most Haunted tweeted: “With HAUNTED CRUISE: THE SHAKEDOWN, Tanya R. Taylor Joins Ranks of Horror Greats.”

Tanya has worked in the Financial arena and is also a seasoned ghostwriter of the past thirteen years. Her clients include insurance executives, C.E.Os, and now added to the list is a world-renowned entertainer. Additionally, she offers an array of publishing assistance including: Editing, critiquing, consulting, and in some instances, tutoring.

Tanya has a passion for the welfare of children. Her hobbies include: Reading, writing, and researching. She’s also keen on documentaries and is planning to pursue a degree in Psychology.

She lives in the beautiful Bahamas with her husband and two teenage children.

In her own words:

“I believe that the gift of creativity is one of the most beautiful things. I always encourage people to go full force after their dreams.” – Tanya R. Taylor

Her email address is: tanya@tanyaRtaylor.com

Link to her Amazon Selection (ebooks & paperbacks): Tanya R. Taylor’s Books

Her paperbacks are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers.

SIGN UP FOR TANYA’S NEWSLETTER and enter exciting give-away contests, receive info on new book releases and so much more!

Alrica Bain

Alrica Bain

Alrica Bain is a future graphic designer, painter, sculpture, and craftier creative person. Graduate of 2017, she won the highest BJC art award in 2014 and highest BGCES art award in 2018 for Anatol Rodgers High School. She also placed first place in craft for the central division summer youth camp in 2014 and 2015. Bain holds graphic artist skills in designs, logos, illustrations, illusions, hand sculpting and much more. She is a highly creative and multitalented designer with more than 5 years in the product publishing and designing industry.

Lamaro Smith

Lamaro Smith

Lamaro Smith is primarily an illustrator and animator. His drawing skills and knowledge in software such as Adobe Photoshop allows him to create digital artworks of a wide variety. He primarily creates concept art, storyboards and custom designs. By training, he’s also a 3D Generalist and a Motion Graphic Animator. Smith has over 7 years experience in creating animated content for broadcast, web and short films.

Doran Cartwright

Doran and Darron Cartwright

Darron Cartwright

Twin Vision Artistry Doran and Darron Cartwright are talented young Bahamian who have made a living by primarily writing, illustrating and creating comics and illustrations for publications. They have completed numerous designs for YEABEY Comics, WayneHead Productions and others. They have also assisted with presentations inside classrooms as part of the Village Project alongside artists like Allans and Jamaal’s Rolle.

These brothers are twins and graduates of Uriah McPhee, D. W. Davis and C. I. Gibson and together with 20 years of experience in traditional coloring and sketching they are amongst the best in The Bahamas.

Tajh Francis

Tajh Francis is an 18-year-old student of Anatol Rodgers. With more than 5 years of illustrative services in both tradition and sketch painting, he is a rising star in the comic community. He is one of 5 original mentees in RGMII WayneHead Productions’ in school Mentorship program. Francis has also assisted companies like WasteNot Bahamas and organizations such as the Lyford Cay Foundation FOCUS Program and University of The Bahamas Mingoes Media Summer project.

Taiisha Isaacs-Forbes

Taiisha Isaacs-Forbes

Taiisha Isaacs-Forbes, 25, is an illustrator and digital artist born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. Inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki, Glen Keane and Don Bluth, she has been creating characters and writing stories for well over fifteen years.

Not having attended schools specifically catering to artists, she’s learned most of what she knows from watching films, reading manga, and accepting helpful criticism from close friends. Although much more adept in ink and watercolor, she has also become versatile with digital medias, such as Adobe Photoshop and Manga Studio; the programs used for her current ongoing web-comic.

She hopes to give a different perspective on the types of stories that come out of the Bahamas; as there doesn’t seem to be very many females pushing the comic genre. So as much as her initial inspiration is influenced by Eastern media, her stories and art are designed to highlight the subtle nuances of Bahamian culture.

