Marsha Massiah, the Trinidadian-born founder and govt director of the Brooklyn Caribbean Literature Competition (BCLF), says that this yr’s pageant, themed “Faces of the Caribbean,” guarantees to be a “vibrant celebration of Caribbean tradition and literature”, that includes a outstanding lineup of authors, students and cultural figures.
Massiah instructed Caribbean Life on Tuesday that BCLF is ready to “illuminate Brooklyn” with its sixth version, scheduled for September 5-8, 2024.
“Faces of the Caribbean is a real testomony to my workforce’s combination effort of the final six years to construct a sustainable and strong platform for Caribbean writers within the Diaspora,” she mentioned. “BCLF is a conduit for channeling Caribbean tradition and its very wealthy literary heritage by storytelling.
“Our method is concurrently trendy and deeply rustic,” she added. “We inform the tales which might be buried within the bosom of our classical writing custom and oral storytelling with as a lot ardour as we do the brisker tales of the Diaspora, which are sometimes intersections of theatre, music and post-memory.”
Massiah mentioned BCLF’s purpose is “to disclose the much less generally acknowledged nature of Caribbean excellence, which is the wealth of our intellectualism, fiction and indigenous tales.
“We’re well-known for music and meals, however our literature doesn’t appear to get pleasure from the identical prominence within the fashionable creativeness,” she mentioned. “The Caribbean story, being common in scope, is the nice equalizer for the human expertise. The Caribbean story has the facility to unite and settle the nice debate questions of distinction. The Caribbean story absorbs the highs and lows of the human expertise and refracts its mild again onto the hearts of its reader.”
This yr, Massiah mentioned BCLF has “assembled a few of the brightest and finest minds in international educational thought, music, poetry and journalism to have a good time with us and cement the rightful place of the Caribbean author within the international literary canon.”
She mentioned the pageant will spotlight Prof. Hilary Beckles, chairman of the Caribbean Group (CARICOM) Reparations Fee, alongside an illustrious roster of literary expertise.
Massiah mentioned the occasion will welcome Haitian-American luminaries Edwidge Danticat and Roxane Homosexual, who will launch Danticat’s extremely anticipated assortment of essays, “We’re Alone” (Graywolf Press, 2024).
Trinidadian journalist and writer Dr. Dominic Kalipersad will share the stage with Dr. Kevin Browne, whereas P. Djèlí Clark, a recipient of the Locus Award, will make a celebrated return, Massiah mentioned.
She mentioned US Virgin Islands-born Tiphanie Yanique joins the pageant for the primary time, and Richard Georges, the British Virgin Islands’ inaugural poet laureate, will conduct a poetry workshop.
Different notable authors embody: Angie Cruz, Kellie Magnus, Jasmine Sealy, Alscess Brown, Heather Archibald, Christina Cooke, Lisa Allen-Agostini, Jive Poetic, Rico Frederick, Michael Cooper, Mervyn Taylor, Yesha Townsend, Yesenia Montilla, Lauren Alleyne, Mercy Tullis Bukhari, Derron Sandy, Roberto Carlos Garcia, Cleyvis Natera, Merle Collins, Invoice Howell, Roland Watson-Grant, Christina Olivares, Deborah C. Mortimer, Janet Morrison, Esmeralda Santiago, Lorna Goodison, Barbara Jenkins and Anesia Alfred.
“The pageant will showcase their numerous and dynamic contributions to Caribbean literature, enriching the cultural panorama of Brooklyn,” mentioned Massiah, including that “in an thrilling growth, this yr’s pageant will prolong its attain past the official dates with a sequence of pre- and post-event collaborations.”
On August 8, she mentioned BCLF will workforce up with Akashic Books for a dialog at Greenlight Bookstore, that includes Invoice “Blade” Howell and Roland Watson-Grant discussing Howell’s new guide, Pinnacle: The Misplaced Paradise of Rasta.
The pageant may also take part within the Brooklyn Ebook Competition, in partnership with the Middle for Fiction, on September 29, the place Esmeralda Santiago, Barbara Jenkins and Lorna Goodison will have interaction in a dialog moderated by Lauren Francis-Sharma.
Massiah mentioned the BCLF Brief Fiction Story Contest will unveil its 2024 winners and finalists, showcasing the excellent work of Caribbean-descended writers from each the area and the Diaspora.
“The competition, now among the many most prestigious for Caribbean writers, celebrates the voices that contribute to the wealthy tapestry of Caribbean literature,” she mentioned. “The theme ‘Faces of the Caribbean’ highlights the varied identities, traditions and experiences that outline Caribbean tradition.
