Walcott, Goodison among Calabash 2008 headliners

TYRONE S REID, Observer staff writer reidt@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, April 18, 2008



Calabash organisers Colin Channer and Justine Henzell look over the press kit for the 2008 launch of the festival last Wednesday at the Red Bones Blues Cafe in St Andrew.
BOASTING a stellar line-up of local and international authors and performers, the 2008 leg of Calabash International Literary Festival might very well turn out to be the best staging of the annual three-day festival yet.

Launched last Wednesday at the Red Bones Cafe in St Andrew, the renowned literary festival of readings, discussions, open mike segments and live music staged annually at Jake's in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, will this year be held over the Labour Day weekend, May 23-25.

St Lucian Nobel Prize winner, Derek Walcott, will headline the festival this year and leads a superb international posse, which includes American Pulitzer-winning poets Natasha Trethewey and Yusef Komunyaaka. Chris Abani (Nigeria), Valzhyna Mort (Belarus) and Jackie Kay (Scotland) are the other foreign poets on the line-up, while the fiction world will be represented this year by Canada's Lawrence Hill, Gerard Donovan (Ireland), Juan de Recacoechea (Bolivia) and Cuba's Achy Obejas.

Jamaica's strong contingent will be led by acclaimed poet and author Lorna Goodison, radio's Beverley Manley and philanthropist Rosie Stone, who will read passages from their new memoirs. Novelists Erna Brodber, Beverley East and Margaret Cezair-Thompson will read from their new books. Jamaican-born writer Thomas Glave will read and discuss selections from his new anthology of gay and lesbian writing from across the region, while poet Andrew 'Kei' Miller will read from his new collection.

Other exciting features for Calabash '08 include a 75th anniversary reading of Claude McKay's Banana Bottom, a screening of the late Perry Henzell's second feature film No Place Like Home and performances from reggae legend Bob Andy, Rootz Underground, Ibo Cooper, Seretse Small and Chalice.

Speaking at Wednesday's launch, Calabash founder and best-selling author, Colin Channer, said the Calabash festival continues to offer the rare opportunity for Jamaicans to have a close experience with some of the world's best authors.

"We continue to work hard to stage the festival annually with international standards. So if something is slightly off it's not good enough because people come expecting the best. They want a great experience and that's what we work to provide each year," Channer told Splash. He adds that for this year's staging of the festival, he's most looking forward to Walcott's long-overdue appearance, the screening of Henzell's film and the impressive number of Jamaicans who will participate.

According to Channer, it is always the intention of the organisers, which includes Justine Henzell and Kwame Dawes, to make the festival experience better each year, despite the many challenges.

"We are always trying to find ways to make the Calabash experience a more satisfying one. It is extremely crucial for us to present the best each year."

~the Labour Day weekend, May 23-25.~

When is Labour Day in Jamaica?

A simple google search turned this up (see bottom of page):
http://www.planetware.com/national-information/jamaica-tourist-offices-national- holidays-jam.htm

How many people attend the Festival and how crowded is Treasure Beach during this week? Is it easier to find hotel choices if I were to visit during a different week? Do people usually attend for a week or just the 3 days?

The weekend of the festival is very busy. Most people book accommodations for Friday and Saturday night only. We still have accommodations available at a few villas which have a minimum of a 4 night booking policy so if you are interested in a villa, let us know and we can accommodate you.

If you have a chance to be here during the festival, I would highly recommend it as it is absolutely fabulous! The town and beaches are not that crowded as everyone is attending the festival.

calabash festival is pretty amazing. if you haven't been, i encourage you to be there. it is especially well organized. even though TB is full, it doesn't feel full. i was there and found the 4 night minimum no problem. i think most of the friday and saturday night rentals are for people from kingston.

I haven't been told to RTFM in a few years - I guess the 21st century version is "google it stupid".

Thanks for the info

Now let's see how many people ask what 'RTFM' means instead of googling it themselves :-)

So I'll bite, what does RTFM mean?

Rebecca, there's a reason it has 4 letters. Its the same reason we can't print it here, partner.

Plug it into Google.

So what prompted Ohliz to ask someone here to 'read the ...manual?
I don't get it. Did someone here ask something that Ohliz thinks was a question not worth asking?

Minnesota Ken, just read back through the thread and you will understand. A few of us are just having a little fun with an old term.

And Eric, duh, I get it now. Well, you know how I hate to read those manuals . . .

LOL

I see Wiki even has a new entry for it: GIYF (Google Is Your Friend).

Now I am off to google myself to see what new book Margaret Cezair-Thompson has written...