NASSAU, Bahamas -- Under the distinguished patronage of their Excellencies Sir Arthur and Lady Foulkes, the public is invited to Season 6 of Poetry on Stage featuring the Poetry of Tyrone Sawyer TONIGHT, Friday, December 2, 2011 at Government House at 7pm.

Reserve your tickets at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Tickets are $20.  See poster below:

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Deputy to the Governor General the Hon Janet Bostwick speaks at the Commonwealth Writers 6^th Annual Short Story and Poetry Competition awards ceremony in the Ballroom of Government House, Monday, November 21, 2011.    

(BIS photo/Derek Smith)

NASSAU, Bahamas -- On 6 December 2011, 50 years will have passed since the death of Frantz Fanon. Born in 1925 in the French colony of Martinique, Fanon's personal experiences of everyday life under colonialism would yield two of the most influential texts in anti-colonial revolutionary thought: Black Skin, White Masks (1952), and The Wretched of the Earth (1961).

On Friday, December 2, 2011, College of the Bahamas will hold a symposium '50 Years Later: Fanon's Legacy' from 9am to 5.30pm at the college.  This event is FREE and open to the public.

Frantz Fanon is today one of the most widely known and influential Caribbean born theorists and revolutionary activists. His life and work, moving from the French Caribbean, to metropolitan France to Algeria in North Africa would have an impact on anti -colonial, anti-racist and liberation struggles as far and wide as Iran, South Africa, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and the United States.

But what of his impact on/in the Caribbean region of his birth? Can Fanon's work speak to the Caribbean's contemporary challenges: labor and migration; capitalism and globalization; and post-911 geopolitics? Can we trace Fanon's influence in the long struggle for Caribbean independence and sovereignty? Is Fanon relevant to examinations of the crucial foundations of Caribbean societies: slavery and the slave economy; colonialism and resistance to colonialism; race and the development of Creole society?

Click HERE to view symposium schedule and to register.

The Commonwealth Foundation has just relaunched their revamped literature programme, with a new Commonwealth Writers initiative:

http://www.commonwealthwriters.org

This includes a rethinking of the former Commonwealth Short Story Competition. It's been renamed the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and the word limit has been raised substantially to 2,000-3,000 words. Previously the competition was tailored for short pieces suitable for radio broadcast. It's now aimed at short fiction for print publication. Details here:

http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/prizes/commonwealth-short-story-prize/2012-prize/

The Caribbean is a separate region for purposes of the prize--regional winners will receive £1,000 and the overall winner will get £5,000. The deadline is 30 November, 2011.