The pioneering UK-based publishing company Bogle-L’Ouverture Press made its maiden appearance at a Carifesta last week with a display at the Book Fair in the National Park. The publishing house was established by Eric and Jessica Huntley in 1969 in London, and their sentiments are reflected in the name they chose for their venture – Bogle-L’Ouverture. Bogle was a black Jamaican freedom fighter and national hero, while L’Ouverture derives from Toussaint L’Ouverture, the dominant figure in the first phase of the Haitian Revolution which broke out in 1791. Both Eric and Jessica are Guyanese by birth but they have been activists in the UK and in the wider field of Europe on behalf of the Afro-Caribbean peoples for a long time.
Much of their activism has been expressed through their publishing choices. Today they are in their 80s but are still very much involved in the publishing business, working out of their London base. The first work which Bogle-L’Ouverture brought out in 1969 was probably the one for which it is best known – Walter Rodney’s Groundings with my Brothers, which explores the subject of finding common ground among Africans everywhere. It came out of Rodney’s experience of living and working in Jamaica, a country which eventually banned him. Last week the publishers were able to offer over 30 titles at Carifesta. The feature work on display was The Proverbs of Guyana Explained by Joyce Trotman. Trotman had rescued Reverend James Speir’s original collection published in 1902, supplying her own explanations for the sayings.
Bogle-L’Ouverture publishes poetry, historical texts and biographies, among other categories, and they like to encourage young Caribbean writers in the literary arts. This is the first Carifesta that the publishing house has participated in, and coming out of that they hope to further penetrate the local market. The agent for Bogle-L’Ouverture in Guyana is the Reverend Huntley, the nephew of Eric and Jessica Huntley, who has been in negotiations with the University of Guyana and the Ministry of Education about some of the company’s titles. Dr Ruth Huntley, the wife of Rev Huntley told Stabroek News that Carifesta had reached their expectations, although like the other publishers at the book fair she had reservations about the venue because of the exposure to the elements, the heat and the humidity, which are not good for books. Editor’s Note: We regret that there in no ‘Arts on Sunday’ today.
