Kinky Gazpacho in Jamaica

We interrupt the regular programming here at the Meltingpot to make mention of an exciting Meltingpot literary event taking place this weekend in the Caribbean.

The Calabash Literary Festival 2008 is: " 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."

Unless you roll like that (or you live in Jamaica) it's probably too late to show up this year, but check out the website and imagine the magic that will be taking place as some of the world's most talented writers and musicians gather together in a tropical paradise to share their love of the written word. I get goosebumps just thinking about it and the best thing is, I'll be there this year! Yes, Lori L. Tharps (that's me, I just like to write in the third person on this blog so it doesn't get too personal. LOL!) will be representing at Calabash. Rubbing elbows with my literary heroes, Colin Channer, Lorna Goodison, and Margaret Cezair-Thompson, just to name a few. Soaking up a culture that exemplifies cultural cross-pollination. And, I won't lie, hitting the beach with the Spaniard. Can't wait!

Check it out and support a very Meltingpot Festival if you can.

1 Love

Peace!

(Image is from Calabash Festival '05)

Voices from the African Diaspora

Hello.

I warned you that I'd be recapping some of my Kinky adventures from the road and here's one.

This past Saturday, I had the honor and privilege of participating on a panel called, Shades of the Diaspora: Voices of Black Women Writers at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland. I was joined by Lalita Tademy, author of Cane River and Red River. Her books started as a search into her own Louisiana family history and ended with these two amazing historical novels about the lives of a creole family before and after slavery.

The other author on the panel was world famous Jamaican poet, Lorna Goodison. Her latest book, Harvey River, is a memoir of her mother, her fantastic multicultural family and the history of Jamaica. The book received glowing praise in last Sunday's New York Times Book Review. And just hearing Goodison recount some of her family's tales, I can't wait to dive into Harvey River!

Needless to say, I felt like such a child compared to these accomplished women writers, yet they both made me feel so inspired to keep telling my stories and my truth. The audience seemed to agree. The Black experience in America is so varied I think we forget how vast this country is and how impossible it would be to have all arrived from the same path.

Here's to the storytellers who are expanding our possibilities, both past and present!

Peace.

(Photo: From L to R Lorna Goodison, Lori L. Tharps, Lalita Tademy and moderator Esther Armah host of Off the Page)