‘Infused with the fire born of resistance’: the magic of the Calabash literary festival

Marlon James, Ian McEwan and Sheryl Lee Ralph lit up the Jamaican book event, celebrating the small island’s gargantuan cultural footprint with readings, discussions and DJs“Do I look like a rebel?” Booker prize winner Marlon James jokingly asks the crowd moments after walking on stage, head-banging his dreads to the sound of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.If your only experience of literary festivals are polite, well-mannered affairs inside tents in the British countryside, the Calabash literary festival, held on Jamaica’s Treasure Beach, hits differently. It’s not just the setting but the rare joy of seeing a majority-Black audience and roster at a literary event. It’s a festival infused with the magic and fire born of resistance. Continue reading...

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