A year-end reading

“What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.

Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave.

They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”

Anne Lamott, American novelist and non-fiction writer

Worlds will unfold today as the Paper Based Bookshop holds its final Evening of Tea and Readings for the year.

Stories of TT’s famed dancer Beryl McBurnie, the construction of Port of Spain and more will be shared at the Hotel Normandie from 4.30 pm. Newsday’s editor in chief Judy Raymond, spoken-word poet Arielle John, author Stephen Stuempfle and historian Fr Anthony de Verteuil will share from their works.

John, who is no stranger to the local and regional spoken-word scene, a release said, “will join us to perform a range of pieces, including her recently-published work in CULTUREGO Magazine. An accomplished poet, John staged her first one-woman play, ‘Bout Blue, at the Little Carib Theatre this August.”

Raymond will read from her brand-new biography of Beryl McBurnie, published by the University of the West Indies Press. Raymond is also the author of The Colour of Shadows: Images of Caribbean Slavery, as well as biographical studies of goldsmith Barbara Jardine and deisgner Meiling.

The release said her latest work “is a welcome addition to our nonfiction landscape, and a timely one, as we contemplate McBurnie’s titanic contributions to our arts.”

Stuempfle’s Port of Spain: The Construction of a Caribbean City, which almost “packed the Old Fire Station to its rafters at this year’s NGC Bocas Lit Fest” will be shared again. Raymond described Stuempfle’s book as as “a knowledgeable and earnest Odysseus, showing off the unappreciated or forgotten beauties of an unlikely Ithaca.”

De Verteuil, described as “unquestionably one of TT’s most beloved and prolific historians,” will read from his large body of work, which includes Trinidad’s French Legacy and Western Isles of Trinidad.

The release said his work “sets a gold standard for non-fiction writing on the people, places, family lines, multiple heritages, and architectures” of TT. Tickets are available at Paper Based Bookshop, Hotel Normandie, St Ann’s, and must be purchased before the event.