WILLEMSTAD – Poet and linguist Ini Statia will present her second trilingual poetry collection, At the Edge of My Island / Na rant di mi isla / Aan de rand van mijn eiland, on Friday, September 25, 2026, at the Mongui Maduro Library. The evening will combine poetry, panel discussions, dance, singing, live music and audience participation.
The presentation will take place on the terrace of the Mongui Maduro Library, behind Landhuis Rooi Catootje. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., with the program beginning at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.
Following her acclaimed debut collection In naam der liefde, published in 2022, Statia returns with a new collection featuring her poetry in Papiamentu, Dutch and English.
Each poem appears first in its original language, followed by translations into the other two languages. The translations were prepared by Lucille Berry-Haseth into Papiamentu, Mario Kleinmoedig and Statia into Dutch, and Mikayla Vieira Ribeiro into English.
The sea serves as a recurring theme throughout the collection. Statia explores the relationship between islanders and the ocean, the distinctive experience of island life, connections with ancestors and encounters with cultures beyond Curaçao.
Her work reflects influences from Caribbean, Latin American, African and European cultural traditions.
Statia, born in 1952 in Aruba to Bonairean parents, has lived across all three ABC islands. She studied Dutch Language and Literature at the University of Groningen and later specialized in Papiamentu, her mother tongue. In addition to Papiamentu and Dutch, she speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.
She worked for many years as a teacher in Aruba and Curaçao and also contributed to Papiamentu-language reading materials through her work with Fundashon pa Planifikashon di Idioma (FPI), the Foundation for Language Planning.
The September 25 presentation will include a panel discussion featuring poets, writers and translators Richenel Ansano, Mikayla Ribeiro and Crisèn Schorea. Among the topics will be the meaning and influence of the sea in their work and lives.
Audience members will also be invited to participate in an interactive intertextuality quiz based on Statia's title poem, Na rant di mi isla. Participants will be challenged to identify four literary references hidden in the poem, with those correctly identifying at least three eligible to win a prize.
The cultural program will also feature singer Cindica Rouse, dancer Rudsel d’Antonia and live steelpan music by Henny Cornelia.
The publication of At the Edge of My Island was made possible in part through financial support from the Cultuurfonds Caribisch Gebied.
Copies of the book will be available during the presentation at a special price of XCG 35. Pin payments will not be available; visitors may pay in cash or through an online bank transfer.
Following the Curaçao launch, presentations of the new collection are also expected to take place elsewhere in the Kingdom of the Netherlands at a later date.
Photo credit Margo Groenewoud