Lynn Sweeting

Lynn Sweeting is a Bahamian poet whose work has been published in The Caribbean Writer, Poui, The Cave Hill Journal of Creative Writing, Tongues of the Ocean, Words and Writing from the Islands, Small Axe, A Caribbean Journal for Criticism, Moko, Caribbean Arts and Letters, and anthologized in Sisters of Caliban, A Multilingual Anthology of Writing by Women of the Caribbean. Her prizes include the 1986 Rotary International Foundation Scholarship in Journalism, the 1997 Cacique Prize for Writing, the1997 Charlotte and Isidor Paiewonsky Prize for Poetry, a 1998 Pushcart nomination for her poem “Living on the Lee,” and the 2014 Small Axe Literary Competition Second Prize for Poetry. Her poetry was long listed for the 2015 Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize for Poetry, and she was a finalist for the 2017 National Rita Dove Prize. She has poems forthcoming in the Peekash Press anthology “Thicker Than Water” to be released in April 2018. She is founding editor and publisher of WomanSpeak, Journal of Writing and Art by Caribbean Women, based in Nassau, The Bahamas.

Princess Abdiel

Princess Abdiel

Princess Abdiel is a modern day Renaissance woman. An Artist, Storyteller, Writer, PR, Event Coordinator, Percussionist,Social Media Strategist, Host, and mobile Natural Hair Stylist, these diverse titles speak to her multifaceted Virgo nature and capabilities, passions and interests. Powered, inspired and driven by sensuality, spirituality and culture, she gave birth to a brand that seeks to speak to all of what she does. Sensually Spiritually Culturally Me, which seeks to not only document and highlight stories and experiences of sensuality spirituality and culture in the everyday Caribbean and Diaspora life, but to connect the commonalities and synchronicities of the Caribbean and Diaspora’s sensual spiritual and cultural experiences to dissect, learn, unlearn and relearn how each experience, each story, plays a vital part in the psychological and social conditioning of our sensual spiritual and cultural nature and overall mentalities as Caribbean and diaspora people.

When she’s not overanalyzing the world and thinking of better ways to uplift, empower and build sustainable community, she balances her time by wearing one or more of her many colorful hats on any given day. For a number years she has served in the capacity of PR and Media relations as one of the creative geniuses and face of K.O. Productions, the Bahama’s premiere event and party brand. Through this position she has worked with some of the Caribbean’s best and biggest names in the entertainment industry. Upon parting ways with K.O. Productions in December of 2016 to focus on building her brand, her reputation and good work ethic opened other doors in the Bahamas’ entertainment industry to serve as PR for other top event brands and names such as Alpha Sounds/Survival Weekend and Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival.

Driven by culture and an undying love for music, after years of being a dancer her musical artistry grew her into a Percussionist where she is the sole female drummer in a cultural band by the name of Ubuntu. Apart from being the band’s sole female Percussionist, she also serves as the band’s PR. Through Ubuntu, Princess has been able to dive deeper into her creative artistry, thus adding a new role and element in the band, that of a spoken word artist and storyteller. This new element quickly gained traction and became a high demand and saw Princess visiting some of the schools in New Providence to engage students in lively and interactive storytelling. One of her school visit videos got international attention as it was shared by one of the biggest Social Media cultural platforms I Love Being Black. Princess Storytelling landed her a gig as the host and creator of Expressions, an eclectic weekly open mic spoken word event created to give poets, writers, and storytellers an open platform and safe artistic  space to express themselves, their work, and their artistry. Though Storytelling became a new element in her creative adult life, Princess is a natural born storyteller and writer, writing since the age of 6, she wrote her first song at the age of 8 and at the age of 9 competed in the National Arts Festival for the first time where she received a certificate of Distinction for individual verse speaking in drama. Princess’ affinity for reading and writing during her primary school also gained her a certificate of Merit by the Ministry of Education’s Let’s Read Bahamas Reading Contest for Primary Schools.

