Dr. Carmen Barclay Subryan on a mission to reawaken love of reading

May 22, 2017 News

– donates books to Linden students

Students of several schools across Linden are the proud recipients of copies of three novels and two booklets written by Linden author and former lecturer of Howard University, Dr. Carmen Barclay Subryan.
The latest booklets trace the historical development of Linden, with its genesis at Christianburg and later Wismar.
Dr. Subryan, who grew up in Linden before migrating to the United States to pursue her education, is a passionate educator who is presently on a mission to reawaken the love of reading among youths.
It is with this in mind that she has been giving back to the schools in the community.
Among those that have benefitted from her generosity are the students of the Linden School of Excellence, Wismar/Christianburg Secondary School, and the author’s alma mater, the Mackenzie High School.
The most recent presentation was done two Fridays ago at the Linden Foundation Secondary school.

Dr. Carmen Barclay Subryan with some of the students

During a recent interview Dr. Subryan expressed dismay that since her return, she has not seen anyone with a book.
“I was quite alarmed when I came here and I never saw anybody reading a book. It was quite appalling; all I was seeing was people on their phones and other gadgets. So I thought to myself, I would like to help change this; find a way to help young people gravitate to books.”
And that was the genesis of the book giveaways. To date, she has presented over 300 books to Linden students.
Dr. Subryan has authored the books Black Water People, Black Water Children and Black Water Women.
She received her Bachelor’s degree in 1971, her Masters in 1973 and began lecturing at the Howard University in 1974. She subsequently studied for her PhD while teaching there.
At Howard, Dr. Subryan was attached to the Centre for Academic Reinforcement, now known as the Centre of Excellence. She had been instrumental in establishing the Centre where she taught, until retiring in 2015.
The Centre, the educator said, was responsible for bringing students up to par. She was quick to point out, “If you don’t like to read, how are you going to succeed? How are you going to develop your writing and comprehension skills? How are you going to be able to even communicate effectively?”
Apart from the “Black-Water” series, Dr. Subryan recently authored a book of short stories entitled “Realities.”
All of her books are available at the Linden Museum and Austin’s Book Store in Georgetown.

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