You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
she endeavored to share with her children<br />
literary accounts but couldn’t find culturally<br />
relevant books. It was then that Ubekha decided<br />
that she’d write a series of books to document<br />
her childhood experiences on the island.<br />
After 20 years, Ubekha finally put pen to paper<br />
and produced the Wyetta series – literary<br />
accounts of her childhood – about a very annafè<br />
little girl named Wyetta. A series that's bound to<br />
be fun and exciting for children and nostalgic<br />
for adults all over the Caribbean.<br />
Thank you Bekha for sharing your work with<br />
Manmay LaKay magazine and the world. I<br />
must admit I was very excited to see characters<br />
that look like me and you and little St. Lucian<br />
and Caribbean children. Hats off to you on<br />
fulfilling that need.<br />
What inspired you to write the Wyetta series?<br />
While in high school, I met a fellow St. Lucian<br />
who, at 16 years old and had been living in the<br />
United States for only two years, claimed she<br />
had forgotten how to respond to me in the most<br />
basic greeting of our French Patois, “Sa ka fet?”<br />
Here is a person who denied her culture as a<br />
part of herself and was rapidly losing an<br />
important part of her identity. This encounter<br />
caused me to show my St. Lucian pride even<br />
more and to be sure that everyone knew that I<br />
was from a magic kingdom called St. Lucia.<br />
My second motivation for Wyetta was in my role<br />
as a parent. It was important for me to share my<br />
beautiful culture and heritage with my two<br />
children about the magical place that I spent my<br />
first 10 years. But unfortunately, I was not able<br />
to find any children’s books highlighting our<br />
culture, neither in New York nor in St. Lucia.
Change language