Through her passion for creative expression through writing, hosting, PR and event planning, Princess serves on the committee for Curlyfest Bahamas and BNT’s Wine and Art Festival. This year her lively energetic and engaging hosting abilities landed her as the host for Eat Move and Groove, an auspicious event of it’s kind held at NAGB.

Princess’ life dedication, passion, purpose and drive for community, the upliftment, empowerment, building and sustainability of holistic communities has allowed her to work and serve extensively within diverse communities and community programmes throughout The Bahamas. She has served in the capacity as youth mentor for The Baha’i Faith Community Outreach Programme and The Indaba Project. She also serves as Bahamas Regional Director for her family’s Pratt family reunion board and is also a member of the Roots Junkanoo Group.

Although some may label her a safe or teacher of life, she acknowledges that she will always be life’s student, always hungry for knowledge and thirsty for wisdom. She is always learning and finding new ways to advance herself, her skills and fine tune her many crafts as well as take on new ones. She truly believes that everyday there is a lesson to be learnt, that everywhere is a classroom and everyone is a teacher. Princess is currently advancing her spiritual nature as a healer by learning the spirituality science and art of the Tarot. Princess is a certified Reiki practitioner, a devout spiritual and on again off again physical Yogi, an astrological enthusiast, a lover and fanatic of the esoteric, and a quantum physics geek. Her strong beliefs in spirituality and science although always evolving and expanding makes  her an enigmatic yet magnetic anomaly.  Finally, to close and sum this multipotentialite up in her own words,

I am an expression of all that I am, from the vast universe to a grain of sand- Princess Abdiel.

Letitia Marie Pratt

Letitia Marie Pratt

Letitia Marie Pratt’s writing navigates the existence of black (feminine) bodies within fantastic fiction and draws heavily on stories within Bahamian folklore. Her writing was included in the NE8 at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas and WomanSpeak Journal. She completed a residency at the Fresh Milk Art Platform in Barbados and her most recent work, Pulling the Wings from Out My Back, was published with Poinciana Paper Press.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from the College of the Bahamas.

Jamaal Rolle

Jamaal Rolle

World Renowned Artist-Jamaal Rolle)-also known as (The Celebrity Artist) has created portraits for some of the world’s most recognizable and influential figures in history and influential categorical sectors that contributes to human progression -Sports, Entertainment, Music, Activism, Education and Government.

Notable and profound works have been produced for-Prince of Wales-Prince Harry, Entertainment Mogul Oprah Winfrey, The first black Academy Award Winner and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient- Sir Sidney Poitier, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas-Perry G. Christie, Golden Globe Winner Johnny Depp, NBA Legends/Sports Moguls Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, NBA Champions Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Business Mogul-Sean P. Diddy Combs, Grammy Award Winner Taylor Swift, Grammy Award Winner Carrie Underwood, NFL Champion and TV Host-Michael Strahan and Civil Rights Activist-Rev. Al Sharpton just to name a few.

With a glimpse of the notable personalities, Jamaal Rolle has produced the most prestigious artistic portrait portfolio in the modern era of portrait artist and has been featured and documented through international media globally from the Times Magazine, Washington Post, BBC News, People’s Magazine, the Huffington Post and CBS News just to name a few. The induction of this accreditation has garnered an elite celebrity society to give respect to Jamaal Rolle with the title (Celebrity Artist).

Hasheen Lockhart-Bone Fish

Bone Fish

My name is Hasheen Lockhart and I represent (BONEFISH) our very own 100% Bahamian comic book novel. As the artist and storyteller I have been working on (BONEFISH) the comic-book novel series for 15 plus years perfecting the story and characters in the (BONEFISH) universe. The book one is now completed and is ready to be interjected into the hearts and minds of our Bahamian youths, by partnering with me, Eyelandcomics and Bonefish the comic book series will be a huge success and a shinning light of hope for our youths today and the future to come.

