First St Mary Literary Festival a success
Published:Monday | May 6, 2024 | 12:09 AMMichael Reckord/Gleaner Writer
The St Mary Literary Festival had its successful inaugural staging at the Port Maria Anglican Church hall two Saturdays ago. Doubtlessly, the team organising it breathed a collective sigh of relief as, after months of hard work, which started last December, they watched the event exceeding the scheduled time of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
It featured more than 40 writers, ranging in age to 80-plus, reading from their creative literature – including former Poet Laureate of Jamaica, Mervyn Morris, who gave video presentations, two panel discussions and tips for writers from a publisher. And not only was there no charge for admission, a meal was provided for all the participants.
Retired engineer and educator Paul Ward, the festival’s conceptualiser and lead organiser, told The Gleaner that he planned to stage it every other year – on alternate years to the Calabash International Literary Festival in Treasure Beach, but he might throw in an extra one around Easter next year.
The idea for the St Mary event came to him after he went to Calabash last year. While he was impressed by the high-calibre, international writers there, he said, “I wanted a more down-to-earth festival for St Mary.”
Broadly speaking, that is what he got. Morris and Kwame McPherson, a Jamaican novelist and poet who has published several books and is the first Caribbean writer to win the Commonwealth Short Story Competition, were probably the best known names of the presenters. Though many were professional people – educators, entrepreneurs, and experienced adult creatives of various types – many were school children. Fourteen-year-old Janaya Reid, a student of Marymount High School, was among the last-named group.
The diversity of the presenters was reflected in the variety of the poems and stories. Topics included praise for the natural world, love for the country and the parish, Jamaican food, and social ills. The panel discussions were on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and the role of literature in revolution.
Publisher of Blue Banyan Books, Tanya Batson, cautioned beginning writers to accept criticism and rejection from publishers. “Rejection does not necessarily mean your writing is not good; it might just be that it was not right for the audience at that time. Match your work with the publisher you sent it to; if they publish romance, don’t send historical fiction, no matter how good it is.”
Ward said that once he started working on his idea for the festival in December, pro bono help from friends, acquaintances and even strangers flowed in. Assistance and encouragement came from three women who became the emcees on Saturday – university lecturer Dr Sharma Taylor, broadcaster Kabu Maat Kheru and poet-entrepreneur Kacy Garvey. Veteran theatre practitioner Anya Gloudon designed the logo and banner, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission helped with the organisation and “even the caretaker of the church hall”, Ward said, offered her services for free.