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LiTTribute to LondonTTown,
the fifth in a series of international tributes by author of LiTTscapes –
Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago, Kris Rampersad, takes place in mid-July.
Among those who
will join Rampersad at the LiTTribute will be Director of the Commonwealth
Foundation, Vijay Krishnarayan.
Krishnarayan, who was born in Central Trinidad, took
the reins of the London-based foundation last year, after serving as deputy
director. He was a former managing partner of the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and
has had an enduring interest in environment management, land use planning and
empowerment of civil society.
“This link with
land use and the environment through Krishnarayan is not accidental,” Rampersad
said, noting thatLiTTscapes celebrates the physical and natural
environment and its pictorial representations of the islands’ landscapes
through the eyes of some 60 writers in more than 100 works of fiction on
Trinidad and Tobago. She added:
“Nor is the
connection with civil society, as all our efforts are to reposition the
creative sector towards self sustenance through national and international
networking and partnerships and enterprises. We are trying to encourage
conversations and interactions between the multiple dimensions of the
development agenda in which the creative sector has a central role.
Rampersad, will speak on the theme LiTTerary ReTTributions drawing from life and fictional
experiences and explore the impact of not only British literature on Trinidad
and Tobago, but also in forging cultural connections with the entire British
empire and the wider world
Ambassador to
London, Garvin Nicholas said: “The High Commission embraced this opportunity to
host showcasing of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago
and its associated LiTTours and LiTTevents as the kind of innovative and out of
box synergies were are trying to promote in our international outreach. We are
well aware of the potential of the vision being articulated in LiTTscapes,
located as we are in London - a city that has such a dynamic association with
the arts.”
Said Rampersad:
“As with other LiTTributes held earlier this year – to the Mainland in Guyana
and to the Antilles in Antigua - this will encourage rethinking
how we may better engage with and utilise the rich literary outpourings as
represented in LiTTscapes to develop synergies with the international community
for social and economic development in out of the box synergies including for
film, music, entertainment and education sectors.
The LiTTribute to
LondonTTown follows similar connections held with
the South American continent in Guyana
earlier this year and the Caribbean island archipelago in Antigua in March, after the book’s launch as aprt of the
independence jubilee celebrations in 2012 and the ensuing LiTTribute to the Republic. Other such activities
are earmarked for North America and Asia in 2014.
Rampersad who is a journalist and educator in
Caribbean culture and heritage noted that LiTTscapes represents this relationship from the
earliest writings of Sir Walter Raleigh to the current day among them many who
made London their home as Naipaul, Selvon, Lakshmi Seetaram-Persaud and others.
LiTTscapes has been acclaimed as a
groundbreaking pictoral yet encyclopaedic compendium of the lifestyles,
landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions in its full
colour easy reading documentary/travelogue/biography representation of Trinidad and Tobago and its fiction.
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