More oil gushing into Gulf after problem with cap

Jun 23 02:50 PM US/Eastern
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press Writer

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This image from video provided by BP PLC early Wednesday, June 23, 2010...

Cleaned pelicans, formerly oiled from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, are...

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington,...

 

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Tens of thousands of gallons more oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday after an undersea robot bumped a venting system, forcing BP to remove the cap that had been containing some of the crude.

The setback, yet another in the nine-week effort to stop the gusher, came as thick pools of oil washed up on Pensacola Beach in Florida and the Obama administration tried to figure out how to resurrect a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.

 

When the robot bumped the system just before 10 a.m. Wednesday, gas rose through the vent that carries warm water down to prevent ice-like crystals from forming, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.

Crews were checking to see if crystals had formed before putting it back on. BP spokesman Bill Salvin could not say how long that might take.

"We're doing it as quickly as possible," he said.

Before the problem with the containment cap, it had collected about 700,000 gallons of oil in 24 hours and sucked it up to a ship on the surface. That's oil that's now pouring into the Gulf. Another 438,000 gallons was burned on the surface by a different system that was not affected by the issue with the cap.

A similar problem doomed the effort to put a bigger containment device over the blown-out well in May. BP had to abandon the four-story box after the crystals called hydrates clogged it, threatening to make it float away.

The smaller cap, which had worked fine until now, had been in place since early June. To get it there, though, crews had to slice away a section of the leaking pipe, meaning the flow of oil could be stronger now than before.

The current worst-case estimate of what's spewing into the Gulf is about 2.5 million gallons a day. Anywhere from 67 million to 127 million gallons have spilled since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers and blew out the well 5,000 feet underwater. BP PLC was leasing the rig from owner Transocean Ltd.

The Obama administration was plotting its next steps Wednesday after U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans overturned a moratorium on new drilling, saying the government simply assumed that because one rig exploded, the others pose an imminent danger, too.

Feldman, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, has reported extensive investments in the oil and gas industry, including owning less than $15,000 of Transocean stock, according to financial disclosure reports for 2008, the most recent available. He did not return calls for comment on his investments.

The White House promised an immediate appeal of his ruling. The Interior Department imposed the moratorium last month in the wake of the BP disaster, halting approval of any new permits for deepwater projects and suspending drilling on 33 exploratory wells.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement that within the next few days he would issue a new order imposing a moratorium that eliminates any doubt it is needed and appropriate.

"It's important that we don't move forward with new drilling until we know it can be done in a safe way," he told a Senate subcommittee Wednesday.

Several companies, including Shell and Marathon Oil, said they would await the outcome of any appeals before they start drilling again.

Asked about it Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show, BP managing director Bob Dudley said his company will "step back" from the issue while it investigates the rig explosion.

BP said Wednesday that Dudley has been appointed to head the new Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, which is in charge of cleaning up the spill. He takes over from BP CEO Tony Hayward, who has been widely criticized for his handling of the crisis.

In Florida, dozens of workers used shovels to scoop up pools of oil that washed up overnight, turning the sand orange.

Tar balls have been reported as far east as Panama City, Fla., and heavier oil is predicted to wash ashore further east along the coast line in the coming days. Oil has also washed up on beaches in Alabama and coated wetlands in Louisiana.

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Associated Press Writer Curt Anderson in Miami and Melissa R. Nelson contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS that tar balls were found as far east, not west, as Panama City.)

 

Federal officials halt sand dredging to create Gulf of Mexico oil spill barrier

Published: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 10:59 PM     Updated: Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 9:29 AM

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Federal authorities have ordered the state to stop dredging east of the Mississippi River, where sand from the bottom is being gathered to build barriers against the encroaching Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Gov. Bobby Jindal said.

Matthew Hinton, The Times-PicayuneSand dredging operations near the Chandeleur Islands were photographed on Tuesday.  

Jindal and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said federal authorities want the state to move a dredging site farther from the Chandeleur Islands, a sensitive chain of barrier islands.

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However, the Interior Department said the order was issued because the state was pumping sand from a sensitive section of the island chain and had failed to meet an extended deadline to install pipe that would tap sand from a less-endangered area.

The two Louisiana officials argue dredging should continue.

The dredging area includes the Chandeleurs and other barrier islands that are sensitive nesting grounds for species such as the brown pelican, which has been hit hard by oil washing up from the BP well 40 miles southeast of the mouth of the river.

Interior Assistant Secretary Tom Strickland said the berms are important in protecting marshes and wildlife. "But the berms have to be built right so they don't compromise the barrier islands, which serve as a first line of defense against storm surges and hurricanes," he said.

"We will continue to work closely with the state of Louisiana to move the project forward as we fight to protect Louisiana's coasts, communities and wildlife from the BP spill," Strickland said.

Strickland said the state originally agreed to take sand from an area in the northern Chandeleurs, but had been been pumping from a more sensitive area in the middle part of the chain. He said earlier this month the state asked for a week's extension on its agreement to run pipe to the more desired area but did not meet the deadline. "All we are trying to do is hold them to their own agreement," Strickland said.

Matthew Hinton, The Times-PicayuneSand dredging operations near the Chandeleur Island were photographed Tuesday.  

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Nungesser urged Obama to let the dredging continue.

Jindal said about 450,000 cubic yards of sand has been dredged in the area.

He said it would take about 5 days to build the pipeline federal authorities want to access the new dredging site. "It took so long to approve this project. We don't want to be tied up in more red tape," he said.

Jindal, a frequent critic of the BP and federal responses to the spill, has proposed building massive berms to intercept the oil before it gets to the coast. The plan has received partial approval from the corps. BP has agreed to pay $360 million for the project.

