• Open Source » Blog Archive » Calabash ‘08: First, the fireworks…
  Chris Lydon opens his series of Calabsh litfest reports with a show on the Walcott-Naipaul feud.
  (tags: jamaica caribbean literature)

Yes — a podcast. In CFR’s 48th show, a collaboration with Antilles and the Caribbean Review of Books (CRB) recorded in Treasure Beach, Jamaica, my gin and tonic-lubricated friends Annie Paul, Nicholas Laughlin, Jonathan Ali, Kei Miller, Alastair Bird and I review the first day-and-a-half of the Calabash International Literary Festival.

 

 CFR #48 - Calabash Literary Festival 2008: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (381)

Apologies to Chris Abani and Yusef Komunyakaa for omitting mention of their fine readings on Friday night. At the time of the recording we were still recovering from Derek Walcott‘s unforgettable premiere reading of “The Mongoose”, a “tribute” to V S Naipaul that begins with the choice lines, “I have been bitten/I must avoid infection/Or else I’ll be dead as Naipaul’s fiction,” and goes either downhill or uphill from there, depending on your point of view. Being good bacchanal-loving Caribbeans, we naturally devote a section of our review to discussion of that episode.

Thomas Glave at Calabash 2008

Following our review is a far more coherent interview with Jamaican writer Thomas Glave, who talks about his latest work, Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles. Thomas was also kind enough to send me a copy of the statement with which he prefaced his reading at Calabash on opening night:

"I want to say a special thanks to the Calabash organisers – Colin Channer, Kwame Dawes, and Justine Henzell – for inviting me back to Calabash, this being my second reading at the festival, and for their unceasing generosity to, and support of, writers from around the world. And so, mindful of that generosity and kindness, my conscience will not permit me to begin reading from this book in particular before I say that as a gay man of Jamaican background I am appalled and outraged by the Prime Minister’s having said only three days ago on BBC-TV that homosexuals will not have any place in his Cabinet and, implicitly, by extension, in Jamaica. I guess this means that there will never be any room in Mr Golding’s Cabinet for me and for the many, many other men and women in Jamaica who are homosexual. And so I now feel moved to say directly to Mr Golding that it is exactly this kind of bigotry and narrow-mindedness that Jamaica does not need any more of, and that you, Mr Golding, should be ashamed of yourself for providing such an example of how not to lead Jamaica into the future. And so, Mr Golding, think about how much you are not helping Jamaica the next time you decide to stand up and say that only some Jamaicans – heterosexuals, in this case – have the right to live in their country as full citizens with full human rights, while others – homosexuals – do not. That is not democracy. That is not humane leadership. That is simply the stupidity and cruelty of bigotry."

• Global Voices Online » Jamaica, Caribbean: No gays in Golding’s government
  Nikipedia rounds up the blog reaction to the Jamaican PM’s recent statements on the non-participation of homosexuals in his administration
  (tags: jamaica hom)

On Wednesday I promised “festival reports and photos” from the Calabash International Literary Festival starting today. It looks, however, like I’ll have to break that promise, as I learned this afternoon that photography isn’t allowed at this year’s event. An official I spoke with briefly said something to the effect that this year they were trying to prevent photos from getting out “all over the place”. A misguided policy, in my opinion, and one that’s contrary to the spirit of the age and the openness that Calabash is otherwise known for.

The ban on photography also deprives the festival of the kind of free publicity the likes of me gave them last year. I just hope the official festival photographer gives the festival dogs their due.

See last year’s photos here.

• C minus 1
  Over at Antilles, Nikipedia promises Calabash Festival coverage
  (tags: caribbean jamaica literature)

• Global map of Digital Inclusion
  (tags: map technology world development economics global)
• Jamaica Gleaner News – EDITORIAL – Homophobic silliness and a failure of leadership – Thursday | May 22, 2008
  Gleaner editorial addresses quality of Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s leadership in light of homophobic comments made on the BBC’s Hardtalk programme
  (tags: jamaica homosexuality homophobia)
• Jamaica Gleaner News – LETTER OF THE DAY – Buggery no shackle, gays want ‘hate crimes’ law – Thursday | May 22, 2008
  The Gleaner’s Letter of the Day makes the case for hate crimes legislation in Jamaica
  (tags: jamaica law homosexuality homophobia)

Another Flickr video upload and Canon PowerShot G9 test.

If Flickr had launched its video upload service back in January 2008 might really have been the year of video after all (apologies to Semanal, by the way).

• Global Voices Online » Global: The price of food, the cost of despair
  Great roundup of Global Voices’ coverage of the global food crisis.
  (tags: food globalvoices)
• Antilles: the weblog of the CRB: May 2008 Antilles book of the month: The Same Earth, by Kei Miller
  The Caribbean Review of Books’ blog begins a book of the month series
  (tags: caribbean literature)