In this remarkable collection, Althea Romeo-Mark uses poetry like a lance, a magnifying glass, and a soothing balm. Her verse gives the reader a close-up view of life as an immigrant in the Caribbean and details her experiences in England after fleeing the violence of the Liberian civil war.
Romeo-Mark grew up in the West Indies, where her family drifted from island to island looking for work. In a series of gripping poems, she takes us inside the uneasy tapestry of immigrant cultures that form the Caribbean islands: a pastiche of hunger and oppression that makes survival a daily struggle.
She goes on to explore the problems encountered by women in a society that is male-dominated, unstable, and unjust; by immigrants displaced from their homes and their ways of life; and by families committed to each other no matter what comes.
Divided topically, The Nakedness of New also includes three revealing personal essays and a section focused on her maternal grandmother, a controversial personality who held the family together.
Through it all run the themes of resiliency, heart, and dedication to living—all things found in ordinary people if only you take the time to look for them.
This book is available at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Nakedness-New-Althea-Romeo-Mark/dp/1979850798/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=152240
Althea Romeo-Mark, Caribbean poet and educator
Born in Antigua, West Indies, Althea Romeo-Mark is an educator and writer who grew up in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. She has lived and taught in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, USA, Liberia (1976-1990), London, England (1990-1991), and in Switzerland since 1991.
She was awarded the Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize by the Editorial Board of The Caribbean Writer in June 2009 for publication (short story “Bitterleaf,”) in Volume 22, 2008. She was awarded the Arts and Science Poetry Prize for poems published in POEZY 21:Antologia Festivaluluiinternational Noptile De Poezie De Curtea De Arges, Curtea De Arges, Romania, 2017.
She was one of thirty-five poets invited to attend the International Festival-Poetry Nights in Curtea de Arges, Romania (2017). She participated in the 10th Anniversary Conference of the Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books, Antigua (2015); was one of several guests poets at Kistrech International Poetry Festival in Kissi, Kenya (2014); participated in Tag der Poesie, Basel, 2013, and was one of a hundred guest poets invited to read at the XX International Poetry Festival of Medellin, Colombia(2010).
She writes poetry and short stories and has been published in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, USA, England, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Colombia, India, UK, Kenya, Liberia, Romania, and Switzerland. Her last poetry collection, If Only the Dust Would Settle, was published in 2009.
She has published six collections of poems, The Nakedness of New, 2018, If Only the Dust Would Settle, AuthorHouse UK 2009, English-German, Beyond Dreams: The Ritual Dancer (Sabanoh Press, Liberia 1989), Two Faces, Two Phases (Speed-o-graphics, Liberia 1984), Palaver (Downtown Poets Co-op, New York, 1978), and Shu-Shu Moko Jumbi: The Silent Dancing Spirit, (Department of Pan-African Studies Monography Series, Vol. 1, No. 3, Spring, Kent State University, 1974).
AWARDS/Prizes
The Arts and Science Poetry Prize for poems published in POEZY 21:Antologia Festivaluluiinternational Noptile De Poezie De Curtea De Arges, Curtea De Arges, Romania, 2017.
Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize by the Editorial Board of The Caribbean Writer in June 2009 for publication (short story “Bitterleaf,”) in Volume 22, 2008.
Short story prize for “Easter Sunday,” Stauffacher English Short Story Competition/Switzerland 1995
Poetry Award for poem “Ole No-Teeth Mama,” Cuyahoga Community Writers Conference. 1974,
She is a recipient of a Breadloaf Writers' Scholarship.
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, founded in 1926 and boasting a rich literary and intellectual tradition, gathers together emerging writers to work closely with a diverse and talented faculty. For 10 days in August, conference attendees experience the intensity—and challenge—of working under the guidance of notable writers, including MacArthur Fellows, U.S. poets laureate, and recipients of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. The conference’s rural and scenic setting amid the Green Mountains on the Middlebury College Bread Loaf campus provides an ideal environment for discussing manuscripts, sharing insights, getting to know agents and editors, and becoming acquainted with the next generation of significant writers.
http://www.middlebury.edu/bread-loaf-conferences/bl_writers
This is good news. We just ordered a copy from Amazon and look forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteHave a great holiday!
All best,
David and Phillis
Thank you very much Phillis. Please give my regards to David.
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