Barbados needs more writers to safeguard its cultural identity and support national development, Minister of Pan-African Affairs and Heritage Trevor Prescod has warned, describing the literary arts as a critically underrepresented front in the struggle for regional preservation.

Pointing to a shortage of Barbadian-produced literature, Prescod issued an urgent appeal to writers to treat their craft as both a cultural responsibility and a viable economic enterprise.

“What this country needs is writers,” Prescod declared emphatically. “Not just writing an article occasionally… I’m asking for us to produce our own material that is a business. It requires all the skills of an entrepreneur.”