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Calabash Literary Festival
Calabash Literary Festival is a fun, free event held the first weekend in June at Jakes in Treasure Beach that draws writers and attendees from across the Caribbean and African diaspora, as well as featuring some of Jamaica's own lyricists and authors.
Friday
7pm–8:30pm
COOKING WITH GAS
Diana McCaulay (Jamaica)
Nicole Dennis-Benn (Jamaica)
Pamela Mordecai (Jamaica)
Three generations of Yard-seasoned fiction.
9pm-10pm
HAUTE FICTION
Kaylie Jones (USA)
Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria)
Two novelists of style and substance for the discriminating literary palette.
10:30pm–11:30pm
FIRE, FIRE: PIMAN
MANJACK AND GHOST PEPPER
Ada Limon (USA)
Vladimir Lucien (St Lucia)
Jessica Care Moore (USA)
Three hot poets turning up the heat.
12–2am
Midnight Ravers
Roots Rock Reggae
Sevana
Protoje
Saturday
10am–11:30am
A MOVEABLE FEAST
Tishani Doshi (India)
Nikola Madzirov (Macedonia)
Kei Miller (Jamaica)
Ladan Osman (Somalia)
Four continents of delectable delights prepared by master poets.
12–1:30pm
WHEN GOOD FE EAT IS GOOD FE TALK
Decca Aitkenhead (UK)
Baz Dreisinger (USA)
Nina Revoyr (USA)
Three non fiction writers serving bold, strange and unsettling stories.
1:30pm–3pm
Open Mic
Hosted by Carolyn Cooper
3:30pm–4:30pm
REASONINGS presents
Robert McCrum (UK) in conversation with Kwame Dawes
Breaking intellectual bread with Globish author McCrum.
5pm–7:30pm
Open Mic
Hosted by Carolyn Cooper
8pm–9pm
A MAN A WOMAN and A BOOKER
Eleanor Catton (New Zealand)
Marlon James (Jamaica)
A Taster’s Choice: Kiwi-Mango salad .
9:30pm–11pm
BELLY FULL
Paul Beatty (USA)
Teju Cole (Nigeria/USA)
Geoff Dyer (UK)
Three fiction entrees of power and astonishing skill.
11pm–1am
Cala-Clash
Sunday
10am–11:30am
Calabash celebrates and honours the ground breaking debut novel JANE & LOUISA by Erna Brodber
Floyd Green
Keneea Linton-George
William Mahfood
Velma Pollard
A Caribbean classic read by four Jamaican notables.
11:30am–12:30pm
SUNDAY BRUNCH
Nikki Giovanni (USA)
Ilya Kaminsky (Russia)
A sumptous summit of poets of the highest order.
1pm–2pm
REASONINGS presents
Chris Abani (Nigeria) in conversation with Paul Holdengraber
Breaking agege: the shock and awe of Abani
2pm–3:30pm
Open Mic
Hosted by Carolyn Cooper.
4pm–4:30pm
Announcement of Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2016 Overall Winner
Hosted by Gillian Slovo
Presented by Marlon James
Africa: Faraaz Mahomed (South Africa)
Asia: Parashar Kulkarni (India)
Canada & Europe: Stefanie Seddon (UK)
Caribbean: Lance Dowrich (Trinidad)
Pacific: Tina Makereti (New Zealand)
4:30pm-6pm
IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE NYAM ON
Wayne Armond (JA)
Ibo Cooper (JA)
Steve Golding (JA)
With special guests
Celebrate the culinary reach of reggae music with the incomparable Calabash Acoustic Ensemble.
