Contact
Us
The Calabash International Literary
Festival Trust
2a Bamboo Avenue #4
Kingston 6
Jamaica, W.I.
876.965.3000
calabashfestival@hotmail.com
Click here to buy the poetry anthology from Amazon
About Us
The Calabash International Literary
Festival was founded in 2001 by novelist
Colin Channer with the support of
two friends, the poet Kwame Dawes
and the producer Justine Henzell.
Their aim was simple—to create
a world-class literary festival with
roots in Jamaica and branches reaching
out into the wider world.
A three-day festival of readings
and music with other forms of storytelling
folded in the mix, Calabash is earthy,
inspirational, daring and diverse.
It’s the only annual international
literary festival in the English-speaking
Caribbean. All festival events are
free and open to the public. Passion
is the only price of entry. But voluntary
contributions are accepted.
The festival is produced by the Calabash
International Literary Festival Trust
(the Trust), which also produces publishing
seminars and writing workshops. The
Trust is affiliated with the Friends
of the Calabash International Literary
Festival, a registered 501(c)(3) corporation
in the United States.
Praise
" ... Calabash is
a high-grade international event in
which writing from the Americas, Europe,
Africa and Asia forms a thought-provoking
mosaic of story, history and mythology."
The Independent on Sunday
" ... one of the most vibrant literary festivals to come around in a long time."
The Associated Press
"Calabash is far and away the best literary festival I've ever attended or participated in. Never mind the incredible beauty of the place overlooking the Caribbean, the family atmosphere, the music, the great international mix of poets and storytellers, and the disciplined organization of the people running things—the Calabash audiences are huge and welcoming, and the writers get to use the best sound system they'll ever read through again."
Russell Banks, novelist
"Simply put, Calabash is the most significant festival of artists of the African Diaspora, and it goes forth in the spirit and ethos of joy and generosity."
Elizabeth Alexander, poet
"Calabash turned out to be one of the most invigorating and emotionally empowering events of my writing life."
Kaylie Jones, novelist
"Calabash is a unique literary festival, the only one of its kind in the Caribbean, with an impressive range of local and international writers. I am very happy that I accepted an invitation to recite at Calabash 2005. The large audience was very receptive and my reading will remain a treasured memory. The sun, the sea, the music, the food, the ambience, the readings—it was very rewarding."
Linton Kwesi Johnson, poet
“Calabash is a
serious literary festival with serious
literary merits. It combines this
with good humour and merriment.”
Times Literary Supplement
“… a mini-Woodstock
on the Caribbean … a world-class
Caribbean literary festival … ”
The New York Times
“A yearly get-together of some
of the world’s best authors
reading their most important works.”
Fox News Magazine
“… the Calabash International
Literary Festival has earned a reputation
for celebrating excellence in literature.”
The Jamaica Daily Gleaner
“The atmosphere at the festival
[is] something to treasure.”
The Jamaica Observer
|