After spending her childhood running around the Estate Tutu area, Debbie Dawson moved from St. Thomas to Virginia in the 10th grade, but she didn’t leave her culture behind.
The author, rapper, singer, actor and assistant teacher published "Anansi and the Diamond Mansion" two years ago and adapted it to the stage this spring at the Virginia Beach high school where she teaches.
Available on Amazon, the book tells the tale of the prankster Anansi, a well-known figure in West Indian folklore, who takes the form of a male spider with powers of trance, rhyme and dance in Dawson’s hands.
"Growing up in the Virgin Islands, we had a lot of folk tales and I remember people coming to our classes in school and reading Anansi the Spider stories to us," Dawson said. "I had always been interested in Anansi and said, ‘I’m going to write a book about him.’ Many years went by and then finally I just said, ‘I need to do this.’"
"I sat down at my computer and started typing and a year and a half later I went online and found an excellent illustrator," she said. "I turned Anansi into a spider boy and he has three gifts; dance, trance and rhyme. But he uses those gifts to take advantage of people in different situations."
The people in Anansi’s village eventually tire of his antics and hatch a plan to get rid of the spider boy, who finally learns a lesson and gets to visit a place he has longed to see.
Dawson too has been enjoying a journey lately; her first visit back to St. Thomas in 15 years. While her memories of home and her family ties have remained strong, Dawson hasn’t smelled mangoes ripening on her backyard trees in far too long, she explained.
"I’m out here in the countryside and I’m looking right now at mango trees and banana trees and tea bush and I’m definitely feeling inspired," she said. "It’s making me feel like I want to move back home. I’ll be coming back every summer now."
After graduating from high school, Dawson earned her associate’s degree from Tidewater Community College and went on to publish the magazine "Virginia People" in the Virginia Beach area. Having always loved music and singing, Dawson began to rap and longed to hear a different Caribbean accent by her favorite music performers.
"I always loved music and performing and decided I wanted to do something more full time with it," said Dawson. "I like rapping and I was not hearing any Virgin Islands accents in rap or chant, only Jamaican accents. So I took the name Abbey Kyat and started doing shows."
Dawson enjoyed years of performing as Abbey Kyat and released several local hits. Taking her act one step further, she began performing as a character named Coconut Lady which took on a life all its own.
"It started as a way to pique people’s interest and it definitely got people interested," Dawson said. "Eventually it seemed like she took over and I started doing little skits and now I’m working on putting something together as a play about Coconut Lady."
As Dawson continues to pen plays and work on a follow up book, she is soaking up inspiration while spending a few weeks on St. Thomas and looking forward to future visits to her home island.
"I love plays because I can bring together writing and singing and performing and all of it," she said. "I’d like to do this entertainment thing locally and have a homegrown thing here. My father just turned 80 and I have family in Tortola and St. John that I don’t see often enough so it’s time to come back more often."
Jaime Elliott
After spending her childhood running around the Estate Tutu area, Debbie Dawson moved from St. Thomas to Virginia in the 10th grade, but she didn’t leave her culture behind.
The author, rapper, singer, actor and assistant teacher published "Anansi and the Diamond Mansion" two years ago and adapted it to the stage this spring at the Virginia Beach high school where she teaches.
Available on Amazon, the book tells the tale of the prankster Anansi, a well-known figure in West Indian folklore, who takes the form of a male spider with powers of trance, rhyme and dance in Dawson’s hands.
"Growing up in the Virgin Islands, we had a lot of folk tales and I remember people coming to our classes in school and reading Anansi the Spider stories to us," Dawson said. "I had always been interested in Anansi and said, ‘I’m going to write a book about him.’ Many years went by and then finally I just said, ‘I need to do this.’"
"I sat down at my computer and started typing and a year and a half later I went online and found an excellent illustrator," she said. "I turned Anansi into a spider boy and he has three gifts; dance, trance and rhyme. But he uses those gifts to take advantage of people in different situations."
The people in Anansi’s village eventually tire of his antics and hatch a plan to get rid of the spider boy, who finally learns a lesson and gets to visit a place he has longed to see.
Dawson too has been enjoying a journey lately; her first visit back to St. Thomas in 15 years. While her memories of home and her family ties have remained strong, Dawson hasn’t smelled mangoes ripening on her backyard trees in far too long, she explained.
"I’m out here in the countryside and I’m looking right now at mango trees and banana trees and tea bush and I’m definitely feeling inspired," she said. "It’s making me feel like I want to move back home. I’ll be coming back every summer now."
After graduating from high school, Dawson earned her associate’s degree from Tidewater Community College and went on to publish the magazine "Virginia People" in the Virginia Beach area. Having always loved music and singing, Dawson began to rap and longed to hear a different Caribbean accent by her favorite music performers.
"I always loved music and performing and decided I wanted to do something more full time with it," said Dawson. "I like rapping and I was not hearing any Virgin Islands accents in rap or chant, only Jamaican accents. So I took the name Abbey Kyat and started doing shows."
Dawson enjoyed years of performing as Abbey Kyat and released several local hits. Taking her act one step further, she began performing as a character named Coconut Lady which took on a life all its own.
"It started as a way to pique people’s interest and it definitely got people interested," Dawson said. "Eventually it seemed like she took over and I started doing little skits and now I’m working on putting something together as a play about Coconut Lady."
As Dawson continues to pen plays and work on a follow up book, she is soaking up inspiration while spending a few weeks on St. Thomas and looking forward to future visits to her home island.
"I love plays because I can bring together writing and singing and performing and all of it," she said. "I’d like to do this entertainment thing locally and have a homegrown thing here. My father just turned 80 and I have family in Tortola and St. John that I don’t see often enough so it’s time to come back more often."
