Alongside the exciting boom in writing from the Caribbean, the number of literary festivals has been growing throughout the region over the past two decades, and the newest event takes place April 27 on the north coast of Jamaica.
It will feature
some 50 writers, including a dozen high school students, for a day of prose and
poetry readings, panel discussions and live music, according to the organizers.
The one-day
event is the brainchild of Paul Ward, a retired high-school teacher and college
lecturer, who moved to Jamaica from the UK in 1970 and married a St Mary
resident two years later. Both he and his wife (also a former science teacher)
have worked in Nigeria and Zimbabwe as well the United Kingdom and the
Caribbean.
An avid reader
and non-fiction writer, Ward says he has long engaged in community activity,
and the festival has grown out of that. In the following email interview, he
tells SWAN about the background to the event.
SWAN: How
did the idea for this new festival come about?
Paul Ward: Margaret Busby, author and the first
Black woman publisher in the UK, stayed with me for a few days following the
Calabash Literary Festival in Treasure Beach (Jamaica) in May last year. I was
taken by her anthology of writings by women of African descent, New Daughters
of Africa. I took her to speak with the children at our two local schools - and it
went down well, especially at the primary school. Some grade-six children wrote
stories after that visit, which I put together in a little booklet for them,
Likkle Pickney Tell It So.
SWAN: What
are some of the literary activities programmed, and what kind of audience are
you expecting?
PW: The intention is to have a series of
spoken presentations, selected from those who submit written versions, to make
a varied and engaging event, divided into three 90-minute sessions. Brief
questions and comments after each presentation will be encouraged. If possible,
a group discussion of some literary topic will be included in each session.
Background music will hopefully be of the traditional kind, such as that
provided by drum musician (and poet) Mbala at the meetings of the Poetry
Society in Kingston each month.
Some
submissions, especially those not presented verbally, will be displayed on
notice boards. The hoped-for audience (no, participants) will include the
writers themselves, others who already know they enjoy literature, those who
didn't know, some schoolchildren and their families.
SWAN: How do
you plan to tap into the wide range of literature being produced by Jamaican
writers at home and abroad?
PW: We have a contact list of well over
100, including personal contacts, literary organisations in Jamaica and abroad,
information in local media (already on IRE FM) and visits to high schools in
the St. Mary / Kingston area
SWAN: Can you please describe the venue / general location of the festival?
SWAN:
Literary events have blossomed around the Caribbean over the past two decades.
How do you see the St Mary festival fitting into this tradition?
PW: Most of such events in Jamaica take
place in the Kingston area. It is important to make them more accessible for a
wider-spread audience, for both enjoyment and edification, and for upcoming
writers including schoolchildren as well as those already established. In any
case St Mary is known as a special parish: “Is St Mary mi come from” - is a
widely-used expression of pride.
SWAN: How
can the Jamaican cultural community, both at home and abroad, be of assistance?
PW: By submitting writings (along with videos if attendance is not possible), by spreading the word, by attending (and bringing others along), by contributing ideas on how to make it work best, both this first time and in the future. Monetary contributions would help of course, despite it being a low-budget, community initiative. - SWAN
Photos (top to bottom): A flyer for the St Mary Literary Festival; editor and publisher Margaret Busby (left) with a colleague at the Calabash festival, photo by A.M./SWAN; the venue-by-the-sea of the St. Mary Literary Festival, photo by Paul Ward.
