Adrian Augier, 50, is a co-founder of St. Lucia’s Lighthouse Theatre (1983) and founder of the Factory Creative Arts Centre (1997). He has written and produced several musicals, including the creation myth Hewannorra Story and Troumassay. He is also the writer/producer of Anthem (2004) and Esperance (2009), commissioned by the St. Lucia government to mark the 25th and 30th anniversaries of the country’s independence.
He has been involved in carnival production for over 30 years, and launched his own band, Rituals, in 2003. On stage he has performed and presented works as far afield as Australia, Ireland, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Canada, the US, and the UK. Augier is also a poet with several titles to his name. His last volume,
Bridgemaker, was met with critical acclaim by such critics as Kwame Dawes, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, and Rex Nettleford.
Augier has contributed and continues to contribute to the shaping of CARICOM policy on the development of creative industries for balanced economic growth. A former Chief Economist in St. Lucia’s Ministry of Finance and Planning, Augier is a regionally recognised economic development consultant with extensive private and public sector experience. He has worked as an economist with the government of St. Lucia, the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), USAID, and the OECS.
He is co-chair of the CARICOM Task Force on the Development of Cultural Industries, is member of the Interim Festival Directorate for Carifesta, and has been consulted by the Grenada government on the development of cultural industry.
Augier is the recipient of six awards from the St. Lucia National Arts Award programme, the Minvielle and Chastanet Fine Arts Award Council, for his work in visual art, performance art, and literary art. His 2009 Caribbean Cacique Award for outstanding contribution to the development, integration, and exploration of theatre in the region is further testament to the regard his work enjoys.
His work has also been widely recognised, having attained awards which include: (i) The Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce Award for Professional Service to Regional Private Sector Development in 1992; (ii) The Minvielle and Chastanet Fine Arts Awards Council – Literary Arts in 1980, 1981, 1991, 1994 – Visual Arts in 1992 – Audio/Visual Production in 1998; and (iii) The Caribbean Cacique Award for outstanding contribution to the development, integration and exploration of theatre in the region.
He actively serves on several boards and committees whose mandate is to advance the development of the cultural industries in St. Lucia, and he is already completed work on the design concept for this year’s carnival. The committee expects that he will continue to make a contribution to the cultural and social development of the region and that the only limitations on his potential are time and space to do everything he hopes to achieve.
Among his colleagues, Augier has gained much respect and recognition for his work. As the Chairman of the OECS Nominating Committee, Charles Maynard, said: “He has consistently displayed excellent standards of work in the field of culture and those who are eminently equipped to assess his contribution to the arts endorse that view. There is no doubt that at this stage of his life he has considerable scope and potential for impacting on his community and for, as it were, going beyond himself in his field of endeavour.”
Of his collection of poems, Bridgemaker, former Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Rex Nettleford said: “A welcome collection, beautifully crafted . . . rooted in the creative diversity of the Caribbean personal and the psychic inheritance of this bridgemaker poet. Augier inhabits our span of memories and makes the living worthy. This volume deserves, indeed, to remain with us.”
Augier was educated at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, where he gained his BA in Economics & Political Science, and at the American University, Washington DC, USA, where he earned an MA in Development Finance and Planning (Distinction).
He has in the past held a number of key roles in the development of his country’s public sector. Among those roles are: (i) Executive Director of the St Lucia Chamber of Commerce from 1988 to 1993; (ii) Economic Policy Advisor, Office of the Prime Minister, St. Lucia from 1998 to 2004; (iii) Director, Chairman of Windward Islands Packaging Company (WINERA) from 1998 to 2007; and at present, (iv) Consultant, Economic Development to the Landmark Group in St Lucia.
Mr Adrian Augier is our Arts & Letters 2010 Laureate
