Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald, niece of the late Hon. Harold Simmons, will deliver the keynote lecture.

The Folk Research Centre (FRC) will host the 6th Saint Lucia Studies Conference next Wednesday, under the theme “Discovering Saint Lucian Life and Culture through Ongoing Research.”

The official opening ceremony will be held at the FRC headquarters at Mount Pleasant, Castries, at 7 p.m., and will feature the keynote Hon. Harold Simmons Memorial lecture delivered by Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald.

Professor Simmons-McDonald is a niece of the late Hon. Harold Simmons. She will speak on the topic “Culture, Identity and Language: Reclaiming the Soul of an Island.”

Harold Simmons is regarded as the father of modern Saint Lucian arts and culture and was a mentor to the young Derek Walcott, Dunstan St. Omer, Sessenne Descartes, Charles Cadet and many others of that generation.

The Hon. Harold Simmons Memorial lecture was first launched by the cultural department of the Julian R. Hunte Group of Companies in 1979, and was delivered by Derek Walcott on Jan. 24, 1979, at the Castries Parish Centre. In 2012, the FRC established the Harold Simmons Folk Academy which oversees all the educational programs of the institution.

Earlier this year, the late hon. Harold Simmons (1914-1966) was given the posthumous award of the Saint Lucia Cross.

On June 22, the first presentation of the Saint Lucia Studies Conference  will be delivered by Dr. Anderson Reynolds at 9.30 a.m.

On June 23, at 7 p.m., the public is invited to attend two presentations by Dr. Marcus Day and Mr. Vladimir Lucien respectively. Dr. Marcus Day will speak on youth gangs and violence, and its contribution to crime in Saint Lucia, while Vladimir Lucien, who won the prestigious Bocas Literature Prize in 2015 will deliver a presentation entitled "A science from God: Legitimacy, Morality and the Distribution of Spirit Power."

The Studies Conference began in 2004, and is held every two years.

Conference registration begins at 8.30 a.m. on conference days. Pre-conference registration is available. The conference runs from June 22 - 24. For details, contact 758.452.2279.