Caribbean Authors to Share Their Literary Works at Miami Dade College’s 28th Miami Book Fair International

Miami – Avid fans of some of the literary world’s finest authors are ready for up-close-and- personal discussions and book signings with some of their favorite Caribbean authors as time draws near for the official kick-off of the 28th edition of the Miami Book Fair International (MBFI), presented by Miami Dade College’s (MDC) The Center @ MDC, on Sunday, Nov. 13.
 
The authors representing the Caribbean diaspora have covered the fiction and poetry, post-colonial themes, and non-fiction genres on topics such as family turmoil, personal memoirs, political and social warfare, poverty, and more. They represent countries such as Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago. During the Fair, the authors will participate in book signings, readings, and one-on-one discussions.
 
Here’s a list of this year’s featured authors with ties to the Caribbean, as well as those whose work highlight island culture and interests. All will appear at an autographing and special panel session on Saturday, Nov. 19 in Building 3, second floor of the MDC Wolfson Campus:  
 
Caribbean Voices in Fiction & Poetry, 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19
Angela Barry (Bermuda): Born in Bermuda where she currently lives, Barry has contributed to The Bermudian magazine, BIM Arts for the 21st Century, The Caribbean Writer and The Massachusetts Review, and has been translated into Spanish and published in the magazine, Anales Del Caribe. Among her awards is the James Michener Creative Writing Fellowship. Her first anthology, Endangered Species and Other Stories, was published in 2002, and her first novel, Gorée: Point of Departure, in 2010.
 
Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming (Trinidad & Tobago): A poet, fiction writer and essayist, Manoo-Rahming’s first book of poetry, Curry Flavour, was published in 2000 by Peepal Tree Press, Leeds, England. Her second book of poetry, Immortelle and Bhandaaraa Poems, which includes some of her artwork, was published in 2011 by Proverse Hong Kong. She has won the David Hough Literary Prize from The Caribbean Writer; the Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for Short Fiction from The Caribbean Writer; and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) 2001 Short Story Competition.
 
Shara McCallum (Jamaica): McCallum is the author of four books of poetry: The Face of Water: New and Selected Poems, This Strange Land, Song of Thieves, and The Water Between Us. Her poems have appeared in journals, anthologies, and textbooks in the US, UK, Caribbean, Latin America, and Israel and been translated into Spanish and Romanian.
 
Eunice Heath-Tate (Jamaica): Heath-Tate is a Jamaican-born poet, novelist and freelance writer. Her works include When God Wasn’t Looking (her latest novel), Background Noises, and Scraping My Heart. She is a recipient of The Lyric Award for achievements and contributions to the cultural heritage of the African Diaspora in the New World.
 
PANEL: Caribbean Voices: Generations in Art and Literature, 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19
Opal Adisa (Jamaica): Adisa is an award-winning poet, prose writer and inspirational speaker. Her twelve titles include the novel, It Begins With Tears; Caribbean Erotica, co-edited with Donna Weir-Soley; and her new novel, Painting Away Regrets (Peepal Tree Press, $26.95).
 
 
Le Roy Clarke (Trinidad & Tobago): Clarke is an artist, poet, lecturer and philosopher. He’s acclaimed as one of the region’s leading artists who have contributed many essays on issues of national importance. His books include, Taste of Endless Fruit; Douens; Eyeing De Word – Love Poems for Ettylene; De Distance is Here; The El Tucuche Poems 1984-2007; Secret Insect of a Bird Deep in Me Wanting to Fly; and Voice of a Smouldering Coal.
 
Ramabai Espinet (Trinidad & Tobago): Espinet is a poet, a writer of fiction and essays, and a critic. Her published works include the poetry collection, Nuclear Seasons, the books for children, The Princess of Spadina and Ninja’s Carnival, and her first novel, The Swinging Bridge, a portrait of the immigrant experience.
 
Gordon Rohlehr (Guyana): Rohlehr is a retired professor of West Indian Literature at the University of the West Indies and a pioneer in the reinterpretation of Caribbean culture. He is the author of numerous books and articles on Caribbean culture and literary history, including: Transgression, Transition, Transformation: Essays in Caribbean Culture; A Scuffling of Islands: Essays on Calypso; Ancestories: Readings of Kamau Brathwaite’s Ancestors.
 
Donna Aza Weir-Soley (Jamaica):  Weir-Soley is an associate professor of English, African & African Diaspora Studies and Women’s Studies at Florida International University. A recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellowship, she is the author of First Rain; Eroticism, Spirituality and Resistance In Black Women’s Writings; and co-editor of the new anthology, Caribbean Erotic, which boasts 62 writers from the English-speaking, French-speaking, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.
 
