Kwame McPherson to headline St Mary Lit Fest today

FOR THE second consecutive year, the St Mary Literary Festival will read out, inside the Port Maria Anglican Church Hall in St Mary, today, July 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. And Kwame McPherson, the 2023 winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize is the featured writer.

McPherson is the sixth Jamaican to win the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Caribbean region, but the first to cop the global award. He is also a recipient of the UK’s University of Westminster’s ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ (2023), and an Amazon bestseller for The Heart of a Black Man: Inspiring Stories of Triumph and Resilience (2023).

The alumnus of Calabar High School, London Metropolitan University and the University of Westminster is a prolific writer who is also a content creator, mentor, and book mentor strategist. He is known for his contributions to literature, personal development, and empowerment initiatives, and his impactful storytelling and thought-provoking narratives that explore themes of cultural identity, resilience, and the human spirit.

Earlier this year, McPherson represented the Caribbean at the 34th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair from April 26 to May 5 in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. The occasion was part of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre’s efforts to promote culture, encourage reading, and bridge the gap between literary traditions.

The festival is in collaboration with JAIKU Poetry, whose founder Kacy Garvey, Sharma Taylor and IRIE FM’s Kabu Maat Kheru are the emcees. “JAIKU is an official partner; we have been there since the inception of it last year. JAIKU representatives are also doing presentations there in terms of poetry. This year, because JAIKU is a member of the International Authors Forum, I am going to be doing a presentation on behalf of the International Authors Forum that speaks to writer’s rights,” Garvey told The Gleaner.

Under the sub-title, ‘Towards Liberation’, 45 writers will read, and three panel discussions on the Jamaican language, African literature and Writers’ Rights are also in the literary mix. The first two discussion sessions will be focusing on the use of ‘local’ languages (whether indigenous or of creole origin) for written literature. Dr R. Anthony and Michael Record will lead the discussion on ‘Loiuse Bennett and the Jamaican Language’, Kabu Maat Kheru and Tanisha Bent lead on ‘Memory is in the Tongue – Decolonising Words’, and Kacy Garvey takes on ‘A Look at Writers’ Rights’.

The first festival, held in April 2024, was inspired by a visit to St Mary by Margaret Busby (a writer and publisher from the UK) after the Calabash Literary Festival in May 2023. In May this year, Paul Ward, organiser of the festival, published a book, St Mary Lit Fest 2024 Collected Writing, a collection of the poetry and prose that were read at the inaugural festival.

“The St Mary Literary Festival provides an opportunity for aspiring and accomplished writers of all ages, from across Jamaica and the diaspora, to share their creative writing in an accessible setting for everyone to enjoy and appreciate,” the producers say.

A limited-seating, round-trip shuttle bus is scheduled to leave S Supermarket in New Kingston at 8:30 a.m. The contact phone number is 876 5427600. There is no admission fee into the event.