We look forward working with you:
Cassilda J. Thomas Brookes
Born in Anguilla in 1989, Mrs. Cassilda Thomas Brookes has always had a passion for reading and writing, particularly stories for children and poetry. She is a 2006 graduate of the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School and currently holds the position of Library Assistant and facilitator of the Children Reading Program at the Anguilla Library Service. She is a first and second prize winner of the Anguilla Library Annual Malliouhana Poetry Competition and her work has appeared in the local newspaper “The Anguillan” and in the Anthology, “Where I See The Sun: Contemporary Poetry in Anguilla” under the pen name “Darkangel.”
She is also a member and has performed with the following organizations; The Sunshine Theatre Company, The Klassique Academy of Dance and Performing Arts, The Under Ground Poetry Group and the Anguilla Toastmasters Club which all play a major role in honing her craft. She is married and lives in Anguilla with her two children and husband, Mr. Awlton Brookes who illustrates all of her children stories. ‘Anansi and the Hurricane’ is her first children’s book.
Alick Lazare
Alick Lazare is the author of Pharcel: Runaway Slave (a historical novel about the maroons of Dominica), Kalinago Blood (a fictional account of the genocide of the Kalinago tribe in the Eastern Caribbean), Nature Island Verses (a volume of poetry on the themes of Love, Life and Politics), and a collection of short stories – Carib and Other Stories.
One of his stories, Carib, was chosen for inclusion in Under the Perfume Tree, a collection of Caribbean stories published by The Macmillan Caribbean Writers Series. A poem, Little Bird, from his book, Nature Island Verses, has been selected for publication in an anthology to be released in 2015 by the Commonwealth Education Trust.
In his two novels, writing from the perspective of his subjects and telling their story as seen from their own eyes and with their own voice, he has been a revisionist of colonial history and has brought new understanding of the nature of his subjects and the narrative of their past.
Born in Dominica 17th. October 1934, Alick Lazare was a career civil servant, Financial Secretary and regional consultant in government finance; and, on retirement, spends his time on historical research and exploring Dominica’s literature.
Martha Nelson
Martha Nelson is a graduate of the University of the Virgin Islands where she obtained a Bachelor and an Associate Degree in Inclusive Early Childhood Education. She was born in village of St Joseph in the Commonwealth of Dominica. In her formative years she attended the St. Martin Vocational and the St. Joseph Government Schools, in Dominica before migrating to St Croix USVI.
Having qualified as a teacher she taught grades 1, 2, and 3 at the Amber School in St Croix and did home schooling and tutoring in her spare time. In the school year 2018-2019 the author taught at Excellent Academy at Estate La Reine. She is currently a retired teacher from the Department of Human Services Head Start program. It was While working with young children in the age range 2-5 years for about thirteen years, she saw the tremendous impact that poetry and songs could have on children in their early learning development. Martha Nelson is the mother of two grown children and is currently pursuing a Masters’ Degree in the Educational Leadership program at the University of the Virgin Islands. Having Fun with Poetry is her first published book.
