Barbara Lalla, prolific novelist and professor emerita of language and literature at the UWI, St Augustine, is in focus at the Writers Centre this month.

On July 27, from 3.30 pm, she will read from her newest book, By Such a Parting Light (UWI Press), a novel of intergenerational relationships under the influence of the covid19 era, a media release said.

Lalla will also take part in a question-and-answer session with Shivanee Ramlochan, Bocas Lit Fest festival and programme manager. The event will be open to questions and comments from the audience.

Copies of the novel, as well as Lalla’s previous books, will be available at Paper Based Bookshop, which will remain open after the event for signings and browsing.

[caption id="attachment_1097873" align="alignnone" width="640"] Barbara Lalla -[/caption]

“I always look forward to Bocas Lit Fest events and am eager to support them. This time, there’s the added delight in having my own work celebrated, particularly at the natural home for such happenings – the Writers Centre,” Lalla said in the release.

Reflecting specifically on By Such a Parting Light, Lalla adds, “This book is special to me because I’ve wanted for years to write about writing the Caribbean, especially about writing on age-old themes like love, loss, and resilience, but in a way that would set domestic calamity in a tiny island against a backdrop of global violence and plague. Looking out of lockdown here, at the machinations of great and powerful nations, I’ve found myself stunned by wildly different alternative notions of civilisation and enlightenment. So I’m truly excited about the reading and the lively discussion to follow.”

The event is free and open to the public.

The Writers Centre, 14 Alcazar Street, St Clair, is the home of the Bocas Lit Fest, Paper Based Bookshop and a branch of Full Bloom Coffee.

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