Lady Saw LADY SAW has pretty much conquered the world of dancehall. Next month, she will be making something of a debut into the literary world.
Saw, born Marion Hall who earned her reputation by spouting some of dancehall's slackest lyrics, has proven that she is here for the long haul. Last week, when the organisers of the Calabash Literary Festival announced this year's line-up, they named her as one of the performers.
Saw will join Charles Hyatt, Carolyn Cooper and Easton Lee in the segment called 'Louise-Iana'. Louise-Iana will feature these four entertainers performing readings from the works of the Honourable Louise Bennett-Coverley.
The organisers gave something of a taste of what the festival had to offer at the launch of the event, at the Devonshire, Devon House, Hope Road, St. Andrew, last Thursday. The festival will be a combination of live music and readings, with a focus on the readings. Zinc Fence bounced the launch off to a lively start, giving a taste of what the musical element would be like. However, it has not yet been announced who the artistes in the Calabashment segment will be.
They also had readings from Wayne Marshall, Tony Rebel and Big Youth. While Big Youth read his own work, Marshall read Haile Selassie's 1936 speech to the League of Nations, which Bob Marley later put to music. After reading the speech, Marshall noted that he could not help but see the similarities between the Ethiopia's situation decades ago and the current Iraqi dilemma.
Tony Rebel, who pointed out that he, too, was a poet, since he considered his work to be poetry set to music, performed Mutabaruka's Dis Poem.
LOUISE-IANA
The Louise-Iana segment will bring the three-day festival to an end. Taking place at Jake's Village in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, Calabash starts on Friday with a night of poetry.
Friday night will open with readings from poets selected by The Poetry Society of Jamaica, Mel Cooke, Adziko Simba, Sabriya Simon and Samuel Gordon. The segment 'Tongues of Fire' will follow. The four poets in this segment are Bernadine Evaristo, Sabrina Hayeema-Ladani, Carl Hancock and Everton Sylester.
Saturday will feature a lunch-time reading with Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott and should close with a reading of Bob Marley's words by Wayne Armond, Mikie Bennett, Ibo Cooper and Ernie Smith.
The festival will also feature a segment dedicated to short stories and another to biographies. Each day also features open microphone segments where all are welcome to share their talents. Calabash is in its third year of existence and continues to be free to all those who care to share in the experience.
