Poetry Society of Jamaica plans 'Verse vs Verse'

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Tommy Ricketts, a founding member of the Poetry Society of Jamaica, announced the islandwide 'Verse vs Verse' literary programme during the society's 22nd anniversary fellowship held recently.

He put the programme, to be based in schools, in the context of the Poetry Society's maturity, reflecting briefly on its beginnings. "We never think we would be here celebrating 22 years of every last Tuesday," Ricketts told the near full house inside the Dennis Scott Studio Theatre, Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

"So the question is: what have you achieved? There are so many things we want to do," Ricketts said. And the 'many things' include the Poetry Society spreading its wings from 1 Arthur Wint Drive, St Andrew, into a nationwide project.

plan concretised

Ricketts said the plan was concretised at a retreat last Christmas, although the idea is about a decade old. Then, he said, "We thought it would be too intimidating", but with new people in the group, it is now seen as being more feasible.

"We are proposing to have poetry societies in all the schools, similar to the way you would have a Key Club," Ricketts said. He said that there has been dialogue with academics at the University of the West Indies (UWI) who are working on the CXC syllabus and said the project is aiming at a demystification of literature.

'Verse vs Verse' includes print and electronic media thrusts, with a competitive element in a slam-style event. Ricketts read the theme poem for the project, a take-off of Claude McKay's 'If We Must Die'

The Poetry Society's 22nd anniversary fellowship was the fourth major Jamaican literary event in Jamaica within two weeks. The Asante Adonai Literary Lyme was held in Winefield, St Ann, on Sunday, May 22, and the Talking Trees Literary Fiesta in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, on Saturday, May 28. Kingston Pon Di River was held at Boone Hall Oasis, St Andrew. These events, all in their first year, follow the cancellation of the Calabash International Literary Festival after its 10th consecutive staging in Treasure Beach last year and are held around Calabash's standard end-of-May weekend date.

While not announcing concrete plans, Ricketts said there are thoughts of coalescing the various events into a national literary festival.

Still, he made it clear that at the first Poetry Society fellowship there were thoughts of longevity or a national profile. "We never considered we were doing anything special. We just wanted to put on a reading," he said.