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<div dir="ltr"> <div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">Please join us for the Cleveland Premier of <strong>"Poetry is an Island,"</strong> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">a new </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">feature documentary about the life and work of St. Lucian </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">Nobel Laureate </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">poet, playwright and painter <strong>Derek Walcott</strong> at </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Karamu House</strong> on <strong>Sunday, </strong></span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;"><strong>August 17th, from 2 to 5 pm</strong>. It's </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">a </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">celebration of the importance of the arts </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">in everyone's life.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">The program will include live St. Lucian Steelpan music, a reading </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">from </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">the Derek Walcott play "Dream on Monkey Island," images </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">of </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">Derek Walcott's </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">and his son Peter Walcott's paintings and an </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">80 </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">minute feature documentary </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">about Derek Walcott's life </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">followed </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">by </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">a live Skype Q&A interview with the </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">director of the film, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">Ms. Ida Does, </span><span style="font-size: medium;" data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">from The Netherlands.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Tickets at the door ($12).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" data-mce-style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Sponsored by the </span></strong><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" data-mce-style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong>the </strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" data-mce-style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" data-mce-style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">presented </span></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" data-mce-style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">by the </span></strong></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" data-mce-style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Cleveland </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" data-mce-style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Foundation</span></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><strong>More about the film:</strong></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><em>"Derek Walcott, Poetry is an island,</em> is a feature documentary film about </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">Nobel </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">laureate, poet, playwright, and visual artist, Derek Alton Walcott </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">(1930). </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">The film </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">depicts an intimate portrait of Walcott, as we visit his art </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">studio, his childhood home, </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">and his current residence in St. Lucia. It also </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">includes exclusive archive material </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">from the Nobel Prize Festivities in 1992. Finally, and perhaps most </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">importantly, </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">this </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">film is about Walcott’s poetry.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">Derek Walcott grew up in St. Lucia–Castries–in a small family. His father </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">died when </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">he was very young, and so, Derek, his twin brother Roderick, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">and their sister </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">Pamela, were raised by their single mother. Walcott is of </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">African, English and Dutch </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">descent. He grew up in an artistic ambiance, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">his father being a painter and writer, </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">and his mother–a teacher–encouraging </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">him from early on to write poetry.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">In <em>Po</em><em>etry is an island</em> we share Caribbean moments with Walcott as we </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">visit some </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">of his favorite places, his studio, and St. Lucia home. We travel </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">through St. Lucia </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">and encounter childhood friends whose ‘lives became </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">poetry’ through Walcott’s </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">work. We discover the anger and frustration that </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">the poet holds against the </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">downtime of the arts as he talks to us about the </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">meaning of poetry to him </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">personally, and about the significance of art for </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">humanity. Family members reveal </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">some of the poet’s life challenges, and </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">people who have worked with him speak </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">frankly about their experiences </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">with Walcott. <em>Poetry is an island</em> is an intimate </span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">portrait of the man, the poet, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">and son of the Caribbean: Derek Walcott."</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.walcottfilm.com/" target="_blank"><font color="#0068cf">www.walcottfilm.com</font></a> </span></div></div>
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