Second International Conference on Publishing in the Caribbean

WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO, OCTOBER 29-31, 2003

The Caribbean Publishers Network (CAPNET) in collaboration with UNESCO, The Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies and the Prince Claus Fund, is pleased to announce the staging of the Second International Conference on Publishing in the Caribbean.

The conference will be held in Willemstad, Curaçao in the Dutch Antilles from October 29-31 and will have as its theme:

“Globalisation and Caribbean Publishing: Challenges and Opportunities”.

Globalisation is not simply a buzzword or a temporary fad, but a real issue that has fundamentally changed the way in which world works in virtually all aspects of human relationships. Small nations like those which make up the Caribbean region are especially vulnerable to these forces that operate within and across national boundaries, in the process, creating a borderless world, one which opens up our economies to the rich and powerful while at the same time making it more difficult for us to penetrate and compete in their markets. The removal of these ‘borders’ is not confined to the trade in goods, services and people but extends to sensitive areas such as education, culture and health. One major concern of the 2003 CAPNET conference is the global spread of HIV/AIDS and how we in the publishing community can and must respond to this global phenomenon that has entered our geographical space with devastating effects.

But while the phenomenon of globalisation has created new challenges to our survival as small nations, it has also created opportunities, which if creatively exploited through use of the advanced technologies and communication facilities that are now available, can result in increased productivity and widespread market reach. The Conference will seek to address some of these issues as they relate to publishing and the cultural industries in general, placing equal emphasis on the challenges as well as the opportunities.

CONFERENCE FEATURES

The 2003 Conference promises to be as stimulating and wide-ranging in its programme as the first conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica two years ago. Participation is expected from practitioners in the book industry from Africa, the Caribbean, Britain and Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America. A special invitation has been extended to members of the Canadian book industry as CAPNET seeks to develop a relationship with practitioners in that country and a strong participation by our African colleagues is also anticipated.

In addition to the actual conference there will be two allied events, one preceding and the other following the conference. In keeping with the CAPNET strategic plan to focus on the development of publishing for HIV/AIDS, a one-day workshop on publishing for HIV/AIDS (education) will be held on 28 October. The workshop, which is being sponsored by UNESCO, will also be held in Curaçao and will be open to all CAPNET members who are urged to register as soon as the information becomes available, as space will be limited.

A second feature of the 2003 Conference will be the opportunity for CAPNET members to participate as exhibitors in the annual National Book Fair organized by Fundashon Material Pa Skol (FMS) which will take place on November 2.

The Conference Convenor and Programme Chair is CAPNET’s immediate Past President, Ian Randle and the Chairperson of the Local Organizing Committee is Council member Meyrtha Leetz-Cijntje. The CAPNET Secretariat in Kingston will have overall responsibility for communication and general co-ordination leading up to the conference.

CONFERENCE VENUE

The conference will be held at the Kura Hulanda Conference Centre, situated in the historic centre of Willemstad, with 21st century state-of-the-art facilities.

CONFERENCE HOTEL

The conference hotel will be the Hotel Kura Hulanda, a 100-room 5-star luxury urban resort located within an 8-block village complex, which includes the Conference Centre, the Museum Kura Hulanda (a world acclaimed anthropological museum) and the Jacob Gelt Dekker Institute for Advanced Cultural Studies.

Space at the Kura Hulanda will be limited and early booking is strongly recommended. The local organizers will however be arranging additional accommodation at nearby hotels, including the Hotel Otrabanda, Howard Johnson and the Curacao Plaza---all within easy walking distance of the Conference Centre.

Information on Conference and workshop fees, hotel/airline rates and booking arrangements are available on our website, provided below.

PROVISIONAL CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Outlined below is the provisional conference programme. While the programme aims to conform to the general conference theme, the organizers will consider suggestions/proposals for the inclusion of issues and topics that are of concern to Caribbean publishers.

Tuesday 28 October

9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
UNESCO-sponsored workshop on Publishing for HIV/AIDS (education)

7:00 p.m.
Opening Ceremony for the CAPNET conference followed by cocktail reception. Keynote address by Sir George Alleyne, UN Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS

Wednesday 29 October

9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
(Paper) Globalisation & Caribbean Publishing
Prof. Hilary McD Beckles, Pro Vice-Chancellor & Principal UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados

9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
(Paper) The International Publishing Market and the Impact of Globalisation: Dirk Koehler, Publisher, The World Bank

Coffee Break

11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
(Panel) THE HIV/AIDS CHALLENGE: A PUBLISHING RESPONSE HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean: Why a publishing response is urgently required: Jones Madeira (CAREC)

Commercial Publishing and the AIDS epidemic: The African Experience: Graham van der Vyver, Longman South Africa

The AIDS Epidemic: International Publishing Experience Representative

Financing for HIV/AIDS publishing in the Caribbean
Mike Morrissey, Senior Education Consultant, UNESCO Office for the Caribbean

