The week of
November 2 was a splendid one for writers, writing and publishing. First there
was the JAMCOPY (Jamaican Copyright Licensing Agency) Onlinemind Caribbean
Digital Publishing Conference, November 2-5, at the Pegasus Hotel.
Presentations were made by Jamaicans, persons from other Caribbean territories
and overseas (outside of the Caribbean). Excellent organization and execution.
All presentations I attended were really interesting and informative.
What did I take
away from this conference and how might this affect children’s books and
writers? First, it solidified digital
publishing in my mind. Maybe it was just
that I was ready; when the student is ready the teacher will appear sort of
scenario.
So to all
children’s publishers and textbook publishers, you need to engage meaningfully with this technology at
some time, even if you are convinced that Jamaicans will be using print books
for ages, since we won’t be able to afford tablets for all children. One
presenter felt that children’s picture books were actually better as print
books. Normally, I would have felt a surge of validation by this statement.
This time I found it merely an interesting comment.
I found two
sessions had a major impact on me and
made the entire conference worth my while. One was Born Digital: Creating an
e-Book, with Troy Weekes of EZLearner Inc , Barbados. Mr. Weekes showed us how
to produce an e-book using templates. Wonderful! And even though I managed to
lose my e-book at the end of the session (these things happen while using
technology) clearly I had been made confident enough to replicate the activity
the next day without losing it. So I have
been greatly empowered, even if I do not get to the point of being able to turn
one of my children’s stories into an e-book myself. And who knows now?
The other
was Re-imagining Content for the Caribbean Classroom. This was presented
by Allman Town Primary, a school for which I have a big soft spot as I had done
some research there while doing my MEd. The
vibrant Principal, Mrs. Crooks-Smith, declared that they do not say that Allman Town is an inner city
school, but rather it is a school in an inner city area. Important change of focus towards
great expectations, eh. The children have been encouraged to create learning for themselves
using technology. Students, looking smart in their navy blazers over the normal
khaki uniform, explained how they used technology, how they created their own computer
games. For those who know me, I was
blown away, sort of in heaven on earth. I thought of best practice being
replicated, videos of their achievements to be sent all around the island, etc.
(these are all ideas which the Ministry itself has for various aspects of
education). So there is hope; always there is hope. Our children can be
brilliant wherever they are if the right environment is provided. My take away
from this was children, whatever their circumstances, can be interacting with technology. I know; why has
it taken so long for the penny to drop for me? The children in my latest YA
novel (at final editing/reconciling stage) are still not interacting with cell
phones, because their parents don’t want them to. (My grandchildren, younger than my
protagonists, have a tablet between them - still no cell phones though). Hmm. So
I will have to bring technology more meaningfully into my stories. That is,
allow the protagonist to interact with it rather than have grown-ups
controlling all access. I’ll think about this carefully, because some control
is still needed in this world of too
much technological freedom, which can lead to serious trouble. Nonetheless, it
was a revelation to me that I needed a change of mind.
Lignum Vitae Awards: Then on November
6 we had the Lignum Vitae Awards for Literature. The Awards consist of The Una
Marson Award for adult literature, won by Donna Hemans; the Vic Reid for young adult literature, won by
Diana McCaulay (a former pupil of mine at secondary – rather nice - and also
winner of a number of writing awards since
she came onto the world stage a few years ago), and the Jean D’Costa Award for children's, won by Janet Morrison. The Vic Reid
and Una Marson had originated with the National Book Development Council, but
had not been awarded for some years. The Jamaican Writers Society (JaWS), along with
JAMCOPY, decided to resuscitate them, and to give an additional award for the
under twelves, thus making the Vic Reid become a YA award.
‘Una Marson
was a poet playwright and journalist and coordinator of the seminal radio programme,
BBC’s Caribbean Voices’. My grandmother acted in one of her plays staged at the
Ward Theatre here in Kingston, and I have a playbill with all their photos. My
fifteen minutes of historical glory. I’m actually very proud of that.
Vic Reid
wrote fiction about significant aspects of our history for young adult readers,
which can be also be read by the under
twelves. His books are often found on
schools’ literature book lists.
Jean D’Costa’s
well known children’s books are also on schools’ literature lists, and she is
the only one who is alive. She was a judge as well as the guest speaker. I was
struck by her pointing out that we all have stories, and that there are so many
stories to be told about Jamaica, in Jamaica. That’s an important fact for children’s
writers to embrace.
The prize
money is actually quite significant, more in keeping with awards around the
world. The competition is to be held every other year. So we now have our writing awards again and there are two for children’s literature. Children’s
writers, we can’t complain. The majority of the entries were for the Una Marson
award. I hope that we see a significant change in that in the future. Children’s
writers, you have time to write your YA novel or children’s stories/novel for
the next competition. Grab the opportunity and write.
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