A Literary Weekend

How often do we get Nobel Laureates on St. Croix? Not too often, from my experience. But last weekend, Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate in Economics, was at Undercover Books. Many of us flocked to hear him answer a variety of questions, mostly dealing with the healthcare reform drama unfolding in Washington at the time.
My husband Bob had a list of general questions that he didn't get to ask. I wish he'd had a chance to ask Mr. Krugman: Is it possible, in today's world, for the entire population of the planet to have a decent standard of living?

If Friday was about economics, Saturday was all for literature. Tiphanie Yanique was on St. Croix celebrating the launch of her debut collection of short stories: How to Escape From a Leper Colony (Published by Graywolf Press). Tiphanie is a native of St. Thomas and also has family here on St. Croix. She is now an assistant professor of literature at Drew University in NJ. Her portrayal of island characters is so authentic that, after reading her book, I find myself thinking about these people and almost wondering if I might pass them on the street.

Tiphanie invited a young Crucian poet named Wendell to share some of his poetry. He warmed up with a little instantaneous stream-of-consciousness poem that had me hooked! Wendell plans to go study biology in college. I hope he doesn't leave behind his immense poetic talent.