CAPTURED BY CORONA Featured on Kids’ Place Radio | SOUALIGA NEWSDAY

SAINT-MARTIN (MARIGOT) - Student writers from Sint Maarten Montessori School and Caribbean International Academy joined Beyond Kultura Events Foundation founder Loekie Morales to read their poems from the Covid-themed anthology, Captured by Corona, on SOS Radio’s Kids’ Place Radio show on Sat., March 5.

Published by Beyond Kultura in 2020, Captured by Corona is a collection of poems and letters from student and adult writers who answered a call for submissions on how they were coping with confinement and their personal experiences of Covid lockdown.

Angelique Romou, the long-time host of Kids’ Place Radio, handed Saturday’s interviews over to Nicole Williams, who chatted with the on-air guests, with the help of teenaged Young Ambassadors who moderated the show.

“Captured by Corona is a beautiful hard-cover book with original illustrations by painter Penka Petkova,” Morales explains. “With poems and letters that describe personal experiences of the Covid pandemic, it’s a unique cultural and historical document for our island.”

Sharing their experiences of the pandemic and the writing of Captured by Corona were Level 6 Montessori students Gabriel Antunez, Sahana Rinker and Arhan Baharani and Grade 8 CIA student Pranay Shahdadpuri. Upper Elementary Montessori teacher and poet Marianne Tefft shared her own work, as well as the work of Grade 8 CIA student Sophia Suire and Ms. Morales.

For its 2022 Short-Story Writing Competition, Beyond Kultura is calling for 800-word stories inspired by the 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Each story should feature a realistic child or teenaged character who deals with one or more of the themes.

The writing competition is open to adults and students aged 12 or older in Sint Maarten, Saba, Statia and Anguilla. Submissions are due no later than March 31, 2022. The work will be judged by an international panel, with a view to publishing as funds become available.