According to Charles these evenings are a part of a weekly spoken word session called Summer Speaks. She explained that Summer Speaks was an initiative started by her last July in order to give local, young poets a medium to showcase their work and allow audiences to see the best of what St. Maarten had to offer as it concerned poetry.
"Last year Summer Speaks was really successful. We started out small, in terms of attendance, and continued to grow throughout the month of July. Both the poets and those that came out to hear them all enjoyed the event and because of that I had to bring it back again this year," Charles said.
Last week's lineup included young poets Daniella Arrindell, Peter Lake, Shanica Richardson, Lucinda Audain, Rene Violenus and Charles herself. This week artists are Lorenzo "Sigma" Gomez, Deborah Drisana Jack, Gino Ollivacce, Rochelle Ward and Dion Gumbs. Charles herself would also again take the mic. The majority of the evenings would be emceed by Clara Reyes, whose Imbali Center for Creative Movement remains a tremendous support to this endeavor.
Charles explained that the format of the evening was as follows; attendees arrive at the restaurant at 8pm sharp and are served dinner, after which they receive dessert and the poets take to the mic for roughly an hour of spoken word at 9pm.
This year all 5 nights of Summer Speaks will be held at the Crazy Thyme restaurant on airport road (across from the Winair ticket office), where dinner is prepared by chef Andreas Sczcypiorski. Charles said that she wanted to extend appreciation to Sczcypiorski and Bevil Byam for their willingness to host this year's evenings. This Tuesday will be the second night of poetry, with the remaining days being July 13, 30 and 27.
"Crazy Thyme is a beautiful location and the mood once the poets begin to recite is amazing. I believe that this event is not one to be missed, especially for those who really enjoy delicious meals and of course poetry. So I'm encouraging everyone to come out and support us this Tuesday again," Charles said.
She explained that seating at Crazy Thyme is limited so all interested in attending should purchase their tickets in advance. Tickets cost $25, which includes dinner, dessert and a drink and then the spoken word. They can be obtained at the restaurant or by calling Charles at 522-2513 or 586-1266.
