Windsor School welcomed internationally bestselling author Dr. Safiya Sinclair in March as part of Book Week, the school’s annual celebration of the power of literacy and language.
Over the course of the week, Grade 9–12 students had the opportunity to work alongside Dr. Sinclair in intimate writing workshops, learning from her craft, asking questions, and writing together. Then, in an address to the entire high school community, Dr. Sinclair challenged students to take their stories seriously and to understand that the act of writing is itself an act of self-determination.
“What world will you make for yourselves if given the chance to create it?” she asked. “With all the tools of language, all the beauty that literature has given you, who would you be free to be?”
A quartet of Windsor seniors also moderated a community event that drew attendees from across the island. Dr. Sinclair gave powerful readings from her work, and the conversation that followed was thoughtful, personal, and inspiring.
The themes at the heart of Dr. Sinclair’s bestselling memoir, How to Say Babylon — a chronicle of her childhood and adolescence in Montego Bay, Jamaica — and her expansive poetry collection Cannibal speak directly to Windsor students and the wider Nassau community.
Windsor is grateful for Dr. Sinclair’s generosity of spirit and the lasting impression she has left on students and the wider community.