The Army Corps of Engineers oversees the permitting process. A corps spokesman says the permit has not been suspended.

The berm project has drawn criticism from some coastal scientists who fear it will change tidal patterns and could lead to more long-term erosion of the islands.

Cain Burdeau of The Associated Press wrote this report.

What Happened To All Those Bob Marley Films That Were Once Planned?

By Tambay, on June 20th, 2010

Almost 30 years after his death, we still have yet to see a theatrically-released biopic or documentary based on the life of Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley.

There have been a number of attempts over that last 11 years that either eventually died, or stalled, for one reason or another. So, what happened to all of them?

Let’s take a look shall we…?

First, there was the 1999 Warner Bros. project which was to be based on Timothy White’s 1998 novel Catch A fire: The Life of Bob Marley; the film was to star Bob Marley’s son Rohan (as Bob) and Lauryn Hill (as Rita Marley), but nothing ever materialized.

7 years later, in 2006, Jamie Foxx (of all people) was said to be starring as Bob Marley in a biopic that was to be directed by French-Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb, which was reportedly conceived by Rita Marley. As an aside, long-time readers of this blog will recognize Rachid Bouchareb’s name, as it’s come up a number of times – notably, his latest film, Hors La Loi (Outside The Law) caused quite a stir at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; also, recall his announced plans last year for an Angela Davis biopic which he was reportedly courting Beyonce to star in? Based on that, as well as his choice of Jamie Foxx to play Bob marley, I have to wonder about this fellow’s knack (or lack there of) for casting; really – Jamie Foxx as Bob Marley? Can’t see it. Can you imagine Jamie with Marley’s locks, putting on a proper Jamaican accent? It’ll probably resemble something closer to an In Living Color skit. As for Beyonce as Angela Davis… well, need I say more. Bouchareb did also direct London River and Little Senegal – both featured on this blog as well, but I’ve yet to see. None of them is available here in the states yet. In fact, not many of his films are.

 

But back to the Marley timeline… roughly 2 years after Bouchareb’s biopic was announced, in March 2008, the project died. Why? Music rights. You see, a month prior, February 2008, Martin Scorsese announced his plans to produce a documentary on Bob Marley’s life, and he had already licensed Marley’s music, which, somehow, Bouchareb and company hadn’t properly done. Eventually, along with the Marley family, Scorsese didn’t want the competition with Bouchareb’s Jamie Foxx-starring project (even though the Marley family was initially behind it). What I read about the matter was much more complicated than what I’ve written here, but it really came down to, Bouchareb’s project (which was announced 2 years prior) wasn’t really moving ahead (despite his attempts to capitalize on Jamie’s Oscar win for Ray), and Scorsese, who we could say wields much more industry power and influence than Foxx and the “outsider” Bouchareb combined, expressed his interest in a doc; and the Marley family, considering their options, likely felt that Scorsese gave them the best shot at seeing a film (whether documentary or biopic) based on Bob Marley’s life. Either that, or they came to realize how peculiar the casting of Jamie Foxx in the role was, and were eventually seduced by the Scorsese name.

So, Bouchareb’s film died, and Scorsese’s documentary was given life.

But not so fast my friends… Scorsese’s doc was initially set to be released on February 6, this year, 2010, on what would have been Marley’s 65th birthday. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Why not? Well… let’s go back to 2008 for a minute shall we…

In March 2008, literally right around the time the Bouchareb/Scorsese conflict was being sorted out, the Weinstein Company announced that they had acquired the rights to develop the first ever biopic about Marley, and the film was to be based on Rita Marley’s autobiography, No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley; this confused me because the Marley family had already given their blessings to Martin Scorsese’s project, which put the kibosh on Bouchareb’s biopic due to music rights issues; but they’d now granted the Weinsteins the opportunity to spearhead their own film based on Marley’s life; and it all seemed to happen right around the same time: Scorsese announcing his doc; Bouchareb’s biopic dying; and the Weinsteins announcing their biopic, and even calling it “the first ever,” as if they already knew that Bouchareb’s biopic was dead (it was officially announced about 2 1/2 weeks after the Weinsteins made their plans known).

In all, it appears to me that the Marley family was simply trying to give Bob a proper remembrance on film, and would go with whomever they felt provided them the best opportunity to ensure that happened.

“I’ve waited a long time to tell this story, about growing up in Jamaica and meeting Bob and making our music and falling in love and making our family,” Rita Marley said in a statement at the Weinstein’s announcement of their project.

At the time, Lizzie Borden (Working Girls) was to write the screenplay. IMDBPro still lists her as the writer.

So, what happened to Scorese’s documentary then? As I said already, the doc was set to be released on February 6 of this year, on what would have been Marley’s 65th birthday. However, Scorsese dropped out of it, several months later, reportedly due to “scheduling conflicts,” and he was replaced by Jonathan Demme. Great, right? However, last August (2009), it was announced that Demme had also left the project, despite the fact that he’d already put a lot of work into it, and was reportedly already in post-production. What happened? “Creative differences” with the documentary’s producers, who were said to have seen saw Demme’s first cut and weren’t impressed.

Demme later addressed the matter with the following statement, “Profound creative differences emerged in the course of the editing. I ended up with a film I adore but unfortunately my love is not shared by the people who paid for it. So we have all got our heads together to find the most positive way to deal with that impasse. I hope we do because I loved making it.”

So, it’s in Limbo now it seems. The statement was made in September 2009, 9 months ago, and I haven’t heard anything more on the doc since then (but maybe someone out there has and can share with the rest of us). Until I hear otherwise, I’ll assume it’s dead.. for now. It’ll likely turn up eventually. I’d guess that they’ve been working on new edits that everyone involved can live with.

