Salman Rushdie heads to 'the greatest likkle festival'
Published:Sunday | March 23, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Shereita Grizzle, Gleaner Writer
It has been dubbed "the greatest likkle festival in the greatest likkle district in the greatest likkle country in the world". This year's Calabash International Literary Festival was officially launched at the Redbones Blues Café in New Kingston on Thursday night.
Cementing its status as one of the greatest literary festivals in the world, this year's event has embraced its unquestionable global appeal with the theme, Globalishus.
Co-founder for the event, Justine Henzell, told The Gleaner the 2014 theme provided the ideal description for an international festival with a local flavour.
"We thought 'Globalishus' was the perfect way to describe an international festival that is also very rooted in its local community," she said.
'GLOBALISHUS' FLAVOUR
In keeping with the theme, the festival will boast some of the world's finest writers from countries like Belarus, the United States, India, Kenya, England and Ireland.
This year's special guest will be best-selling Indian author Sir Salman Rushdie.
Rushdie has received numerous awards for his outstanding contribution to the development of literature but his career has not been void of controversy.
Satanic Verses, a novel he published in 1988, earned him the Whitebread Award for novel of the year, but sparked outrage from some members of the Muslim community.
Many Muslims believed Rushdie's novel to the blasphemous and claimed it mocked their faith. Muslims issued a fatwa for Rushdie's death, which resulted in the author being offered protection by the British government.
The fatwa was officially lifted in 1998 and Rushdie was knighted by the Queen of England in 2008 for his contributions to literature.
It has been two years since the last staging of the Calabash festival. It was last held in 2012, and Henzell says the organisers have made the decision to make the festival a bi-annual one.
"Well after 10 continuous years of staging Calabash, we decided to make the festival every other year, so we came back in 2012, we're back for 2014 and we will be back in 2016," she said.
On a night the world recognised International Day of Happiness, guests were put in a nostalgic mood as their colleagues recounted their most memorable Calabash experiences.
According to popular actress, Dahlia Harris, who captivated the audience in her usual comedic style, the Calabash Festival is not just an event, but it is an experience every Jamaican should have.
Renowned storyteller Amina Blackwood Meeks delighted the crowd when she compared the festival to the game of cricket as she recalls being 'stumped' by the tremendous display of talent each year.
Supported by the CHASE Fund, The Jamaica Tourist Board, Carib Export, Wisynco Trading, among others, the show will again be held at Jake's Hotel in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth.
The festival will run from May 30-June 1 and promises to be three days and two nights of tremendous literary displays.
This year's staging will see appearances by Harvard Professor and author Jamaica Kincaid, prize-winning author A'dziko Simba Gegele, African author Mukoma Wa Ngugi, among others.
In addition to readings, there will also be live music provided by Xiomara Fortuna and her band from the Dominican Republic as well as the Calabash Acoustic Ensemble.
Ibo Cooper, Steve Golding and Seretse Small, who form the ensemble, are also set to pay tribute to established reggae singer and Grammy nominee, Judy Mowatt.
Henzell says guests can look forward to a weekend of incredible readings and live music in the most beautiful place in the world.