I would like to put a thought in your minds! I would to convey a very powerful reality that we as Bahamians don’t acknowledge (act on the knowledge!) as to how comic books are very important to our nation’s future, if we look at any successful country, China, America, Japan, they all have one thing in common, super heroes that look and act like them, just look at America they have super heroes in every thing and have produce a countless among of block buster movies form none other than comic books, (Super Man, Bat Man, X-Men, Hulk, Spider Man, etc.) because they know that if they are to lead the world then there people must think that way and believe they can do any thing and over come any problem, and they understand that super heroes create this mentality and form very young they introduce the super hero mind set in their children, a great example of this is the Chinese, when you see a Chinese for some reason we think they are super karate or kung-Fu fighter and the only reason we think this way is because we have watched all of those karate/kung-Fu movies, If we look all around the world the countries that displays most super heros are also the SUPER POWERS of the world, this is no coincidence nor is the fact that they are called (SUPER POWERS), it’s because these countries all understand that SUPER HEROS, (comic books/movies/games) produce SUPER HERO mentalities..! so if Bahamians are going to compete on the world stage then we must have a level playing field, the super hero influence is a very vital part of why so called World Powers are ruling the world, if we don’t enpower our youths today and they go astra we have no one to blame but ourselves.

 “Am I right?” if you agree with me then help me empower our children to think and be the same way by creating our very own super heroes for them to look up to, if we don’t do it, who will!

                                                                BONEFISH- THE STORY OVERVIEW

(BONEFISH) the comic book novel series centers around a super human being that was placed in a cryo-chamber space pod 25,000 years ago orbiting around the earth but in the year 1991 the pod broke it’s orbit and landed on a small key somewhere in the waters of the Bahamas, the then young boy was cared for and raised by a lone fisherman that lived on that very key, in time Bonefish would learn of his super powers and his link to an ancient prophecy of a Supreme being coming down to earth to save it from the evil one and his forces of darkness, which will send Bonefish on a quest to learn his past in order to save the world from a very grim future, while protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty.

                                                     BONEFISH- THE IMPACT ON THE BAHAMAS

 (BONEFISH) comics as a learning tool has (3) main functions primarily geared for our youths, (1) to help educate intelligently, (2) stimulate artistically, and (3) to entertain their minds creatively, which will cultivate better Bahamians and thereby producing a better Bahamas.

In addition to this (BONEFISH) comics has the ability and potential to be a big game changer for our Bahamian youths by partnering with the Ministry Of Education and creating an environment for our extremely talented youths to develop and refine their artistic skills and this will lead to the birth of a new economic opportunity for our young Bahamians, and the question you may ask is how! Well it’s simple, when you look at the comic book industry it takes about 10 people to produce one comic book title, now imagine having 10 or 20 comic book titles, that’s at least 200 Bahamians with job career taking home an income to their families.

Christine Wilson

Christine Wilson

Born in Nassau, Bahamas Christine Wilson aka CRAB is an artist in every sense of the word!  She’s a poet, drummer, actress, storyteller, friend and mother!    CRAB has been on the artistic scene since she was a young girl winning poetry competitions as early as 9yrs old and is still going!  Being artistic runs through her veins!  When Crab isn’t spitting lyrics she’s acting in a movie or on stage performing or just building and creating!  Like I said Christine is all the about art!  May it continue to flow from her like the riveting waters!   Blessings

Steve

Steve

Meet Stevie! A fan of the arts from as young as he could remember. Born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas; and currently a Marine Mammal Specialist at Dolphin Cay, Atlantis; he has always admired anything and everything creative. It just so happens that a lot of people in his inner circle are artists and they have played a major role in his aspiration towards music. Coming from a subtle background of poetry in high school and an even more subtle background in writing songs in the summer with his best friend. He has combined those experiences to help create his sound today. He pulls inspiration from past personal situations along with a touch of imagination and hopes that you enjoy this collective group of talents. Cheers!

