CALABASH '09 CANCELLED: WHAT CAN WE DO?

I’m slowly emerging from the sense of numbness & fatigue that beset me when I heard about the cancellation, then got confirmation. The question reverberating in my brain was: What can we do?? We definitely need to let our voices be heard, write cheques if we can (or even drop coins), knock on the doors of possible sponsors, write letters, poems, rants, call talk shows and talk di tings dem!!

I am also clear and convinced that something has to happen, an event or 2 or 3 must take place in Treasure Beach during Calabash time…..we simply cannot, must not take this laying down, lick our wounds and not make our planned trips to Treasure Beach, cancel our reservations and flight plans, and possibly send Treasure Beach into a major downward spiral…too much is at stake here: our creativity, our voices, our words, our minds, the sustenance of a space, vibe, experience that so many of us have come to ‘treasure’.

Kwame, Justine & Colin had the idea, gumption and guts to bring this audacious Jamaican International Literary Festival to life and those of us who have become loving godparents must step up. I want to find out, and will, from Kwame, Justine & Colin what is possible, what can be salvaged…..a scaled-down version, a Jamaican version, some special events/guests.

I don’t know about anybody else, but I am going to Treasure Beach as planned and I’m prepared to sit on a beach, under a tree and listen to words that move, inspire, uplift, irritate, frighten and heal me……I’d love to utter some words of my own, but some semblance of Calabash or a distant cousin MUST happen.

While we are there or after we can plan and commit to how we will support Calabash from here on in so this never happens again….