Davit Kelly, Staff Reporter
Left: Attending the 'Basia Magazine' first anniversary are (from left) Karen Koury, wedding consultant for the magazine, Delicia John, marketing manager for the printery that prints the magazine, and Maylene Bent. The celebration was held at Christopher's, The Quad, New Kingston, on Thursday, July 6. Right: Editor-At-Large of Basia Magazine Alicia John-Powell and her husband, Ricardo Powell, Basia's CEO, at the magazine's first anniversary celebration held at Christopher's Jazz Café. - WINSTON SILL /FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
The red carpet was literally rolled out as Caribbean lifestyle magazine Basia celebrated its one year anniversary.
BASIA IMPORTS, which is headed by West Indies cricketer and businessman Ricardo Powell, publishes Basia Magazine. Powell's lovely Trinidadian wife, Alicia John-Powell, who is the editor-at-large, got the idea for the publication in a dream and says she was inspired by God (Basia is the Polish word for daughter of God). The magazine captures Caribbean celebrities "from models to role models".
Avion Crooks, Basia's editor-in-chief, explained that even though it was a lifestyle magazine, there was more than enough material for the men, including sports. The publication tries to cover all areas from culture to fashion and health. Apart from the English-speaking Caribbean, even French-speaking islands as well as North America and the United Kingdom are seeing the product. They wanted to create a magazine that was "ageless" so persons from 18 to 85 could enjoy it.
The quarterly magazine has produced four covers, the first being then West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul and his wife, Amy. Since then, Allison Hines, Cindy Breakspeare and Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley have all graced the cover. In fact, the young Marley took the Cover of the Year Award at the anniversary celebration while TGIFridays was Advertiser of the Year.
