The front cover of the latest volume of The Caribbean Writer.

Hot off the presses, this year's volume of The Caribbean Writer is packed with fresh, original short stories, poems, essays and visual works by Virgin Islanders and artists from across the Caribbean.
This is the 24th volume of the international literary journal published by the University of the Virgin Islands, but the first under the auspices of its new editor Opal Adisa.
"The Caribbean Writer is the literary gem of the Caribbean," Adisa said at a visual arts conference sponsored by the journal earlier this year. Its nearly quarter-century of publication makes the journal stand out "in a field where many journals do not have a long pedigree," she said.
The latest volume features 80 pages of poetry, 200 pages of short stories, and personal essays by established and emerging writers both from the Caribbean and with roots here, according to a statement from UVI.
There is a special 70-page tribute to three Caribbean intellectual giants who passed away last year: Rex Nettleford, Trevor Rhone and Wayne Brown. It also features more than 20 reviews of books by Caribbean writers and scholars.
The journal's cover features a print of an original work by St. Croix artist Nesha Christian-Hendrickson showing the silhouette of a dancing mocko jumbie filled with the printed word. Moko jumbies are a kind of spirit from Ghanaian folklore, as well as traditional dancers on stilts, wearing masks, portraying such spirits.
The interior art is by photographer Ted Davis, whose studio is located in downtown Christiansted. Other V.I. residents featured are: UVI professors Simon Jones-Hendrickson, Gillian Royes, Lomarsh Roopnarine, Valerie Combie and Lucia DiMeo; and St. Thomas poet Tregenza Roach.
The volume also celebrates the 80th birthdays of Derek Walcott and Kamau Brathwaite, two of the region’s most prestigious writers, according to the UVI statement.
Walcott is a poet and playwright from St. Lucia who won the Nobel Prize in 1992; Brathwaite is a historian, poet and cultural critic from Barbados who won the coveted Griffin Poetry Prize in 2006.
Adisa has authored and published 14 books herself prior to coming on the job in January. She comes to UVI from the California College of the Arts, where she was a full professor.
A public launch of volume 24 is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Sept. 30, at the Great Hall on UVI’s St. Croix campus. There will be music, entertainment, refreshments and the public is invited.
The latest volume is available at local bookstores on St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John and at the UVI bookstores on both campuses.
Copies can also be ordered directly from the journa's office by calling (340) 692-4152, sending e-mail to: orders@thecaribbeanwriter.org, or by visiting the website.
Writers and artists take note: the journal is accepting submissions for Volume 25. That anniversary issue will be dedicated to Haiti and the theme of freedom.