So, really, the only Bob Marley film that seems to be in play at the moment is the biopic film announced by the Weinsteins in March 2008. But it’s been over 2 years, and nothing has surfaced. It’s listed as “In Development” on IMDBPro, and, as I said, Lizzie Borden is still listed as screenwriter. No director is yet attached.

It was supposed to go into production last summer, but it didn’t. I’m guessing the global financial/economic meltdown forced the Weinsteins to reign in spending, and put the project on hold indefinitely. They’d already shaken up their release slate because they couldn’t afford to release certain films in their library that already had release dates set. Money was tight, even for them.

And so where does all this live us? Well… nowhere really. The Marley family obviously has wanted to bring Bob’s life to the big screen for a decade or more now, in grand Hollywood fashion too, it seems, and I imagine all these starts and stops, and the uncertainties must be frustrating.

In the end, it may be something that they might have to produce independently.

CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood aired a short piece of the family earlier this morning, and that’s what prompted me to write this piece

via shadowandact.com

Jamaica, Life & Debt

The 2001 release Life & Debt documents how globalization has critically paralized the Jamaican economy. More info at www.lifeanddebt.org for your knowledge & overstanding.

Vallum Award for Poetry 2010 - ENTER TODAY!

George Elliott Clarke, Jan Zwicky, Paul Muldoon. 

Some of the best poets in the world have graced the pages of Vallum: contemporary poetry.  Time to join the ranks!

Vallum is accepting original and previously unpublished poetry submissions for the Vallum Award for Poetry 2010.  Winners will receive cash prizes and publication in the 7:2 issue of Vallum: contemporary poetry. 

ENTRY FEE: $20 CDN for Canadian residents, $20 U.S. for international entrants.  Includes a free one-year subscription to Vallum.

CONTEST RULES:

1. Submit up to six (6) poems of no more than 60 lines each. Do not label your poems with your name or address; instead include a covering letter with all pertinent information.

2. All submissions must arrive through regular mail.

3. Poems may be on any theme or subject, but must be original and not previously published.

4. 1st prize is $750, 2nd is $250. Honourable Mentions may be selected and published but are not eligible for cash prizes. 

5. Manuscripts will only be returned with a SASE and sufficient Canadian postage or an IRC.

All entries must be postmarked no later than June 30th, 2010.

Please mail to Vallum Contest, PO BOX 598, Victoria Station, Montreal, Quebec, H3Z 2Y6.

To pay your entry fees by PayPal, please use the buttons below. Please include your PayPal receipt number with your poem submission (reminder: all poems by mail). 

For Canada:

 

For Abroad:

 

The American Poetry Journal announces

The American Poet Prize for Poetry

The winner will receive $500 plus publication in The American Poetry Journal. All entries will be considered  for publication. Submit up to three original and unpublished poems (10 pages maximum total), cover letter with bio and contact information including email address, & SASE for results with a $16.00 reading fee ($19 for outside the US) to:

J. P. Dancing Bear, Editor
The American Poetry Journal
P. O. Box 2080
Aptos, CA 95001-2080.
IMPORTANT: Please make checks payable to:
Dream Horse Press LLC.

Or you can save yourself the postage, the trip to the Post Office, the cost of paper and an envelope and submit your poems in email and pay online:

Postmark Deadline: June 30, 2010.

Simultaneous submissions acceptable with notice. Multiple submissions acceptable with separate reading fee for each group of three poems.

All entries can purchase a year's subscription to The American Poetry Journal at a special reduced rate.

All selections and winners are made by the editor. Personal Friends, Relatives, and/or Students of the editor are NOT eligible for the contest and their entry fees will be refunded.

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The American Poetry Journal book prize
Guidelines & Information for 2010

The postmark deadline for entries to the 2010 The American Poetry Journal book prize is February 28, 2010. To enter, submit 50-65 paginated pages of poetry, table of contents, acknowledgments, bio, email address for results, No SASE (manuscripts will be recycled), and a $25.00 reading fee for each manuscript entered. The winner will receive $1000 and 20 copies. All entries will be considered for publication. Both free and formal verse styles are welcome. Multiple submissions are acceptable. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but if your manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere you must notify The American Poetry Journal and/or Dream Horse Press immediately. Fees are non-refundable. Judging will be anonymous; writers' names should not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Please include your name and biographical information in a separate cover letter. Please be sure to include your email address.  The winner is chosen by the editor of The American Poetry Journal, J.P. Dancing Bear, Close Friends, Students (former or present), and Relatives of the the editor are NOT eligible for the contest and their entry fee will be refunded.

The American Poetry Journal book prize entries may be sent, following the guidelines above, to:

The American Poetry Journal book prize
P. O. Box 2080
Felton, California 95001-2080

Please make checks payable to: Dream Horse Press.

Or you can now save yourself the cost of postage, paper, envelopes and a trip to the post office and email your manuscript and pay online:

YORKTOWN.NET PRESENTS
the 2010 INAUGURAL
FOUR SEASONS POETRY CONTEST
GENERAL RULES

YORKTOWN.NET WILL PAY OUT FOUR QUARTERLY PRIZES EACH IN THE AMOUNT OF $300.00 OR THE NOOK E-BOOK READER AND $100.00 SHOPPING CREDIT *

YORKTOWN.NET WILL PAY OUT ONE GRAND PRIZE IN THE AMOUNT OF $1000.00**

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ELIGIBILITY: Heretofore UNPUBLISHED poems are eligible. Each poet may submit a maximum of three poems each. If your work is copyright registered, you must include a separate letter of permission to use your copyrighted material for the purpose and intent of publishing. If your entry includes work that is "under contract" then it is considered PUBLISHED for the purposes of this contest and therefore is ineligible.

