Ivan A. Khayiat's "Msiba-My Love" will be launched on Dec 9th

Lily Strand Publishing in Suriname is launching a unique coffee table book Msiba-My Love on December 9^th at 7.00 pm at the Tower Auditorium in downtown Paramaribo. ‘Msiba- my Love’ is the winner of the 2011 National Tagore Award for poetry. The book has a stunning collection of photographic images of Suriname together with the texts of three poems. During the launch there will be a fifteen minute high definition video presentation of images of Suriname’s Brokopondo interior with audio of the main poem in English and Dutch. A specially composed musical soundtrack complements the male and female voices reading the poem.

Masba, My Love is not only a unique collection of poems but also a deeply moving plea for respect for mother earth, Suriname and its people. 

The centre piece of this collection is “Msiba My Love”. It is a symphonic poem in three movements which profoundly explores the many layers of an economic and ecological crime that was committed in Suriname in the 1960s.  In the name of progress a multi- national company together with the Dutch colonial government forcibly removed   thriving Maroon communities from their ancestral homes to create the Afobaka hydro electric dam. These communities had been living there for over 200 years and held a sacred spiritual connection with their mother communities in Africa. Msiba communicates the excruciating pain caused by the severing of the spinal cord of not only the Maroon nation but the nation of Suriname. The emotional intensity aroused by the words, images, rhythms, and cadences of this fascinating poem is so great that one young Surinamer was moved to tears just reading the poem.

Msiba however is more than the poem. It is an artistic effort to use both the force of the poem and the powerful impact of photographic images to create a multimedia presentation.  Each image in the book has been carefully selected to act either as a companion or a counter point to the lines in the poem.   “Reading” this poem is a multi sensory experience which resonates at all three important levels physical, emotional, and spiritual.

 “Forest Tears”, the second poem, poses the questions that we all need ask about our relationship with the planet today. The collection ends with the exquisitely beautiful “I love you” which celebrates simultaneously the love of a woman and the country she comes from. The stunningly beautiful images of Suriname and the poem evoke the joy of fresh new love.

Ivan Khayiat is a gifted writer with the ability to touch the reader at the very core of his being. Everyone who reads these poems will do so over and over. Each time the reader will come away with even greater insights into our need to be attuned to mother earth. Each reader will also feel the pain of the vicious crime that was committed to this peaceful nation nearly 50 years ago.                                                                                                                                                                 

Milton M.Drepaul

Ivan Khayiat's ' Msiba, My Love' wins First Prize in Tagore Awards

Ivan A. Khayiat’s ‘Msiba, My Love’ has won the first prize for poetry in the adult section of Suriname’s Tagore Art Competition.

The competition, which was launched in May 2011 by the Suriname Tagore Celebrations Committee, attracted more than 135 entries from students and adults in Suriname. Judges for the national competitions included members of the Schrijvers Group'77, Art Vibes United, and the University of Suriname.

The prestigious Tagore Art Competition was launched to mark the 150^`" Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European and person of color to win a Nobel Prize (1912). Born in 1861, Tagore was a prolific writer, dramatist, poet, artist, philosopher, and international humanist. Across the world, national and international competitions are being held to uphold values in creative excellence in celebration of Tagore.

Milton Drepaul in his foreword to the upcoming published edition describes the poem in this way:  ‘Msiba, My Love is not only a unique collection of poems but also a deeply moving plea for respect for mother earth, Suriname and its people…. It is a symphonic poem in three movements which profoundly explores the many layers of an economic and ecological crime that was committed in Suriname in the 1960s.  In the name of progress a multi- national company together with the Dutch colonial government forcibly removed   thriving Maroon communities from their ancestral homes to create the Afobaka hydro electric dam.”

Ivan A. Khayiat, B.S., M.A., is an educator, media specialist, avid environmental observer, and a published writer.

Ivan was born in Guyana and attended Queen's College. He later studied in the US doing undergraduate and graduate degrees in Communications and Literature.

Ivan Khayiat is a passionate writer on environment issues. He lives in South America near to the rain forest. His books of poetry include "Quest by Day”, “Forest Tears" and” Msiba-My Love".

Tree Planting Ceremony at AlphaMax Academy

On May 5^th, the AlphaMax Academy was the recipient of 6 young citrus trees. The trees were donated by a goodwill organization in Suriname, one of whose goals is to highlight the need for food security and raise environmental awareness around the country

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One of the school’s parents – Ms. Sima Jimidar – who is also involved in the organizing committee of the Miss Suriname beauty pageants, helped arrange for Miss Suriname herself, the runner-up of the Miss Suriname pageant and the 2011 Little Miss Suriname to be present and assist the students of AMA with planting the trees. 

The trees were placed in the schoolyard of the new AlphaMax complex in the Staanvaste straat, and were a welcome addition to the neighborhood scenery