“The pageant goals to discover and have a good time this variety, bringing collectively a spectrum of voices and views to counterpoint the dialogue round Caribbean literature and its international significance,” Massiah added.
She mentioned the pageant is supported by a variety of sponsors, together with The Hawthornden Basis, Middle for Fiction, NYU, Ten to One Rum, The Safety Zone (Trinidad & Tobago), and Akashic Books.
Massiah mentioned Trinidad and Tobago-based Patrick Rasoanaivo & Chasing the Caribbean have conceptualized the pageant’s branding and graphic picture.
About a few of the illustrious authors, students and cultural giants
Angie Cruz
Cruz is a novelist and editor. She is the writer of How Not To Drown in A Glass of Water and Dominicana, which was the inaugural GMA Ebook Membership Decide and the 2019-20 Wordup Uptown Reads choice. It was shortlisted for The Girls’s Prize, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Aspen Phrases Literary Prize, it was a RUSA Notable Ebook, and winner of the ALA/YALSA Alex Award. Cruz divides her time between Pittsburgh, New York, and Turin. Angélica and la güira is her first image guide.
Edwidge Danticat
Danticat is the writer of the essay assortment We’re Alone and quite a few different books, most not too long ago the story assortment Every little thing Inside, winner of the Bocas Fiction Prize, the Story Prize, and the Nationwide Ebook Critics Circle Fiction Prize, and The Artwork of Demise, a Nationwide Ebook Critics Circle finalist in Criticism. Her novels embody Breath, Eyes, Reminiscence, an Oprah Ebook Membership choice, Krik? Krak!, a Nationwide Ebook Award finalist, and The Farming of Bones, an American Ebook Award winner. Her memoir, Brother, I’m Dying, was the winner of a Nationwide Ebook Critics Circle Award and a finalist for the Nationwide Ebook Award. Amongst different awards, she has obtained a MacArthur Fellowship, the Neustadt Prize, and the Vilcek Prize. She teaches at Columbia College.
Lorna Goodison
Goodison is a serious determine in world literature, she was the Poet Laureate of Jamaica (2017-2020), and in 2019 she was awarded the 2019 Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry. Goodison has received many different awards for her work, together with the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for Poetry from Yale College, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Musgrave Gold Medal from Jamaica, the Henry Russel Award and the Shirley Verett award for Distinctive Inventive Work from the College of Michigan, and certainly one of Canada’s largest literary prizes, the British Columbia Nationwide Award for Canadian Non-Fiction for From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mom and Her Individuals (2007). Her Collected Poems was revealed in 2017 by Carcanet (UK). She is the writer of twelve books of poetry, three collections of brief tales, an award profitable memoir and a latest assortment of essays. Goodison is Professor Emerita at College of Michigan, the place she was the Lemuel A. Johnson Professor of English and African and Afroamerican Research.
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles
Professor Sir Hilary is vice chancellor of the College of the West Indies. He’s a distinguished college administrator, financial historian, and specialist in greater training and growth pondering and observe; and an internationally reputed historian. Sir Hilary is vice chairman of the Worldwide Process Power for the UNESCO Slave Route Venture; a marketing consultant for the UNESCO Cities for Peace International Program; an advisor to the UN World Tradition Report; and member of Secretary-Normal of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, Science Advisory Board on sustainable growth.
He has obtained quite a few awards, together with Honorary Physician of Letters from Brock College, the College of Glasgow, College of Hull, and the Kwame Nkrumah College of Science and Expertise, Ghana, in recognition of his main contribution to educational analysis into transatlantic slavery, fashionable tradition, and sport.
Sir Hilary has lectured extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas and has revealed greater than 10 educational books. He’s Chairman of the Caribbean Group (CARICOM) Fee on Reparation and Social Justice. Sir Hilary can also be founder and Director of the CLR James Centre for Cricket Analysis at Cave Hill Campus, and a former member of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). He’s founder and inaugural Chairman of the Excessive Efficiency Cricket Academy of the WICB. He’s additionally Vice President of the Commonwealth Sports activities Ministers advisory physique on Sport and Growth.
Sir Hilary is an editor of the UNESCO Normal Historical past of Africa sequence. Sir Hilary has lectured extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas and has revealed over 100 peer-reviewed essays in scholarly journals and greater than 20 educational books.
In regards to the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Competition:
The Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Competition (BCLF) is a not-for-profit group primarily based in New York Metropolis devoted to celebrating Caribbean literature and storytelling. The annual pageant, held in varied Brooklyn venues, options readings, panel discussions, workshops, and performances that highlight the dynamic and numerous voices of Caribbean writers.
For extra data, contact Massiah at bklyncbeanlitfest.org.
