Writers and publishers of recent sports titles will gather at Usain Bolt's Tracks and Records on Tuesday, March 13 to discuss the challenges and opportunities in Jamaican sports publishing. The event will be moderated by noted sports journalist and publicist Carole Beckford and will include authors Dennis Johnson, Hubert Lawrence, Rachel Irving, Valerie Wint and Don Anderson. Wint, the daughter of track and field legend, Arthur Wint, will launch her memoir, The Longer Run later in the week. A selection of Jamaican sports titles will also be on sale.

"The success of books like Usain Bolt's 9.58 and CHAMPS100 are encouraging signs," says Damani Johnson, a Director of the Book Industry Association of Jamaica, the event's organizer.  "There's a lot of interest in Jamaican sports and sporting personalities, both in Jamaica and abroad.  Writers and publishers need to look at tapping into that appeal."

The event kicks off at 7pm. It forms part of the week of activities under the Kingston Book Festival 2012, an officially endorsed Jamaica 50 event. The Festival comprises a series of readings at venues across Kingston, an exhibition at the National Library and a publishing workshop and culminates in a large book fair in Emancipation Park on Saturday, March 17. For details visit bookindustryja.com or email bookindustryja@gmail.com.

Celebrating Books about Jamaican Sports
Tuesday, March 13, 7pm
Usain Bolt Tracks and Records

Speakers:

• Don Anderson, Seoul to Beijing
• Carole Beckford, Keeping Jamaican Sports on Track
• Rachel Irving, Vilma Charlton (eds). Jamaican Gold: Jamaican Sprinters
• Rachel Irving, Olympic DNA: Birth of the Fastest Humans
• Dennis Johnson, The University of Technology Jamaica: Road to Olympic Glory. From Dennis Johnson’s Diaries
• Hubert Lawrence, CHAMPS 100: A Century of Jamaican High School Athletics
• Valerie Wint, The Longer Run: A Daughter's Memoir of Arthur Wint

Contact: Kellie Magnus, BIAJ. Email: kelliemagnus@gmail.com; Damani Johnson, BIAJ. Email: djohnson@kingstonbookshop.com