PHILIPSBURG:--- SOS: Season of Storms by Fabian Adekunle Badejo is the newest HNP title in St. Martin bookstores and in the hands of island readers. Now SPD is recommending the poetry book in the USA, said Jacqueline Sample of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).
SOS: Season of Storms is “A frank, passionate description of a life in the Caribbean impacted by hurricanes, power outages, health crises, and pandemic … and provides insight into St. Martin protests,” said Jeannine Hall Gailey, an American poet.
Small Press Distribution released its periodic “SPD Recommends” last Thursday and the St. Martin book was on the list of 15 new titles at SPDbooks.org. The California-based SPD is a key distributor for indie publishers in the USA, said Sample.
In a crucial review of the book, the Catholic Bishop of Oyo, Nigeria, wrote, “For all the existential toxicity exposed in his poetry, Badejo still holds the sun between his fingers without being burnt.”
Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo further stated, “I am inspired by the author’s rebellious but tender attentiveness to the plight of tortured and twisted humanity.”
For its recommendation to US readers, SPD quoted from the SOS introduction by researcher and author Mark Yokoyama in St. Martin: “Many of its best moments are simple stories about people. An old woman sits in the wreckage of her home, ...
“There is searching, sweating and wading through water. Corned beef is eaten and children run after chickens. People pray and sing and wait.
“People fight for their homes, and their ‘feet beat the ground to dust.’ These are poems about survival, life, and the daily work of turning an often troubled island into a homeland of justice and freedom.”
Throughout the collection, “Badejo’s voice is intimate and tinged with humor,” said Gailey, herself an award-winning writer.
SOS: Season of Storms is available at Van Dorp, Arnia’s, SOS radio station, and from Amazon and SPD bit.ly/3hBBUuG, said Sample.
Badejo is also the author of Claude — A Portrait of Power, Salted Tongues — Modern Literature in St.Martin, Fantasies – Love-making poems, and co-author of Maroon Lives – Tribute to Maurice Bishop & Grenadian Freedom Fighters.
He is well known throughout St. Martin and neighboring islands as a journalist and as the producer/host of “Culture Time,” the weekly cultural magazine on PJD2 radio.
