On March 18, Bajo El Sol Gallery to Host Book Signing for Torhera Durand

“How Anansi Spun Madras” book cover (Submitted photo)

Bajo El Sol Gallery will host a book signing for new author Torhera Durand. From 4-6 p.m., Saturday, March 18, attendees will have an opportunity to meet the author and purchase a signed copy of her children’s book, “How Anansi Spun Madras.”

Torhera Durand is the founder of Lokali.t and author of the Anansi in the Caribbean series. She was born and raised on St. Croix, USVI. Durand is a first-generation Crucian and grew up with a strong pride for Caribbean culture. She thinks fondly of her younger years spent listening to Anansi stories, dancing the quadrille and maypole on the St. Croix Educational Complex High School track, and listening to Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights Quelbe Band every festival season. She notes that these are among her most memorable childhood experiences.

“‘How Anansi Spun Madras,’ the first book in the Anansi in the Caribbean series, is my homage to my childhood and culture. It’s my hope that this book helps Virgin Islanders and other Caribbean individuals connect to their heritage and take pride in their dialect, all while improving their literacy,” said Durand.

More information about the book signing and about future events can be found by contacting the gallery at 693-7070 or bajoelsolgallery@gmail.com.

Priscilla Hintz Rivera Knight and David Knight Jr., Bajo El Sol Gallery & Art Bar owners since 2016, are proud of the gallery’s over 20-year legacy of support and engagement with the arts community of St. John and the greater Virgin Islands. The gallery is home to thought-provoking monthly exhibitions, readings by award-winning V.I. writers and poets, documentary screenings on some of the Caribbean’s most respected thinkers, as well as talks by local academics and visiting curators.