PANEL: Caribbean Voices: Post-Colonial Themes, 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 19
Brenda Flanagan (Moderator) (Trinidad & Tobago): Flanagan’s story collection, In Praise of Island Women: & Other Crimes (Peepal Press, $15.95), celebrates women’s capacity to endure life’s hardships with resilience, stoicism, and humor. She teaches creative writing and Caribbean and African American Literature at Davidson College, North Carolina, and is also the author of You Alone Are Dancing and Allah in the Islands.
 
Andrew Downes (Barbados): Labour Markets in Small Developing States (Commonwealth Secretariat, $38.95), edited by Downes, explores the approaches to labor development by governments of smaller states across the world and considers the effectiveness of those strategies.
 
Brian Meeks (Jamaica): Meeks is professor of social and political change, director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies and director of the Centre for Caribbean Thought in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies. He has published seven books and edited collections, including Envisioning Caribbean Futures: Jamaican Perspectives; The Thought of New World: The Quest for Decolonisation (ed. with Norman Girvan); and his first novel, Paint the Town Red.
 
Selwyn Ryan (Trinidad & Tobago): Ryan has been a member of two Constitutional Commissions established by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission, Deputy Chairman of the Caribbean Press Council and President of Caribbean Studies Association. He has also been the University Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West Indies, as well as the Director of the St. Augustine Branch of the Institute.
 
Verene A. Shepherd (Jamaica): Shepherd has published widely on Jamaican economic history, and sits on the Advisory/Editorial Board of several local and international journals including the Arts Journal, Caribbean Quarterly, Jamaica Journal, Slavery and Abolition. She is a fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society, is University Director and Regional Coordinator of the Institute for Gender & Development Studies and Professor of Social History at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies.
 
Other prominent Caribbean authors scheduled to make an appearance at the Fair include MDC faculty member Geoffrey Philp, whose new children’s book, Marcus and the Amazons: A Story of Resistance (Mabrack Press) combines the values of Marcus Garvey and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. into the story of a courageous ant that saves his colony from an evil tyrant. Philp also contributed an afterword to I’m the One With the Blue Cap On (Rock Press, $15.00) a posthumous collection of Jeffrey Knapp’s poems, edited by John Dufresne, with a Forward by Michael Hettich. Culled from typed manuscript pages going back to the sixties, the poems span the length of his career, showing the early influence of the Beats and his fondness for the visual arts and pop culture. Throughout the range of his poems, Knapps’s voice reveals itself as consistently strong, energetic and uniquely his own. Philp is an award winning Jamaican poet and fiction writer.
 
Also appearing during the Fair, Cedella Marley, the oldest child of late reggae artist Bob Marley, and author of One Love (Chronicle Books, $16.99), which was adapted from one of her father’s most beloved songs. It is a story that brings the joyful spirit and unforgettable lyrics of his music to life for a new generation. In addition to her literary career, Cedella performs internationally with the three-time Grammy Award-winning Melody Makers. She is also the author of a number of books about her father, including 56 Thoughts from 56 Hope Road and Bob Marley: My Son.
 
Lastly, Marlon James’ novel, The Book of Night Women (Riverhead, $26.95), explores the ferociously cruel and dehumanizing practice of slavery in Jamaica. The book is narrated in a lilting Jamaican patois that at once underscores and eerily conflicts with the disturbing images of violence and degradation that James conjures. “Night Women will keep readers up at night,” says Bookmarks magazine.
 
Important facts about the 28th edition of the Miami Book Fair International:
 
Unless otherwise noted: All Evening With presentations will be held in the Chapman Conference Center (Bldg. 3, second floor) at the Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Ave. Tickets for each session are $10 and must be purchased in advance. To purchase tickets, visit www.miamibookfair.com.
 
Kick-off festivities will begin at 5 p.m. with the Miami Book Fair International Inaugural Ceremony in the Wolfson Campus Auditorium (Building 1, second floor). Immediately following the ceremony, the Chinese Pavilion will officially open its doors and host an opening reception. Both events are free and open to the public. 
 
The Fair will take place November 13 – 20, 2011, at the college’s Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami. Free parking is available in the Building 7 garage (500 N.E. Second Ave). The popular Street Fair runs Friday, November 18 through Sunday, November 20, featuring more than 200 exhibitors from around the country. This year, the Fair will celebrate the literature and culture of China.
 
Plus, Twilight Tastings every weeknight – delicious morsels and drinks courtesy of popular Miami restaurants – and a wealth of activities, from folk dancing to calligraphy demos and more, at the Chinese Pavilion.