My name is Paul Crask. Originally from England, I’ve lived in Dominica since 2005.

Although I began life here as a PADI scuba instructor and underwater videographer with Dive Dominica, for the last 20 years I’ve worked primarily as a writer and magazine publisher, researching and authoring four editions of two Bradt travel guides – Dominica and Grenada – and creating several independent publications, including Dominica Traveller, Dominica Geographic, and Gade Mwen. I’ve also contributed numerous freelance articles to regional and international magazines and newspapers, sharing stories and insights from the eastern Caribbean.

In 2024, I decided to step away from travel writing. I’d been doing it for long enough and had grown disillusioned with the way tourism was changing. Besides, I was ready to explore new creative directions. One of these has been visual art: creating narrative sketches in ink and watercolour that depict whimsical, island-inspired imaginary places, as well as my take on a few real ones. I continue to enjoy writing, but these days on culture, nature, gardens and the offbeat. I’m still an insatiable traveller, but my focus has changed. In Colombia, for example, I learned all about coffee and now I’ve become an independent Dominica coffee artisan – cultivating, processing, and roasting Arabica grown exclusively on-island – specifically, in my garden at 2000 feet on the western slopes of Morne Anglais. I brand it Blue Parrot.

Before all this …

I grew up in Yorkshire and studied German Language and Literature (BA Hons) at the University of Leeds from 1984 to 1988. As part of my course, I spent several months behind the Iron Curtain at the Karl Marx University of Leipzig in former East Germany, which you can read about in Iron Curtain Diaries. Following that, I taught for a year at the Hugo Ball Gymnasium (grammar school) in Pirmasens, former West Germany. While at university, I was a regular contributor to the Leeds Student newspaper, writing film and theatre reviews.

After graduating, I worked for two years as a language teacher in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, before moving into project management in London.

In 2005, my wife Celia and I downshifted, dropped out, and migrated to her native Dominica. We live in a small home we built near the village of Giraudel.

For freelance and/or art, please email me: paulcrask@gmail.com