Calabash dishes out a cornucopia of literary delights

CALABASH LITERARY Festival 2025 was rich, big, sweet, juicy, tantalising, and patrons just ate up whatever flowed from the vessel. Yes, there were the sea, sea breezes, galloping ‘white horses’, misty headlands, the parching sun, music, food, fun, style, and gender-blurring fashion.

But it was the people, the vibes, the conversations, the laughter, the brave revelations of ‘secrets’, the dancing after midnight, the baring of hearts and souls, and some teardrops at the open mic, the young woman who was moved to speak about ‘If I were the Devil’, that might have inspired some people to return in two years’ time.

Marlon James’ conversation with Paul Holdengraber about how music influenced his personal and professional life was a huge calabash of food, and the audience ate it all up. Sheryl Lee Ralph enthralled the gathering as only a ‘Diva’ can. The revealing conversation with Kwame Dawes, Jamaica’s poet laureate; the singing at the end; the reading from her book, Diva 2.0; taking her own selfies; people jostling to take their selfies with her; and posing with admirers in the sun, were some of the many memorable moments this year when ‘Bless Up’ was the mantra.