Readings from Umoja and Rangeela

READINGS from two top anthologies will shine at Carifesta XIV, forming part of inclusive cultural events designed to highlight the region’s talents in literature, dance, oratory and music.

Umoja: Thicker Than Water, a showcase of Afro-Caribbean artistry, will take place on August 20 at Queen’s Hall, with its Indo-Caribbean counterpart, Rangeela: We Mark Your Memory, scheduled for August 22 at the Central Bank Auditorium.

At their cores, Umoja and Rangeela will display the copious performing talents in TT and the region, drawing attention to the work of dancers, designers, choreographers, and musicians. The NGC Bocas Lit Fest, organisers of Carifesta XIV’s literary events, are pleased to present readings from some of TT’s award-winning and emerging writers, as an official part of both showcases.

Winner of the 2019 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, lecturer and photographer Kevin Adonis Browne, will read at Umoja: Thicker Than Water, alongside prize-winning poet Zahra Gordon. Gordon’s poems have recently been published in Peekash Press’ Thicker Than Water: New Writing from the Caribbean, edited by Funso Aiyejina. An anthology of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, Thicker Than Water assembles winning and shortlisted entries to the Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize, which ran from 2013 to 2015.

Similarly powerful voices in contemporary Caribbean writing will share a stage with other art forms at Rangeela. Reading from the Peekash Press anthology We Mark Your Memory: Writing from the Descendants of Indenture are TT contributors Patti-Ann Ali, Stella Chong Sing, and Gabrielle Jameela Hosein. We Mark Your Memory commemorates 100 years since the abolition of indentured labour in the British Empire. The Caribbean entries in the anthology are drawn from TT and Guyana, representing a significant section of the book’s contents.

Peekash Press is administered by the Bocas Lit Fest: it represents one of the newest regional publishing houses to be fully based and operational in the geographic Caribbean.

Umoja: Thicker Than Water and Rangeela: We Mark Your Memory are vitally important segments of a thick cultural braid. As host of these showcases, Carifesta XIV promises a platform for true and sustained regional unities, among the descendants of slavery, indentured labour, and more. Both events will invoke remarkable manifestations of the true Caribbean melting pot consciousness. These events are free and open to the public. For further info visit www.bocaslitfest.com/carifesta or get the Carifesta XIV programme on the Carifesta App from the App Store.