Lunch

2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
(Panel) Exploiting the new technologies: Producing more efficiently for the local, regional and international market

(i) Digital Printing Advances: Presented by Quebecor World
(ii) Print on Demand Advances: Presented by Book Surge
(iii) Automation of the publishing process: Presented by Desmond Leetz
(iv) Practical experiences from the use of Digital & POD
Printing: Presentations by Mary Jay, African Books Collective , UK and Christine Randle, Ian Randle Publishers, Jamaica

4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
SPECIAL PANEL ON THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN “ Nation, Culture, Identity and Language in Curacao and the Dutch Caribbean” : Frank Martinus Arion, Curaçao

The Linguistic Duality of the English-speaking part of the Dutch Antilles: Implications for teaching national literatures by Rhoda Arrindel, University of St. Martin

“Publish and be Blessed”- The role of indigenous publishing houses in consolidating a Caribbean Literary Tradition” by Fabian Adekunle Badejo, editor of Today newspaper, St. Martin.

This session will be immediately followed by the launch of a book entitled Salted Tongue: Modern Literatures of St. Martin, Hosted by House of Nehesi Publishers.

Thursday 30 October

ACCESSING THE REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MARKET

9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
“The new trade regimes (CSME; FTAA; WTO): how will they affect the way we do business in the Caribbean?”- Dr. Richard Bernal, Chief Regional Negotiator, Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM)

9:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
(Panel) Markets and Market Penetration Marketing in Canada: Dr Jack Wayne, President, Canadian Scholars Press and Women’s Press

Marketing Caribbean Books in the UK: Mr. John La Rose, Founder and Operator of New Beacon Books, London

The Market for Caribbean Books in Africa and the potential for an African/Caribbean trade in books: Presented by African Publishers Network and the Zimbabwe International Book Fair.

Break

11:15 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Panel) The Library Market

(i) Working with a Library Wholesaler (Yankee Book Peddler)
(ii) The Canadian Library Market (Paula de Ronde, formerly Community Outreach Co-ordinator, Toronto Public library)
(iii) The Academic Library Market in the USA (Catherine Marsicek, Director, Latin American and Caribbean Information Services Librarian , Florida International University)
(iv) The Caribbean Library Market (Mrs Shamin Renwick, President of ACURIL)

Lunch

Lunchtime speaker: Raymond Santiago, Director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System and ALA “Librarian of the Year 2003”.

2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(Panel) Penetrating the Market

(i) A distributor’s Advice: Harold B. Fenn, President and CEO H.B. Fenn & Co, Canada
(ii) How to get your books noticed and on to the bookshelves
(iii) Reaching the Ethnic/Diaspora (alternative) market in the USA; techniques, strategies and approaches.

Break

4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
(Panel) Building an Indigenous Textbook Publishing Industry

(i) The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC): Catalyst in the development of indigenous textbook publishing by Lucy Steward, Registrar (CXC)
(ii) “Exploding the Myth”; A Jamaican publisher’s success in local textbook publishing by Shirley Carby, Managing Director, Carlong Publishers Jamaica
(iii) The response of British textbook publishers to the growth of indigeneous textbook publishing in the Caribbean: Challenge or Retreat? Macmillan Publishers
(iv) “Measuring up to the Challenge”: A bookseller assesses how Caribbean publishers measure up in the areas of marketing, distribution and service by Keith Austin, Days Books, Barbados

Friday 31 October

9:00 a.m. to 10: 30 a.m.
(Panel) The Writer and Writing in the Caribbean: An Issue of Survival?

Proposed Panelists: Earl Lovelace; Nancy Morejon; George Lamming Edwidge Danticat; Anthony Winkler etc.

11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
(Panel) “Is there life after Harry Potter?” Writing, Publishing and Marketing Children’s Literature

(i) Promoting Children’s Literature through storytelling: Itah Sadhu, Author, Storyteller and Bookseller (A Different Booklist, Toronto, Canada)
(ii) The International Children’s Digital Library: Jane White, Director International Children’s Digital Library Internet Archive
(iii) Publishing Children’s books in local language: The experiences of Fundashon Material Pa Skol (FMS) Curacao and Charuba Publishers, Aruba, Morton Publishing, Trinidad and author Diane Browne, Jamaica.

Lunch Time Speaker; Austin (Tom) Clarke, Winner of the 2003 Commonwealth Writers Prize “The writer and his public responsibilities”

2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(Panel) “ Publishing Caribbean Fiction and Poetry”: Contributions from publishers in the Caribbean, Canada and the UK.

Proposed speakers: Mike Henry, LMH Publishers, Jamaica; Jeremy Poynting, Peepal Tree Books, UK and Denise Bukowski, The Bukowski Agency, Toronto, Canada

4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Conference Wrap-Up and Summary

5.30 p.m.
CAPNET Annual General Meeting