HOW TO ENTER: The United States Postal Service is the only mechanism for delivering your contest submission.

ENTRY / READING FEE: Your check (drawn on any US Banking institution) or money order in US currency must accompany your submission. Entry fee is $10.00 per poem, with a maximum of three poems. $10 X 3 = $30. Entry fees are NON-REFUNDABLE. A paid entry fee entitles the entrée to the right to download one copy of the Annual Four Season Poetry Anthology when it is published.

NOT RETURNABLE / REFUNDABLE: Your poems will not be returned to you. Your submissions will automatically be published in the annual FOUR SEASONS BOOK of POETRY. Entry fees received are not refundable. No changes may be made after the submission is received.

LIMITATIONS: Poems must not be longer than three pages each. Each person is eligible to enter each FOUR SEASONS quarterly poetry contest one time. Poems entered in other poetry contests are considered eligible. Poems that have won other poetry contests and that are published as a result are considered published and are therefore considered ineligible.

NOTIFICATION: If you wish to be notified of the receipt of your submission, please enclose a stamped, self addressed envelope. We will announce the winner for each of the four contests within 30 days of the respective deadline date. The winner will be contacted by telephone and also notified by mail.

COVER LETTER: Please include a cover letter with your submission for identification purposes. Give name, address, phone contact number and e-mail address. In your cover letter please include the type of verse, style and a list of the titles of your submitted work. In your cover letter please state in your own words that you are the author of the submitted work. Please don’t forget to sign and date the cover letter.

PHYSICAL FORMAT: Your poems must be typed or printed, cursive is not acceptable. If you are hand printing, you may use lined paper. For digital printers, use black ink, left align, 12 pt, sans serif font. Four sets of your poems must be provided, each stapled identically, three copies for the judges and one for publication. Please use standard white 8.5 x 11-inch paper, double spaced, one side only. The poem’s title should appear in capitals before the text and a "by" line should appear at the end with your name. A date may be placed, but be aware that for purposes of copyrights, a date stamp will be placed on each individual poem on the date received. 

ANNUAL FOUR SEASONS POETRY ANTHOLOGY: Every poem submitted will automatically be published in the Annual Four Season Poetry Anthology without additional cost to you. Every entrant will be entitled to download a copy of Annual Four Season Poetry Anthology in the year that it is published. A CD ROM of the Annual Four Season Poetry Anthology will be available for purchase in the spring of the year it is published.

ANNUAL BANQUET: Each of the the FOUR SEASONS poetry contest quarterly winners will be invited to the annual FOUR SEASONS poetry contest banquet in February 2011 in south Florida date and place TBA. There they will read their work and be judged by their peers in attendance. The winner of the runoff contest will be awarded a $1000.00 prize**. The banquet will be held in Beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

MAIL TO:
YORKTOWN.NET LLC FOUR SEASONS
P.O. BOX 283
LAKE WORTH, FL 33460-283

SUBMISSION CHECK LIST:
Four copies of each poem submitted
Cover letter with all contact information and signed
Entry fee $10.00 for each poem submitted maximum of three poems
Standard size #10 envelope is preferred
Stamped self addressed envelope if you wish notification of receipt.

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*Nook 6" screen $100.00 good at Yorktown.net
**$1000.00 prize is contingent upon a minimum number of entries.

Interview with Sandra Sealy, author of Beauty of the Bald Head

• Posted by CLS Features on June 20, 2010 at 7:00pm
• View CLS Features's article

SANDRA SEALY describes herself as “a Barbadian-Canadian raised artist clutching an English birth certificate, emerging from her chrysalis.” She is a former Literary Arts Officer with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) of Barbados, a former coordinator for the VOICES: Barbados Writers' Collective, and a former coordinator for and winner of the Irving Burgie Literary & Creative Arts Scholarship in Barbados. Sandra is also a performance poet and an award-winning writer of poetry, non-fiction, fiction and drama with work published in the region and beyond. Her poems have been recorded by Kolaiah Studios as a spoken-word jazz CD and her poem Beauty Of The Bald Head (1998) was reinterpreted as a music video directed by Dr. Gladstone Yearwood of the University of the West Indies in Barbados.

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Q-Your profile page says that you have an English birth certificate, are of Barbadian descent and have both Canadian and Bajan passports... Do tell.
Well, like many West Indians, my parents were a part of what I call “The Mass Exodus”. You’d be familiar with the period roughly between the 50s and the 70s where several Caribbean people migrated to England, Canada and the United States, in particular, in search of greater opportunity.
So Ishmael Morris (my Pops) and Myrtalene née Layne (my Mom) Morris left Barbados in the 60s and got married in England, where I was born, as well as my brother Ian two years later. When I was two, they moved to Toronto, Canada where I grew up and where my “baby” sister Sue was born another two years later. At twelve, my parents (thankfully, though it was a culture shock at first) decided they wanted to move back to Barbados where I spent my teen years and a goodly portion of my life to date.
So, if I could’ve gotten away with it, I’d have three passports and been a modern day West Indian Mata Hari (except for being an exotic dancer or maybe I would, hmmm…)!

