Arts & Culture Focus NCF and award-winning author in historic collab Barbados Today03/05/20240309 views The cover of Dr Best’s book. (GP) The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) has partnered with award-winning author Dr Elizabeth Best to deliver a first for the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA). The NCF, through its Literary Arts Desk, has published Rifling about Survival among the Bearded Fig Trees of Ichirouganaim, a collection of award-winning poems which is available for download on Kindle. The collection tracks the history of the Caribbean, told from the perspective of a Barbadian woman. The eBook was released in the American market as part of the NIFCA competition. Dr Best, the recipient of the NIFCA 2022 Unpublished Manuscript Award, received assistance from the NCF that included professional editing of her work, graphic design, and layout of the completed eBook. The local author was also assisted by an industry professional who provided guidance on selling literature on the Amazon platform. This is not the first time that the NCF has published Dr Best’s work. Cultural Officer in the Literary Arts Karra Price said the NCF was pleased to partner with the award-winning author on such a historic venture. “Assisting artists with their professional development is part of the remit of the Foundation. In addition to providing training opportunities, and sponsorship for budding literary artists, the NCF is focused on creating business opportunities for artists, as well as developing the orange economy in Barbados,” she said. Price has encouraged Barbadians to support the initiative by purchasing the eBook. (PR)