Island Voices -- a brief
history
Island
Voices 3 is a partnership run by Loughborough and De Montfort Universities
to continue and expand on the East Midlands' programme of international
writers' exchanges.
Island
Voices started as an initiative by an East Midlands Arts Board member,
Martin Glynn. There have been two previous programmes involving the
East Midlands based on a close partnership with the Institute of Jamaica.
The vision has now been expanded to include other island countries,
namely Iceland and Ireland.
The
pilot project took place over autumn 1993 and spring 1994 with writers
Annie Dalton and Wolde Selassie from the East Midlands and Mbala and
Stafford Ashani from Jamaica.
Island
Voices 2 ran over autumn 1996 and spring 1997. Exchange writers were
Russell Watson from Barbados and Melvina Hazard from Trinidad with Chester
Morrisson and Richard Pinner from the East Midlands.
The
widening of the Island Voices family has been achieved in collaboration
with the Association of Icelandic Writers in Reykjavik, Iceland and
the Irish Writers' Centre, Dublin, Ireland.
Tony
Graves,
Island Voices 3 Co-ordinator
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