The 20th anniversary of Caribbean Beat, with cover girl Anya Ayoung-Chee

Our exciting new 20th anniversary issue (#114: March/April 2012) of Caribbean Beat is on Caribbean Airlines planes; in the mail to subscribers; and online, where you can also access a complete flip-book of the current issue - free! Here’s what you can find in this anniversary issue!

COVER STORY

Anya Ayoung-Chee: Hot off the Runway
T&T designer Anya Ayoung-Chee tells Laura Dowrich-Phillips how her career has taken off since she won the Project Runway reality TV contest

 

FEATURES

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: 20 years of covering the Beat
Our designers Bridget van Dongen and Kevon Webster choose some of their favourites from Caribbean Beat’s 20 years of striking cover designs

 

ENVIRONMENT: Green & pleasant lands
Eco-friendly design is both a modern idea and an old tradition in the region, Lisa Allen-Agostini discovers

 

TRAVEL: From the ranch to the rodeo
Janine Fung’s diary of a Guyanese journey

 

Eat. Pray. Love your Veggies
Rastas have always eaten healthy, natural food – and now it’s gone gourmet. Nazma Muller takes an ital tour of Kingston

 

The man behind Rastamouse
Trinidad-born Michael de Souza created one of UK TV’s best-loved new characters. He talked to Zahra Gordon

 

Farewell to Fatis
The death of Fatis Burrell dealt another blow to Jamaican music, laments David Katz

 

Painting the real picture
Grenada’s women artists are going beyond the stereotypes of regional art. David Katz spoke to them

 

Raising ghosts from a watery grave
A bloody sea battle off Tobago is being re-enacted for a TV docudrama. Skye Hernandez on how this gripping tale resurfaced

 

 

DEPARTMENTS

HappeningsA round-up of current and coming events on the Caribbean calendar

 

CARIBBEAN COOKUP: Doing it by the book
Franka Philip browses through new books on Caribbean food

 

RIDDEM & RHYME: Here’s to the great survivors
Garry Steckles pays tribute to living legends of Caribbean music

 

OWN WORDS: On the Beat
As Caribbean Beat celebrates 20 years of publication, former editor Skye Hernandez pays tribute to the magazine

 

LIFE & TIMES: Island Girl
Wintering on a Canadian island, Donna Yawching was reminded – surprisingly – of her tropical home

 

ON THIS DAY: Beautiful… but deadly
James Ferguson on how a Caribbean volcano inspired a master of European art

 

REVIEWS: CD Reviews
The new music that is reflecting the region right now

 

Looking forward, and looking back

Over our 20 years publishing Caribbean Beat for BWIA and now Caribbean Airlines, we’ve had the privilege of working with some of the finest writers, designers, photographers, sales reps and editors in the region.

Our beloved editor for the past five years has been longtime Beat contributor Judy Raymond, who shortly takes up her new position as editor-in-chief at the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian newspaper. The last two Beat issues have been some of her finest, and we thank her for her outstanding work with the magazine.

We also bid farewell to two other wonderful colleagues, Helen Shair-Singh and on-the-job trainee Ariann Thompson. As with all in the Beat family, we look forward to their continued contributions to the magazine, though now in a different capacity.

 

 

We take the opportunity now to welcome new international sales rep Yuri Chin Choy to the fold, and welcome back our former editor Nicholas Laughlin this May, joining founding editor Jeremy Taylor and contributing editor Caroline Taylor on our editorial team. Stay tuned for details of our exciting new editorial board – as always, the Beat is in the finest hands!

So a very special thanks to all our readers, advertisers, contributors and partners over the last 20 years, who’ve made Beat one of the longest-running and most widely read magazines in the Caribbean diaspora! We remain as ever the magazine of the true Caribbean. 

Here’s to the next 20 years!