By Anil Bedasie
On September 20th, the Queens Book Fair & Literary Festival in collaboration with the NYC Office of Adult and Continuing Education held its annual Poetry, Prose and Passion themed event at the Queens Library Richmond Hill branch. It was well attended with numerous presenters delivering speeches, poems, and other remarks. The moderator was Kaden Clarke. who is a Guyanese by birth, and now a student at CUNY’s Queens College. Kaden did an excellent job reflecting on his early life in Guyana and how the rate of progress and economic development in Guyana made him proud to be of Guyanese origin.
Since summer of 2018, the Queens Book Fair series, the brainchild of Dr Dhanpaul Narine, has provided a platform for many of the community youths to express themselves through poems and speeches on various topics of interest. The series has showcased many immigrant trailblazers who have excelled in the areas of medical, law enforcement, media, judicial and education systems.
The Prose, Passion and Poetry themed event showcased many of the community youths who recited poems by their favorite authors and also some of their own compositions.
The program included the usual welcome remarks by Dr Dhanpaul Narine, pledge of allegiance, and a message from various dignitaries. The keynote address was delivered by Professor Ivelaw Griffith, who is now retired, but was a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana. Professor Griffith recently wrote a book called “Oil and Climate Change in Guyana,” and spoke about several themes in the book including the oil discovery near Guyana shores, tensions with Venezuela with regards to the Essequibo region, the USA and Chinese influence in Guyana’s development, and ways to address the below sea level challenges Guyana faces using other countries as an example, like the Netherlands.
The next speaker was the former mayor of Schenectady, Albert Jurczynski, who reflected on how NYC-based Guyanese have developed that region over the past 20 years by relocating to Schenectady and making this city their new home. Next Radhika Olarte of the RadhVin Stage Storm theatrical group recited one of her own poems called “Unshaken.”
A regular to the book fair since 2018 was Veena Bedasie, who recited a Rabindranath Tagore poem called “Where The Mind Is Without Fear” and presented her own interpretation of the poem.
I made some brief remarks on how our community youths need platforms like the Book Fair to showcase their own creativity in poetry and other literary accomplishments. I also described ways in which the community can provide the opportunity for young minds to experiment with their prose and poetry. In my speech, I opined that a future U.S. Poet Laureate or winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry can be of West Indian origin right here in our community if given the opportunity to nurture their passion for poetry writing.
Next Lionel Narine recited Tupac Shakur’s “The 2 Palms” poem, followed by a presentation by Arthur Jackson, who is an educator with the NYC Department of Education. Mr. Jackson’s theme was before we become successful in any field, we need to be “human” first. He spoke highly on many of the attendees being of “Guyanese” origin and encouraged the young minds in the audience to stay focused.
The next segment included a number of presenters who read poems, starting with Amelia Persaud who read her own composition called “A Village,” followed by her mother who recited “A Kiskadee Sings,” a Dhanpaul Narine poem. Next, Nandy Persaud recited “Children” by Kahlil Gibran. Karissa Jagbir recited “When I Grow Up,” which was her own composition.
Shabna Rahman, who is social media influencer, Guyanese YouTuber and Stabroek Newspaper contributor, was excited to learn about the Book Fair and made a special effort to attend. She recited a poem called “Human Family” by Maya Angelou. Hema Ramcharran recited “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou as well. Lloyd Nurse presented a poem called “I Am A Sculptor” by Jalaluddin Rumi followed by Ronald Garip, who recited the poem “The Guest House,” also by Jalaluddin Rumi. The final poem of the event was read by Diane, called “Let Go of Your Worries,” by Rumi as well.
The Vote of Thanks was presented by Nandy Persaud with final remarks by Dr Dhanpaul Narine. The next Book Fair will be held on Saturday November 15th 2025. To attend or participate, please email Dr Dhanpaul Narine at doclse007@aol.com or call him at 718-848-8831.
