Tamara Groeneveldt performing her popular poem “I Know St. Martin’s Culture,” 2018. (Courtesy T. Groeneveldt. A. Blijden photo)
GREAT BAY, St. Martin (May 23, 2019)—Tamara Groeneveldt leads the list of St. Martin writers and workshop leaders at the 17th annual St. Martin Book Fair, June 6 – 8, 2019, said Shujah Reiph, the festival coordinator.
“Each year the book fair looks for a published writer from St. Martin to represent the writers, aspiring writers, and authors of our whole island,” said Reiph.
Earlier this year House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP) also accepted Groeneveldt’s manuscript of poems for publication.
“The idea now is to have Tamara’s first poetry book released at St. Martin Book Fair 2019. The new book will be a highlight of Tamara’s role as a literary ambassador for the island’s writers at the festival,” said Jacqueline Sample, president of HNP.
The role of the selected writer is to interact with the guest authors from various countries and territories participating in the St. Martin Book Fair. The writer also attends as many literary activities as possible, visits a school, conducts a workshop, and either presents his or her last book for discussion or launches a new book, said Reiph.
According to HNP, “Tamara Groeneveldt is an emerging poet from St. Martin. Groeneveldt holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Florida A&M University. At the University of St. Martin she joined the Young Poets Society.
“Groeneveldt has recited her poetry at official St. Martin Day programs and other presentations attended by the island’s officials and the king and queen of the Netherlands; at the ‘10,000 Men March for St. Martin’; and at ‘For A World Without Walls.’
“The former award-winning president of Soualiga Corporate Toastmasters Club has had her poetry published in Where I See the Sun – Contemporary Poetry in St. Martin, the 2013 anthology from HNP.”
“The honor of representing St. Martin’s writers and our young and growing literature at the St. Martin Book Fair is also about encouraging the selected writer to keep writing, and to inspire unpublished writers to get their books published,” said Sample.
The 17th edition of the St. Martin Book Fair, with its theme of “New Ground,” is organized by Conscious Lyrics Foundation in collaboration with St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, the University of St. Martin, LC Fleming Foundation, Motorworld, Nagico, and SOS 95.9 FM, said Reiph.
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