ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Dominica’s cultural icon, Dr. Alwyn Bully, died on Friday following a prolonged illness, the state-owned DBS radio has confirmed. He was 74.
The artist, playwright, short story writer, and cultural administrator had earlier disclosed Parkinson’s Disease.
Former chief cultural officer, Raymond Lawrence, said the death of Bully “is a huge loss to Dominica and the region.”
He was a resident of Jamaica for over 20 years, working as UNESCO’s Caribbean Culture Advisor. In that capacity, he managed the production of a six-volume History of the Caribbean. He interacted with Cultural Departments in all CARICOM countries, assisting them in developing programs and policies.
Bully was also chairman of The CARIFESTA Interim Festival Directorate – a regional Advisory Body to CARIFESTA that reviewed the Caribbean Festival of Arts to enhance the festival’s 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.
Bully, a former secondary school principal, was the designer of the island’s National Flag, established Dominica’s Cultural Division, and was the island’s first Chief Cultural Officer and the pioneer of the annual Nature Island Literary Festival.
For his exemplary commitment and contribution to culture in Dominica and the Caribbean, the University of the West Indies (UWI) awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2011, recognizing him as one of the region’s finest cultural icons.
The founder of the People’s Action Theater (PAT) had a broad appreciation for arts and culture from all over the world and will also be remembered for “Ruler,” a theatrical adaptation of “Ruler in Hiroona,” as well as for producing Errol John’s “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl.”
Bully 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. One of its speeches appeared in Actors’ Audition Speeches edited by Jean Marlow for A&C Black/Heineman.
He 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 Lifetime Achievement Cacique Award from The National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago 2007.
He also received The Sisserou Award of Honor from the Dominica government.
Bully told the Sun newspaper here a few years ago that the foundation for his life was set in King George V Street, in the capital Roseau where he was born and raised, and in Giraudel, where he spent school holidays.
“The location of our house has much to do with who I am today. We lived on King George V Street. one of the main streets in Roseau Carnival was a significant part of our life in those days.
“There was no Independence celebration. . . so Carnival was the highlight of street parades and people getting together. . . the whole riot of color and ideas and tradition-which is Carnival was integral to my upbringing.
“Our house was like an open house. People would come for drinks and food. You would see people disguised,” he said, recalling how heavily disguised masqueraders drank from funnels to avoid removing their masks.
The Bully is survived by his wife, Anita, and two children. One of his children died a few years ago.
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