By BABATUNDE ASIFAT
Trainee Reporter Nevis
St. Kitt’s based WINN FM has launched a book reading project, “Off The Shelf” broadcast on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7.30 p.m .
Clare Yearwood from Nevis, is the brain child of the creative project. She reads popular books and classics for WINN FM audiences It is the first time a literary program of this nature has been launched. The first book she read is “Lucy” by an Antiguan author, Jamaica Caid.
The book should interest listeners as they would be able to identify with it. It depicts a young girl leaving the islands and going to New York to be a nanny and her mental awakening. Clare abridged the book because she found it “quite sexy.”
The reading of “Lucy” to radio audiences prompted Rotarians to invite Clare to read portions of it at the Rotary Poetry Day on May 15,2007 at Sugars, Frigate Bay.
Prior to the Poetry day, listeners had an opportunity to listen to three Back to Back episodes of “Lucy” on Sunday, May 13, at 5 p.m on WINN FM.
Clare an accomplished actress who trained in London Drama School has always wanted to read books on radio. This is her first attempt in the Federation, “I love audio books,” she noted.
“My most pleasurable moment was when a store keeper at a super market called to say how much he enjoyed the audio books,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.
There are challenges involved in book projects. According to Clare, one cannot read a book by a living author without buying copyright. Fortunately, she got permission for “Lucy”. If an author has been dead for 75 years, no copyright fee is required.
Clare has therefore decided to read dead authors’ classics until there are sponsors for the book project, “paying for copyright, editing, recording, airing and negotiating for copy rights is tedious and a long process.”
Clare is convinced the audio book project is going to increase reading awareness.
The second book in her reading list is “Alice Wonderland”. It will be interesting to find out how Clare will mimick the 20 characters in the classic. As a trained actress, this may not be difficult.
She is also excited to find out how audiences will respond to Adventures of Shylock Holmes, a detective story, “I want audiences to get exposed to literature in a fun way”.
Clare may not be able to cope with the spin-offs from her creative book project. She has also been invited to be a columnist for a publication – Kittivisianlife, “all this gives me a great pleasure.” she said.
