Books A-Poppin!

There are lots of pop-ups, these days. Pop-up restaurants, pop-up stores… Why not a pop-up book club?

Blouse and Skirt Books.

Well, that is what local publisher Tanya Batson Savage has been doing with Kingston-based BluMoon Publishers, which has an imprint called Blouse and Skirt Books (“Blouse and skirt!” is a great Jamaican exclamation of pleased surprise). Founded in 2005, publishing books for young people (BluMoon) and cutting-edge Caribbean fiction writers and poets (Blouse and Skirt).

Chilling in the back yard… (My photo)

So there we were, gathered on a humid evening in our back yard in Kingston among pots of bougainvilleas to hear A-dziko Simba Gegele read from her book “All Over Again.”  There were bursts of laughter, quiet giggles and nods, as A-dziko (looking through the eyes of a nine-year-old boy) gave us glimpses of life in a fictional rural village, Riverland. The boy is boastful, impatient, highly competitive, creating (and enduring) all the dramas of growing up, with a cast of characters including his cry-baby younger sister and a show-off schoolmate. A-dziko, with thirty years of theater, poetry and prose writing under her belt, brings him to life when she reads.

A-dziko Simba Gegele has a vibrant spirit and a wonderful reading style, expressive and energetic. (My photo)

In between readings, there were all kinds of discussions cropping up, accompanied by sips of wine. Some waxed philosophical. We talked about the differences between poetry and prose in terms of conveying emotion. A-dziko talked about how the smallest gesture or everyday incident can spark her interest and get her writing. Others discussed the differences between football and cricket, and the role sports plays in boys’ lives. Then we got into a discussion on education, and the bringing up of boys and girls, that could have gone on all night.

Oh, there aren’t any photos of this –  but I should have taken some of the delectable sweet offerings that we all indulged in. Unashamedly. A sponsor of the Pop-Up Book Club was A Likkle Slice of Heaven, a local dessert caterer whose confections were “to die for.” We almost did.

I would recommend pop-up book clubs. They are informal, fun and undemanding. So long as you have a few bottles on hand to make things go along, it’s a great way to read, listen, share thoughts and socialize.  Oh, and did I mention the cakes?

“All Over Again” displayed on our back verandah. The book won the first Burt Award for Caribbean Literature for a book suitable for young adults (age 12-18) established by the Canadian non-profit CODE. (My photo)