Islandista It Girl: Shala Monroque

Islandistas, you know what we love?

We love reading about islandista it girls - chicks who are just killing the scene in New York, London, wherever, with their style, flair and islandistas-ness. We love when something about their name or look gives us that little inkling... is she...an islandista?

And we've found another one - she's St. Lucian Shala Monroque, editor-at-large for Pop magazine, girlfriend of art dealer and gallerist Larry Gagosian  and the fashion set's darling.
Seriously, Monroque, who was born and raised in bel Sent Lisi, is everywhere that matters in style.

She makes regular appearances (like here and here) in Vogue.com's Ten Best Dressed of the Week and was profiled as an 'It Girl' in the Flash section of Vogue last month (April 2010). Essence.com also praised her style in a piece recently, noting how she sent the fashion blogosphere in a tizzy during the SS10 season last year.

Her style is distinctive - a variety of turbans and beanies so she doesn't have to fuss too much with her short, natural do, the sickest shoe game this side of the Atlantic and a love of bright colours and prints.
That same month she was also in Harper's Bazaar, in their 7-day Wardrobe feature, showing the range of fabulous style. In the feature, she attributes her love of big, bold colour to her Caribbean heritage.

She also attributes that heritage, specifically her looshan-ess to her fearless attitude. In her blog for Pop, she drops the stat that every St. Lucian must remind you of - their Nobel Laureate ratio,  while musing:

"Anyway these two events coming from an island with a population of 160.000 people has left me and many other St. Lucians with the idea that we can achieve anything..."

Yep, pretty much!

Walcott's former rival withdraws over smear campaign

So yes we was rheelllll (in emphatic Trini style) surprised to hear that British poet Ruth  Padel who was Derek Walcott's main rival for the poetry professor post at Oxford has resigned from the post after... shock! being linked to the smear campaign against him.

[caption id="attachment_1020" align="alignleft" width="185" caption="...all I thinking is "ee salope!""][/caption]

Just nine days after being elected to the position, Padel stepped down on Monday after news came out that she had emailed journalists about the past allegations against Walcott.

The London Evening Standard printed the letter today, noting that even though one of their journalists received it two weeks before the smear campaign became public, they "did not wish to have any part in a smear campaign against the St Lucia born poet."

The letter, which ironically enough for a would-be literary don was filled with spelling errors, reads:

“Hi Olivia,

On the chair, there is still no other nomination except (so extraordinarily) Derek W and me. But thye close on 29th April so another or others may well turnup…

“There is aupposed to be a book called The Lecherous Professor, which has 6 pages on Derek Walcott's two cases of sexual harassment, which might provide interestigfn copy on what Oxford wants from its professors.. ALl best, Ruth.”

Of course, Padel is trying to take some of de shame off she face by claiming that the two letters she wrote to journalists were isolated and not part of a larger campaign.

At the Guardian Hay literary festival, Padel gave a press conference, saying:

"It was naive and silly of me – a bad error of judgement. I can of course see that people can misconstrue these two isolated emails of mine as part of a larger campaign I had nothing to do with." 

 She feels people will think her emails were part of the larger campaign... FUH TRUTE? YUH LIE! Where would people get that idea?

But de bold-facedness don't stop there. Padel said she was "trying in a misguided way to address student concerns" and that she "genuinely believe that I did nothing intentional that led to Derek Walcott's withdrawal from the election."

Well, well, well ... what a commess!

Walcott's sex scandal haunts

An interesting story this week out of England about one of the Caribbean's most famous sons - Nobel Prize winning poet, Derek Walcott of St. Lucia.

Walcott was up for the post of professor of poetry at Oxford University but withdrew suddenly this week after an anonymous smear campaign was launched against him.



The  poetry professor is an unusual post in that it is not exactly like what it sounds - a university professor. Rather, prestigious candidates are selected after their names are put forward by supporters and then the Professor is elected by a group that includes Oxford academics and anyone who holds a degree from the uni. The poetry professor serves for five years and is required to give three lectures a year.

Anyhow, the title is considered a highly prestigious honour but the wheels came off of the whole process this week when dozens of academics at Oxford were anonymously sent packets containing photocopied pages of a book detailing sexual harassment allegations of sexual harassment made against Walcott in the 80s and 90s.