Launching of Robert Lee's 'Artefacts'

Contact: Ayodele Hippolyte

Wednesday, September 20, 2000 - It was a historic moment for St. Lucia’s literary community when one of the island’s foremost poets, John Robert Lee, launched his latest collection ‘Artefacts’ on Tuesday at the Department of Culture. The launching is being described as historic because for the first time a local company, Mayers Printing Company Limited, is publishing a Saint Lucian writer’s work.

In expressing his gratitude to Mayers, Lee said that the growth of local publishing is inevitable as St. Lucian writers seek to market their work locally and regionally. He was optimistic about the future of local publishing, which he said is "something which must happen as an industry in St. Lucia…because it makes good business sense…and of course, the writers and artistes need publishers to publish their work".

Managing Director of Mayers Printing, Guy Mayers, said that his company wants to support indigenous creativity and in the future, would like to publish young writers in particular, who may not get published otherwise. He feels that local publishing provides a valuable way to "help our local artistes to make it as writers" and to compete with material coming out of North America.

In a similar vein, poet and playwright, Kendel Hippolyte, who also spoke at the launching, said that it was fruitless to complain about competition from foreign influences if the society does not generate its own work. He was impressed with Mayers’ initiative and hoped that other members of the business community would also recognise that they can play a critical role in the development of the arts.

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