“Everything that happens in the universe has an impact on who I am, how I live, and what I write: thought, word, deed. Everything I think, I write, I speak has an impact on the world; like the tide of the sea beats upon the shore, shaping the space.” — Sonia Suzette Williams, literary and theatre artist and educator (January 17, 1967-January 6, 2024); Green Readings, Barbados, June 2013

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....Like the world, and its words, are on fire.  This edition's cover is again by Kai Miller.     

The following is from the back cover of The ArtsEtc NIFCA Winning Words Anthology 2019/2020.

THESE ARE NOT normal times we’re in.  And they are changing fast.

Casting out again.  This edition's cover is by Kai Miller.  

A version of the following speech was presented by ArtsEtc Editor Robert Edison Sandiford at the launch of The ArtsEtc NIFCA Winning Words Anthology 2017/2018 held at the Daphne Joseph-Hackett Theatre November 14, 2019.

GOOD EVENING, ladies and gentlemen, artists and patrons, art sponsors and art angels.

I suspect what I’m about to say will sound a little like a vote of thanks.   This is, maybe more so than in past years, inevitable.

Barbadian writers share their thoughts and feelings on Toni Morrison. ArtsEtc lands the found poem "Truth She Wrote" in the process. Read on or click the writers' images below...

Terry Connolly’s cover photo, Soon Ripe, suggests the many branches of Bajan Lit.  It won gold at NIFCA.

Read2Me!, ArtsEtc’s latest literary adventure, is up and running.

The six-week pilot programme sends writers and storytellers into schools and other venues to read to and engage with young people.

It began January 10, 2015, and forms part of a joint literacy outreach by Writers Ink and ArtsEtc, and is sponsored by Oxford University Press (OUP), Days Books and Apex Eye Clinic.

Three Barbadian primary schools (Milton Lynch, Grantley Prescod Memorial and St. Margaret’s) are the first to benefit along with Days Books serving as a fourth venue for the sessions.

ArtsEtc recently announced its sponsorship of the inaugural Carolle Bourne Prize—a new award for the 2014 National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA), and one that specifically targets innovation.

We are truly honoured to be doing something in Carolle’s name and excited to be teaming up with US-based Bajan suspense writer Ronald A. Williams to make it a reality.

GREEN READINGS is an annual eco-literary event that ArtsEtc began in 2008 after a request from the Ministry of the Environment, which was seeking fresh ways to promote its public message.

The themed readings typically featured six Barbadian writers over two weekends in June (Environment Month) at outdoor locations. The 2013 Green Readings, pictured here, was staged at Queen’s Park in Bridgetown and on the Boardwalk in Hastings, Christ Curch.

IN JUNE 2012, ArtsEtc launched its latest publication, Green Readings: Barbados, The First Five Years [2008-2012] on the Boardwalk at Hastings. It was a fun occasion and part of Green Readings 2012—the annual showcase of open-air environmental readings and performance.

The 48-page anthology features the work of roughly 24 literary and other artists who have participated in Green Readings since its inception in 2008, an overview of the readings and the philosophy behind them.