Brooklyn, NY – Award-winning Jamaican writer, Janet Morrison, will add her dramatic, vibrant collection A Different Me A Better You to First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum. The event, An Evening of Poetry and Storytelling, takes place Saturday, August 3, 2024. Morrison joins an amazing slate of poets and storytellers bringing riveting Caribbean stories to the museum.
A Different You a Better Me celebrates diversity and inclusivity. The stories feature the struggles and triumphs of children living with disabilities. The book has been lauded for its presentation of these children as everyday heroes. A Different Me A Better You won the Jean D’Costa Prize for Children’s Literature (Lignum Vitae Awards, 2015) and was shortlisted for the Bocas Lit Fest Children’s Book Prize.
Morrison described herself as equal parts anxious and elated to be in the line-up. She remarked that she believes it’s important for more writers living in the region to connect with the Diaspora.
“We owe it to our young people,” Morrison said. “They must know that they have a rich heritage in literature of every kind. And that it continues. Playwrights, poets, novelists, historians, screenwriters. We’re still here. And we should make this be known.”
Brooklyn Museum in collaboration with the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival stage the event. During its short time in the Brooklyn literary space (six years), BCLF has energized Caribbean literature in the city.
The Brooklyn Museum as a cultural beacon in the heart of Brooklyn is a fitting home for this stellar literary event celebrating and showcasing Caribbean writers: Roberto Carlos Garcia (Dominican Republic), Omotara James (Trinidad), Christina Olivares (Cuba), Anesia Alfred (Guyana), and Devorah Mortimer (Jamaica and Trinidad). It gets underway at 5:30pm and is slated for the Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery (5th Floor).
An Evening of Poetry and Storytelling presents powerful storytelling and the chance to connect with a community of readers passionate about Caribbean writers and stories.
