Antigua and Barbuda

Jamaica Kincaid is not only a prolific Antiguan-American writer, she is also a professor at Harvard University. She is famous enough that Harold Bloom included her in his series of books, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. I read her book Annie John and there are more than one hundred books by her or about her listed on https://www.goodreads.com/. Her book A Small Place was banned by the Antiguan government at one point. (As many good librarians will tell you, it's important to read banned books.) I looked at the Harvard webpage to see if she is teaching any online classes this quarter, but she is on leave for the spring of 2020. Maybe next quarter!

Joanne Hillhouse is another Antiguan and Barbudan author with awards for teen and young adult books. You can get a preview of her book O Gad! A Novel at Google Books with links to purchase it if it catches your attention: https://books.google.com/books?id=NRsHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PP9&lpg=PP9&dq=oh+god+a+novel+joanne+hillhouse&source=bl&ots=dT40V1_BlN&sig=ACfU3U1FmmXnpXF0Ul725353PpxsckRrZw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiP_K3AnMDoAhUDRqwKHU8UC08Q6AEwDHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=oh%20god%20a%20novel%20joanne%20hillhouse&f=false

If you are searching for more books on Antigua and Barbuda, there are so many travel guides! You can also find quick travel videos on YouTube and a couple of history books at Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=antigua

To get an idea of food in Antigua, A Taste of History with Chef Walter Staib has an episode on Antigua and Great Chefs of the Caribbean has segments from Antigua in the 3rd and 18th episodes. Amazon offers episodes for 99 cents (or free on Amazon Prime). The Antiguan Bread Pudding recipe from Morgan Freeman & Friends: Caribbean Cooking for a Cause looks delicious!

If you were actually in Antigua or Barbuda you might see some of the things at this link: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-things-antigua-barbuda/. (Photo credit to thecrazytourist.com for the picture attached to this blog.)

When this pandemic is over, a trip to Antigua or Barbuda using your local travel advisor would be amazing! I hear that a beach in Barbuda has been renamed after Princess Diana as it was one of her favorite places to vacation. Shout out to my favorite travel advisor, Kaitlin Darnell at Laura's Travel in Redlands. May the travel industry survive and thrive - may we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Antigua, Barbuda, and throughout the world.