Sounds of Tivoli dominate Calabash
Published:Tuesday | June 1, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
It was so profound and important that Calabash went on last weekend. It spoke of the role of the arts in moments of crisis.
"And we have to remember that art is not a luxury, it is essential, even though our Government acts as if it is not," said Bahamian poet Christian Campbell after reading a few elegies at the 2010 Calabash Literary Festival in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth.
Campbell, who feels that during a crisis the first area to have its funding cut is the arts, did not need too much encouragement. One would have thought Jamaicans were looking for anything devoid of the west Kingston turmoil, but Campbell's poems,which spoke to just that, were the ones most appreciated.
Wearing the tagline 'So Much Things to Say', the three-day event, threatened by advisories from the meteorological office that there would be flooding, was the quintessence of black pride, pushed by many of the speakers, even the white ones, while the effect of the gun and the need to save children from the forces of darkness were highlights.
"When I looked and saw Jamaicans, rank and file who were exposed in appreciating the highly sophisticated concepts and imagery that were being articulated in the poetry and pieces, I had a renewed respect and hope for this country," stated author Blossom O'Meally-Nelson.
Nelson, who read again this year, listened earnestly as Campbell spoke of the rituals for burying the dead, while paying tribute to Haiti and Jamaica.
"I am really troubled by the way in which those who died in Tivoli are not getting the proper burial they deserve," Campbell said in a later interview with The Gleaner.
Speaking about his work, 'Goodman's Bay', which grasped the attention of the large crowd, Campbell said when he wrote the piece it was not intended for Tivoli Gardens but still spoke to the need to recreate rituals through which peace can be made with the dead.
There was a profundity in the commonality many of the poets in the 'open mic' segment shared. There was continually a reference to what was happening in the country, even if it was just a line on crime and suffering.
With 'So Much Things To Say', the difficulty faced last weekend, particularly by some journalists, was the inability to concentrate on writing. The fun that emanated from the event was truly 'sinful'.