Q-You are a writer and have seen your work published in a variety of magazines. Please tell us a little bit about your work. What genres do you cover? What are your major themes and settings?
I really enjoy exploring a number of genres. (Please forgive me if I don’t answer the questions in order LOL). As a little girl, my favourite subject was English and I wanted to be a journalist when I grew up. While I wouldn’t feel comfortable calling myself that, I do enjoy freelance writing and had started out about 14 years ago, with a small bi-monthly paper. Though I don’t recall getting paid or even a by-line, I was thrilled to see my first piece entitled, “Exploring Second Hand Bookshops” actually in print. I then started doing pieces for Barbados’ two local dailies, The Advocate and the Nation Newspaper, in particular, before moving onto more local, regional, online and one or two international publications.
The funny thing is, way before all this, as a child, I started out with scribbling short fiction stories. Then as a Liberal/Fine Arts student in 1984, at the Barbados Community College, I wrote my first play and ended up being a first place winner for the national Irving Burgie Literary Arts Competition. Much later I was encouraged to write my first poem in 1998 by two friends, via a bout rimé (end rhyme) exercise from Nailah Imoja’s “Rhyme and Reason” column.
Now I also write short stories including flash fiction and I blog. Working with young ones has engendered a couple stories and poetry for children. I’m also picking away at my first novel.
As far as themes and settings go, you can imagine that my moving around would have definitely influenced me. The bold and varied landscapes as well as the rich textures of our nation language and varying creoles and other expressions of our culture, that I appreciate from my own country Barbados as well as travelling in our region, greatly influence my choice of settings, I think.
Women’s issues, HIV AIDS, relationships, motherhood, and nature for sure-especially the sea-seem to appear most frequently as motifs in my creative writing. Our visual art and even music definitely birthed ekphrasis pieces (sounds like a horrible rash but actually a representation of a visual or graphic work inside a literary work).
Personal, life changing experiences like being the first one to talk to mentor Kamau Brathwaite at Cow Pastor, after his experience with ‘Namsetoura‘, is reflected in my poem Kamau’s Spider“, first published in NYU’s inaugural edition of of Calabash: A Journal of Caribbean Arts and Letters.

Q-How did you get started in writing? Were there special circumstances or people that influenced you on this path?
Since reading and writing go hand in hand, like many writers, I was a voracious reader as a shy child. I was such a nerd, I used to read everything including the backs of cereal boxes while having breakfast. Even walk and read at the same time - not impressing my mother one bit!
As I’ve said earlier, English Literature (and even the grammar and stuff) was always my first love and this was reflected in my decent English grades. I had great teachers. Mrs. Snow from 4th grade at Mill Valley Junior in Canada doesn’t know how much her reading “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory” entranced me. Then at the secondary level where I was introduced to Caribbean literature, my English teacher Mrs. Wendy Griffith-Watson at The St. Michael School in Barbados, continued the nurturing. Also had some fabulous Advanced Level English tutors at Barbados Community College like Esther Phillips and Dr. Viola Davis, where I was really exposed to our greats like V.S. Naipaul. Dr. Davis’ vivacity in particular, really made me appreciate poetry.
Years later, with freelance writing, I saw an ad in the paper and started a UK correspondence course (that I never finished) that gave me the courage to write and submit my first article. Then 1998, a little more bravado led to my first freelance Nation Newspaper piece for my Editor, Linda Deane (Shine Magazine). It was actually part travel writing and an exclusive review of the Lauren Hill concert in Trinidad.
I also had tremendous encouragement from editors like Robert Edison Sandiford, Orin Boyce, Dana Gilkes,Randy Baker and Mae Wayne.

Over the years, I’ve done many short courses/workshops, especially with the National Cultural Foundation but I would have to mention how much a summer poetry workshop at the Cave Hill campus with esteemed St. Lucian writer, Kendel Hippolyte, impacted my growth as a literary artist.
Also, it is really the nurturing environment of my writers’ group VOICES: Barbados Writers’ Collective (now led by Maureen Singh), founded by award-winning author Nailah F. Imoja, that was really instrumental about 14 years ago. I’ll never forget attending that first monthly meeting and reading that evening at the Barbados Museum. By then I had written my first article and a couple of poems. Everybody looked so erudite and I was scared shitless to go up for my first ever appearance at an Open Mic. Nailah was really patient and I was walking on air after the audience’s positive response to my work. Haven’t looked back since.
At each step of this journey, I’m grateful for the support of my family, especially my husband, Fred.

Q-What is your academic background? And what is your current day job?
I’m actually a college dropout. Did my first year BA degree at York University in Canada (when I returned for 3 years to work and study at 19), majoring in Business and minoring in French (Huh? The business major bizarre, I know!). Really should have stuck to what I loved instead of chickening out and doing the old “what’s-gonna-get-you-a-job” as far as school went. That madness and begging my mother’s pardon to come home to give birth to my daughter Sharice, resulted in my return to Barbados. In the end this decision, thankfully, led to my eventual return to the Arts. Upon reflection, I’ve benefited from the meandering.
Day job? At the centre of everything, I’m a writer-that’s the occupation listed at the moment in my passport(s). I also do some editing and corporate writing (press releases/profiles/advertorials/fillers/some web content etc.) and sometimes public relations consultancy. I also am fortunate enough to get paid for writing related projects as a creative writing tutor to several children who‘ve inspired “Aunty Sandra” (they‘ve won many awards) and as a storyteller.
Sharing information and giving back is the only way we’ll grow, so I have the privilege of being ‘Lit Mom’ or mentor to two (so far) talented, young writers, Jody Sandiford and Shakirah Bourne.

Q - You are a member of the editorial team at Anansesem, the new online magazine for Caribbean children's literature. More specifically, you are the Poetry editor. What exactly is it that you do here?
Anansesem was created by Summer Edward, “to provide a space to highlight the unique flavor of children's writing and illustration by Caribbean people, and to thereby recognize and stimulate the children's publishing industry in the Caribbean.” In my role as Anansesem’s Poetry Editor, I would be reviewing submissions written by Adults and children for the magazine.
It’s quite exciting. Anyone interested in submitting, must read the writing guidelines carefully at the site. Don’t send work to my personal address please! At the moment we are seeking submissions, including visual art, for our first volume due out in September 2010.