JudahThaLion

JudahThaLion

JudahThaLion is an emerging recording and performing artist from Nassau, Bahamas. He launched his music career in 2010 when he began recording songs professionally and formed the reggae fusion band, the Truth. He started gaining local recognition with live performances, music videos, features and radio singles such as “The Importance of Love”, “Hurricanes” and “Outlaw”. In 2013, Judah debuted his music internationally while on a small tour in the Los Angeles area and released his first project, ‘Raw Talent’. Some would describe Judah’s style of music as genre-less and eclectic, blending smooth, dynamic vocal ability with a unique energy and a live experience like none other. Judah has also laced his music with meaningful, insightful lyrics that have transcended class, race, and nationality to reach a growing audience, creating a very diverse fan base that is sure to follow him on his ever-expanding artistic journey. Due to his increasing exposure, Judah was selected to be a BTC Ambassador, endorsed by and representing the brand through his music and personality. As time goes on its becoming more and more clear that JudahThaLion is a name sure to be remembered by music lovers near and far for years to come.

Tierra Rolle-Thin Ice

Tierra Rolle

Diana Hamilton

Chapter One Bookstore

(Michal Eldon 1A)

Writers of Young Adult literature read from their work and discuss their writing process.

Cindy Armbrister

N.A. Cash

Tanya Tayor

(Michal Eldon 1A)

Lynn Sweeting launches the latest edition of Woman Speak Journal. Bahamian Women writers whose

poems/stories appear in the issue read their work.

Marion Bethel

Marie Sairsingh

Alexia Tolas

Lynn Sweeting

Asha Rahming

Letitia Pratt

(Michal Eldon 2A)

Bahamian game designer displays his creations and discuss how he synthesizes art and literature and

Bahamian folk traditions to create his work.

(Michal Eldon 2 B)

Speakers discuss the Cans4kids project in C.W. Saunders Primary and A.F. Adderley. In this interactive session kids create panel comics and character designs while learning the importance of English language and proper communication for effective story-telling. This workshop discusses how comics can be used to teach group corporative techniques and teamwork.

(Michal Eldon 3A)

Participants initially will go through common ice breaking exercises (story circle). Participants will also review a sampling of current trends regarding global warming, regional politics and economics, and social trends, and then proceed to write microfiction around the theme: “What will this island be like in 2050?” Instructor will compile, edit, layout, and produce an electronic (and printer ready) compilation of the work produced by participants. Workshop limit 15 participants.

(Michal Eldon 1A)

Several Bahamian public intellectuals who use social media as their platform will discuss the role of the public intellectual in the modern age.

Joseph Gaskins

Erin Greene

Ava Turnquest

Cecil Newry

Farrell Goff

(Michal Eldon 3B)

In this workshop for new writers, Bahamian poet Princess Abdiel Pratt helps participants find their individual and unique poetic voices through varied exercises. Workshop limit 15 participants.

(Michal Eldon 1A)

The Kimbilio Retreat, held in Taos, New Mexico, offers writers from the African Diaspora a “safe haven” (kimbilio in Swahili) to write and form community. Participants from the Kimbilio Fiction Writers read from their work and discuss their time at the retreat.

Tara Campbell

Jason Harris

A. Rafael Johnson

Cole Lavalais

(Michal Eldon 2A)

Kimberly A. Collins’ author of Choose You! Wednesday Wisdom to Wake Your Soul, will discuss her Writing for Healing Workshops through her organization SOAR (So Others Ascend Righteously). Joining the conversation will be, Bahamian artist and author of Fly, My Love, Fly, and Inspired, Tina Klonaris Robinson, who will discuss how her art and writing helped on her journey to healing.

(Michal Eldon 1A)

Presentation: Selling Soft Things: A Reading from The Merchant of Feathers

(Michal Eldon 1A)

Reading from the works of several of the up and coming stars in this emerging genre along with a discussion of the importance of diversity in speculative fiction writing.

