Today is Flag Day in Dominica. We honour the designer of the National Flag, Cultural Icon Alwin Bully.
Ministry of Education and Human Ressource Development (Dominica)
ALWIN BULLY is an artist, playwright, short story writer and Cultural Administrator from the Commonwealth of Dominica where he established and developed the Department of Culture and was its first Director. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill) and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters Degree from his alma mater.
He was resident in Jamaica for over 20 years, where he worked as UNESCO’s Caribbean Culture Advisor in which capacity he managed the production of a six volume History of Caribbean and inter-acted with Cultural Departments in all of CARICOM countries, assisting them in developing programs and policies. He was also Chairman of The CARIFESTA Interim Festival Directorate - a regional Advisory Body to CARIFESTA. This Committee reviewed CARIFESTA with a view to enhancing the festival and increasing its visibility internationally. On his return to Dominica in 2008, he was appointed Cultural Advisor to the Minister of Culture, a post he held for two years. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Cultural Council, which oversees the implementation of projects and programs of the Cultural Division in Dominica; and a member of the Board of Directors of the Dominica Festivals Committee.
Alwin has written ten full-length plays, four radio serials, numerous short stories and four screenplays. One of his screenplays Oseyi and the Masqueraders was selected to be produced by The Caribbean Film Academy (CaFA) of New York and was shot in Dominica in 2017. The film premiered at the 2018 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) and was up for the People’s Choice Award. It is to be premiered in Dominica towards the end of the year. His radio play “A Dance in the Dark” was selected for broadcast by the BBC in 1980. His early comedy, “Good Morning Miss Millie” (1968), was published by Penguin Books and Macmillan Caribbean and one of its speeches appeared in Actors’ Audition Speeches edited by Jean Marlow for A&C Black/Heineman. The Ruler his stage adaptation of the novel “Ruler in Hiroona” by GCH Thomas, was selected for publication in five languages by L’Autre Souffle Company, France. His short stories have appeared in THE CARIBBEAN WRITER (University of the U.S. Virgin Islands), BIM Literary Magazine, and “IRON BALLOONS” an anthology by Akashic books edited by Collin Channer.
Alwin has won several awards for his theatre work from the International Theatre Institute (Jamaica Centre) as well as a Golden Drum Award from the National Cultural Council 1997; The University of Technology’s 2006 Arts Award; A Life-time Achievement Cacique Award from The National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago 2007. He also received The Sisserou Award of Honor from the Government of Dominica for his design of the Dominica Flag in 1985; and The UWI Alumni Award for Excellence in 2008.