Q-Do you have a rigid writing schedule, or do you write whenever you feel like it/have the time for it? What challenges your writing schedule, and how do you tackle these challenges?
No, I don’t have “a rigid writing schedule” but there are times when I think I should in order to get more done.
Challenges? Biting off more than I can chew at times, some crazy bio-rhythms, a lack of consistent self-discipline, getting bored easily and balancing the creative with paying the bills.
I tend to get results by breaking my writing down into projects over an annual period to meet shifting creative priorities. I manage to get through them by writing down and executing writing goals. Some of them will be in stages to make it easier to meet.
There are other times I’m just inspired - maybe the middle of the night or after a writing festival or poetry reading/slam.
What’s pretty effective is visiting a new environment, like a hotel, for a few days purely to take a writing sabbatical. That always bears fruit.

Q-If you could publish your work in book form, which works would you choose for this, and why?
My aim is to apply some bum glue and finally finish my novel (the word count scares me but taking it a bit at a time). It’s not the great literary novel I thought I would write but escapist contemporary, commercial fiction which I also enjoy reading. Frankly speaking, I’d also like to be able to sell this first work that I write and I think this genre is a way to do that. I do have an agent who’s interested and potentially a Caribbean publisher. I’m really deriving pleasure from the interaction with the characters who are starting to tell me what they want to say.

I also want to write more children’s stories and take the very few that I do have, to another level.
I also want to see at least my first poetry collection, Chronicles Of A Sea Woman finally published. It gained an honorary mention from the Frank Collymore Literary Endowment. Except for pieces being anthologised here and there, it’s gathering dust.
Though not book form, I also look forward to more publishing in an increasingly popular way- by returning to the studio to complete my spoken-word & music album as well as collaborate with musicians like double bassist and singer/songwriter, Brian Wright in Canada. There’s actually something in the works now that’s getting me closer to that.
My spoken-word/jazz CD single Beauty Of The Bald Head (2004) and subsequent music video directed by Prof. Gladstone Yearwood, was really exciting. I’m ready for more.

Q-How would you like to see you writing develop in the next 5 years?
Besides completing my projects I’ve already talked about, I’m excited about exploring screen writing including for animation. Lots of scope there. In addition, I'd welcome more travel writing assignments including resort and restaurant reviews (nothing like getting paid to eat!) as well as editing projects.

Q-You run a Facebook group called Caribbean Writers. How did this come about, and what interests does the group cater to (on a broad scale)?
Caribbean Writers is really a more interactive extension of my blog platform/ website Seawoman’s Caribbean Writing Opps. After exploring Facebook, I realized how many Caribbean writers are connecting there and initially thought of it as a way to drive traffic to the site as well as exchange information with others. So I just set up a page. It turned into a great forum to discuss common issues and immediately share information about updates and offline Caribbean writing groups and related events. Today there are more than 250 members-mainly writers from a variety of genres-from over 22 countries, including 13 Caribbean territories.
A post by a member there (Joanne Hillhouse), actually led me to Caribbean Literary Salon.

Q-You also run two blogs under the name of Seawoman. How did you get started with these? And why are there 2 separate blogs?
Seawoman’s Caribbean Writing Opps. came about to make “order out of my disorder“.
After years of combing numerous resources-websites, e-newsletters, webrings, writing craft magazines-and losing post-it notes with scribbles (and hard drives crashing), for markets and writing competitions, I needed one uncluttered place for this information. The other reason is even after doing all that, how many of these opportunities are our writers actually eligible for?
My blogging buddy, noted writer, Geoffrey Philp gave me much needed guidance and suggestions to get me started. I’m not a techie though comfortable with a PC; I did a course in Desktop Publishing, knew a smattering of HTML and knew roughly what I wanted. So if this labour of love, worked for me, I figured other international (especially Caribbean) writers could get something out of it too. Today Seawoman's Caribbean Writing Opps enjoys a great Google ranking and is sourced by writers from all over the world, who don't even know me. The Wordpress platform allows me to track stats which are pretty decent, even when it's neglected at periods. It also redounded in a personal web presence (always good for a writer) which yielded in some direct opportunities: like being published in “Isla Firme” (Venezuela) and currently being contracted by a Caribbean self-publisher based in the US for a book review.
More of us Caribbean writers need to get even a webpage (like here at CLS) somewhere!

My (woefully neglected) Seawoman’s Caribbean Blogspot was more to delve into the more traditional form of web logging or blogging. I just wanted somewhere to record my thoughts and experiences related to living in a writing whirl.

Q-What is the story behind the name 'Seawoman'?
When I first moved to Barbados as a child, I was mesmerized by the beauty, serenity and the power of the sea and living on an island; something outside of my realm growing up in Canada. Apparently, I’m also a double Aquarian (please don’t ask me what the “double” signifies), the Water Bearer in astrology.

CLS: Thank you Sandra!

Sandra Sealy: Thank you, Anouska. I’m really honoured to be interviewed by CLS. You’re doing fantastic work here.

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Sandra Sealy can be reached through the following media:

Email: bcpbarbados[at]yahoo[dot]com
Blog: Seawoman’s Caribbean Writing Opps
Facebook.com: Sandra Sealy
Facebook Group: Caribbean Writers
Skype ID: bdseawoman
Twitter: SeawomanBDS
CLS Profile: Sandra Sealy

“The New Twenties” & “Punanny Diaries” (Web Series)

By Tambay, on June 18th, 2010

The web is the new frontier, as we’ve already mentioned on this blog. The production and distribution of content has been effectively democratized… for better and for worse, as content creators (including filmmakers) are aggressively taking advantage, as I believe they should. And the web series is just one of many products to emerge from those exploits.