Tara Campbell

Jason Harris

A. Rafael Johnson

Dana Mcknight

Tenea D. Johnson

(Michal Eldon 2A)

Writing is most often done in seclusion. Writers sequester behind locked office doors or hide in front of laptops and earbuds in busy coffee shops. While the writing may benefit from that isolation, most writers thrive within a community of creatives. So how do we foster both the writing and the writer? One way is through communal writing spaces. This workshop will introduce strategies to both form and sustain writing spaces. Workshop limit 15 participants

(Michal Eldon 2B)

Participants in this workshop will take a closer look at specific narrative elements found in feature films. They will also engage in the art of screenwriting, thereby exploring the dramatic structure and psychology of their own cinematic stories. Sometimes those stories may be driven by plot, sometimes by character, and other times, just plain conflict. Nevertheless, all of those ingredients assist in collectively shaping a great film. After the course, participants will not just gain an appreciation for the art of screenwriting, but they will also gain a deeper understanding of how great movies are formed. Workshop limit 15 participants

(Michal Eldon 1A)

Poets will read from their works and will discuss trends, genre and their own creative process for writing poetry.

Rapp Quelle/Quentin Glover, II

Kimberly Collins

Tony Medina

Sonia Farmer

(Michal Eldon 3A)

Panel discussion with gifted young artist who discuss the creative process from inception to completion.

Doran Cartwright

Darron Cartwright

Tajh Francis

Lamaro Smith

Maz Joachin

Taiisha Forbes

(Michal Eldon 3B)

So, you’ve left the daily grind of work and now you want to write. You have lots of life experience, lots of ideas and opinions that you want to share, but you don’t know how to start. In this workshop you will be gently guided through some exercises to help you find the key, turn on the ignition and move into forward gear.

Materials: Bring to the workshop an object that was given to you as a gift – not fragile or costly – AND a printed photo of anybody/anything/anyplace you know/knew. You will also need paper for writing and pen/pencil. Workshop limit 12 participants

(Michal Eldon 1A)

Presentation: “Seeing Islands in Our Futures: Why a Caribbean-born Author Write Science Fiction” Buckell will also read from his short story “Toy Planes”

(Michal Eldon 1A)

Panelists discuss Bahamian comics in newspapers and graphic novels over the last fifty years.

Jamaal Rolle

Bone Fish

Jeff Cooper

Larry Smith

(Michal Eldon 2C)

Creative writer and founder of Duho Books Publishing, Wendy Coakley-Thompson discusses what it takes to get a manuscript through the publishing process. Send in 10 pages / Workshop limit 10 particiants.

(Michal Eldon 1A)

Presentation: Reading from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy, I Am Alfonso Jones, and Resisting Arrest: Poems to Stretch the Sky.

10:00 AM

“Dis Me Naa!” with Arlene Nash Ferguson (7-17yrs)
Bahamian folklorist Arlene Nash Ferguson will entertain young and old alike with her True-True Ol’ Stories.

11:00

Peter Maynard, B’Bookie B’Rabbie (7-17).
Bahamian writer Peter Maynard reads from his collection of folktales.

12:00

“What I Discovered about Poetry”: Readings by UB Students (12-17)
University of the Bahamas undergraduate students recite some of their favorite poems.

1:00

Read Out Loud (7-17)
University of The Bahamas Education undergraduate students read from their favorite books.

10:00AM

Reading by Leila O’Brien (7-12yrs)
This nine-year-old published Bahamian writer reads from her latest story for young children.

11:00A.M

Story time with Ean Maura
An interactive storytelling experience for children and their parents.

12:00PM

Read Out Loud (7-17)
University of The Bahamas Education undergraduate students read from their favorite books.

Bookmark making workshops
Printmaking workshops
(Chapter One Bookstore)

Face Painting

Games

Caricature Drawings

Book Bazaar

Food Court

Bahamian Craft Village