Renowned Guyanese author and poet Leon Labastide who hails from the mining town of Linden is on the verge of rapping up his fourth book with a release date set for February 4, 2017. The book titled: ‘Pink Cover; Things are important,’ has its entire chapter three dedicated to Guyana. The hallmark of the chapter is a poem entitled ‘Moving Forward,’ which aims at encouraging citizens of Guyana to look past the hate, suffering and negativities that plagued the nation for decades and to rise up and unite to create a new Guyana in recognition of the jubilee year.
“The Golden Jubilee was far more than a spectacle. It was historical. It uplifted culture, giving us millennial, a sense of pride for our country. It was so much more than a celebration. It was a unification of all peoples from within every region, coming together for the greater good to celebrate the moving forward after 50 years.
“As a community as well as a country, there is urgent need to look past 2016. We have to look and think futuristic. It’s all about the next step, the next journey, the next conversation between countries and civilians. It’s about uniting, to keep and maintain the rhetoric of the 50th anniversary,” quoted the poem.
Labastide also hailed the new Government for the progress made thus far and encouraged the populace to support this new body of leaders for the development of Guyana.
In addition to being a poet and spoken word artist, this renowned writer has also published three books; Breath of Life Poetry, Here Comes the Dreamers: the Journey, and Transparency. These publications were completed within the span of 5 years as Leon’s passion for art is indeed spectacular.
He has mesmerized hundreds of audiences during his career with his inspirational prose, insightful short stories and authentic life experiences. Many have experienced his natural talent of story-telling at poetry events, church services, college campuses, motivational conferences, and book tours in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Curaçao and in his homeland Guyana.
Last year Labastide launched his three books while on tour at the National Library in Georgetown and the Linden Library as a way of giving back to his homeland. He is anticipating the commencement of creative writing workshops with young Lindeners so that those who possess the talent to write can perfect their skills since he was motivated by his teachers in High School who prioritized on creating writing.
“I started writing from the age of 15… just writing my thoughts down then I started to take classes to get my skills going, writing workshops, college courses and slowly I started writing poetry and my books came right after,” he shared.
Currently residing in Brooklyn, New York, Labastide strives to spread words of wisdom to many nations around the world using this God given talent to motivate his emerging generations to speak out. He is currently the CEO of SpokenWordAndCoffee organization: The organization’s tagline is “It’s bigger than poetry, it’s bigger than you and me, it’sPoVetry.)
PoVentry is the combination of poetry and poverty. “Poverty is what has been plaguing my generation for so many years. This catchy phrase has people asking questions like, how do we get involved…. PoVetry is a unique sound mix with a unique opportunity for young-minded individuals to get involved and provoke the change we all wish to see.”
Labastide has overcome several hurdles and challenges to attain his goal and advises the youths not to stop believing in themselves “One of the things I struggled with was people telling me no. If you have a talent or gift that you want to pursue, don’t be afraid to pursue it because I’ve done it – wrote three books and almost finished with the fourth, travelling the world and doing it and people said I couldn’t,” articulated Labastide.