We’ve already featured a few black web series on this blog. I’m learning that there are indeed quite a lot of them actually. It makes it difficult, and even daunting to weed through the bunch, and isolate the gems. And I admit I haven’t had the time to really do that, although it’s been on my calendar. Those I feature on this blog are usually sent to me by the creators. I guess that’s what you have to do if you want attention – instead of waiting to be found, let us know you exist. Aymar Jean Christian’s blog is probably a good place to start if you’re interested in finding out what’s out there, with regards to black web series specifically.

I received emails earlier in the month from the creators of the web series titles in the header – The New Twenties, created by Tracy Taylor, and The Punanny Diaries, created by a group of AFI grads (Phill Branch, Lisa Robinson, Sunny Fuller, Yolanda Buggs, and Shawnte McCall) and HBCU friends.

The New Twenties recently aired on television as part of the New York Television Festival’s NYTVF spotlight show, and may actually end up as its own TV series; also, it’ll screen at Writer’s Guild West as part of their first Web Series Showcase June 30th.

I haven’t watched enough of either series to fully form an opinion of them, but I just wanted to get them up here for the rest of you to check out, as I’ve been sitting on them for a bit. I embedded trailers for both series below. If after watching them you are intrigued enough to want to watch full episodes of each, here are links you’ll need to know: first to watch episodes of The New Twenties, CLICK HERE. I believe the series is up to episode 6 currently; and for The Punanny Diaries, which also looks to be at episode 6, CLICK HERE.

Afterward, be sure to let the rest of us (and the creators) know what you think; constructive feedback is a good thing!

Here are trailers for both; first, The New Twenties:

And here’s the trailer for The Punanny Diaries:

LUCILLE CLIFTON MEMORIAL

Jun

27

4:00 pm

SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 4pm – Poetry
Celebration of Light: A Tribute to Lucille Clifton
Everyone is invited to share their poems and memories of Lucille

“It will take a long time for many of us to truly accept a world that goes on without Lucille Clifton – one that goes on often without much apparent evidence of her profound existence for so many. We thought that an event would be in order, to recognize and testify to Lucille’s gifts, imprint, and traces, as the season of her birth begins. We envision an afternoon of multi-media, polyvocal experiences that call out to the spirit of Lucille, reciprocating what she did so well and long for all of us: personal vignettes, reading of favorite poems, film clips and excerpts from Lucille’s readings, and undoubtedly, some music.” – Nzadi Keita

Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 - February 13, 2010)

SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 4pm - POETRY   We at Moonstone refuse to mourn. Instead we choose to celebrate the life and work of those we love who have left this earth. There is no cover charge, but we ask that you bring something to eat or drink to share with the group.   Please join us to celebrate the life and work of Lucille Clifton on her 74th birthday, Sunday June 27 at 4pm. Join Nathalie Anderson, Herman Beavers, Dennis Kearney, Nzadi Keita , Aziza Kinteh, Aaron Yeatts Perry, Yolanda Palacio, Cherise Pollard, Sonia Sanchez, Evie Shockley, Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, Eleanor Wilner, and others as we remember Lucille, read her poems and our own about her. Come share your songs, poems, film clips, and personal stories. This event is co-sponsored by the Folger Shakespeare Library, Furious Flower Poetry Center, Germantown Poetry Festival, Moonstone Arts Center and West Chester University Poetry Center and takes place at The Moonstone Arts Center, 110A S. 13th Street, in Philadelphia.   Please forward this material to anyone you think would be interested.   Special Notice: We have just received a signed broadside of a poem by Lucille Clifton and a set of her books from Boa Editions to auction off to benefit The Moonstone Arts Center   For Lucille's bio: The Thoughts of a Woman: Lucille Clifton

Oil in the Gulf, two months later

62 days have passed since the initial explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the crude oil and natural gas continue to gush from the seafloor. Re-revised estimates now place the flow rate at up to 60,000 barrels a day - a figure just shy of a worst-case estimate of 100,000 barrels a day made by BP in an internal document recently released by a congressional panel. Louisiana's state treasurer has estimated environmental and economic damages from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could range from $40 billion to $100 billion. Collected here are recent photographs from the Gulf of Mexico, and of those affected by the continued flow of oil and gas into the ocean. (37 photos total)

The Q4000 drilling rig operates in the Gulf of Mexico at the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster Wednesday, June 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

2

James McGee vacuums oil in Barataria Bay on the coast of Louisiana, Sunday, June 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) #

3

Pelicans are released into the wild Sunday June 20, 2010, at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in to the Saint Charles Bay. Nearly 40 pelicans were brought from to the refuge from the Louisiana shores where they had been covered in oil. (AP Photo/The Caller-Times, Steven Alford) #

4

Smoke billows from a controlled burn of spilled oil off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico coast line June 13, 2010. (REUTERS/Sean Gardner) #

5

Oil soaked boom is seen near the base of a fishing pier on June 14, 2010 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images) #

6

(1 of 2) Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore in Orange Beach, Alabama, Saturday, June 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #

7

(2 of 2) Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore in Orange Beach, Alabama, Saturday, June 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #

8

Oil cleanup crews make their morning patrol along the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Wednesday, June 16, 2010. New waves of oil have not come ashore and cleanup work continues, leaving Alabama's beaches in much better condition than just a few days earlier. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #

9

Three oil-coated white ibis sit in marsh grass on a small island in Bay Barataria near Grand Isle, Louisiana June 13, 2010. These birds are being rescued and transported to the Fort Jackson Rehabilitation Center. (REUTERS/Sean Gardner) #

10

BP CEO Tony Hayward is surrounded by photographers as he arrives to testify about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico at the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 17, 2010. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque) #

11

Representative Steve Scalise holds up a photo of a pelican covered in oil as he questions BP CEO Tony Hayward during a House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on "The Role Of BP In The Deepwater Horizon Explosion And Oil Spill", in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 17, 2010. (ROD LAMKEY JR/AFP/Getty Images) #

12

Summer Burkes of New Orleans watches in the oil-stricken community of Grand Isle as President Barack Obama discusses the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in a an Oval Office speech, the first Oval Office speech of his presidency June 15, 2010. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #

13

An oil sheen sits on the surface of Barataria Bay June 19, 2010 west of Port Sulpher, Louisiana. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images) #

14

The dorsal fin of a dolphin is seen as clean-up workers collect tar balls of oil along a stretch of oil-contaminated beach June 14, 2010 in Grand Isle, Louisiana. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #

15

Oil floats off the bow of a boat in Barataria Bay on the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, June 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) #

16

In this June 18, 2010 satellite image provided by NASA, Oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig was visible on the surface of Gulf of Mexico. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite took this picture. The oil appears as varying shades of white, as sunlight is reflected off its surface. (AP Photo/NASA) #

17

A workboat skims oil from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, June 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #

18

Local fishermen hired to lay oil booms listen to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal during his tour of oil impacted areas in the Northern shores of Barataria Bay in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, Tuesday, June 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) #

19

A blue heron stands as oil cleanup boats work in the Perdido Pass in Orange Beach, Alabama, Wednesday, June 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #

20

This digitally enhanced satellite image captured by DigitalGlobe on June 15, 2010 and released June 17, 2010 shows part of the oil spill clean up effort in the Gulf of Mexico. This image leverages the different sensor bands of DigitalGlobe's WorldView-2 satellite to highlight the oil and dispersant. (REUTERS/DigitalGlobe) #

21

Oily absorbent booms lie piled up on a beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Wednesday, June 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #

22

Marc Provencher, a biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and based in Anderson, California, tries to catch a brown pelican covered with oil at Empire Jetty in the Gulf of Mexico, near Venice, Louisiana, June 15, 2010. Birds are caught and then cleaned at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) #

23

Plaquemines Parish Coastal Zone Management Director P. J. Hahn holds up an oil-stained Sandwich Tern in Long Bay on June 19, 2010 west of Port Sulpher, Louisiana. The bird was reported and delivered to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for rehabilitation. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images) #

24

Smoke billows from a controlled burn of spilled oil off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico coast line June 13, 2010. (REUTERS/Sean Gardner) #

25

Marsh grasses covered in oil are seen in Bay Jimmy, Thursday, June 17, 2010, near Myrtle Grove, Louisiana. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) #

26

Oil stained pelicans sit on a dredging hose in Barataria Bay June 19, 2010 near Port Sulpher, Louisiana. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images) #

27

Oil is seen in the deep recesses of marshland in the northern reaches of Barataria Bay, Louisiana, Thursday, June 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) #

28

Oil floats on the water June 14, 2010 off Grand Isle, Louisiana. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #

29

Boat captain Brent "Hollywood" Shaver talks with a client who canceled his fishing trip on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 in Orange Beach, Alabama. Shaver, a long time charter boat operator, is shutting down his inshore fishing business because of the gulf oil spill. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #

30

Jars of water mixed with oil that were collected from the Gulf Coast waters of Louisiana and Alabama are stacked in front of Gulf Coast residents as they attend a news conference on Capitol Hill June 16, 2010 in Washington, DC. About 90 residents from the Gulf Coast participated in a news conference to tell stories on how the oil spill has impacted their lives and to call on for a clean energy future. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) #

31

Oil clouds the surface of Barataria Bay June 19, 2010 near Port Sulpher, Louisiana. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images) #

32

A worker adjusts a casing pipe on the drill floor of the Development Driller II, which is drilling a relief well, at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on June 19, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. (Charlie Neibergall/Getty Images) #

33

Fire and smoke rise from a controlled burn of oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico near BP's Deepwater Horizon spill source on June 17, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace) #

34

Lawrence "Chine" Terrebonne makes fishing net in Chine's Cajun Net Shop on June 16, 2010 in Galliano, Louisiana. Due to the bans on fishing in many areas of the Gulf, Terrebonne, who has been making nets for 61 years, has experienced a drop-off in orders for new nets. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #

35

Oil covers the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on the vicinity of BP's Deepwater Horizon spill source on June 17, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace) #

36

Out of work shrimper Nolan Guidry stands beside his boat while waiting to be granted permission to go shrimping again due to the ban on fishing in much of the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill June 13, 2010 in Golden Meadow, Louisiana. Guidry, who must now subsist off of meager checks from BP, has been shrimping his entire life and comes from generations of shrimpers. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #

37

A boat patrols Perdido Bay as the sun rises in Orange Beach, Alabama, Saturday, June 12, 2010. Authorities closed the Perdido Pass to boat traffic amidst fears that large amounts of oil would flow into the pass on the tidal change. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #

More links and information

For the Crew of a Drill Ship, a Routine Task, a Far-From-Routine Goal - NYTimes.com, 6/20

Estimates of Oil Flow Jump Higher - NYTimes.com, 6/17

Partner Accuses BP of Recklessness - NYTimes.com, 6/18