What Is Calabash International Literary Festival? A Q&A About Jamaica's Renowned Event

Forbes

04-06-2025

Kwame Dawes and Sheryl Lee Ralph at Calabash 2025 in Treasure Beach, Jamaica
There is a fine line between Calabash and a cult. After all, there exist legions who will not miss the biennial festival for anything in the world—those of us who, religiously and ritualistically, take planes, trains and automobiles to reach a remote fishing village in Jamaica where some 3000 people gather in the name of the holy word.
See, this is no ordinary literary festival.
Since its inception in 2001 Calabash has featured such literary heavy hitters as Salman Rushdie, Jamaica Kincaid, Junot Diaz, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Colson Whitehead, Derek Walcott and actor/novelist Michael Imperioli—all of whom forgo their usual speaker fees because it is so great an honor and a joy to just be invited to read at Calabash.
And its setting is the epitome of perfection: Jakes at Treasure beach, a cluster of eccentrically lovely cottages scattered whimsically across six rocky, beachfront acres—a place where the sea is the omnipresent soundtrack (so intensely present that it transforms us visitors into the backdrop against which it, the main character, acts). Every time I stay at Jakes I notice some quirky design detail I hadn't honed in on before; this time it was the 'book nook,' posted outside the property to foster reading in the community.
The whimsical beauty of Jakes
But the magic of Calabash is so much greater than the sum of its parts. In an increasingly AI-generated world, Calabash—like Jakes, from whom the festival feels organically sprouted—is palpably, beautifully IRL: a noun, a place, a verb and a vibe. It is gloriously anachronistic—no, it is both the past and the future: a relic from an era when digital distraction did not rule, but also saturated in the forward-thinking genius of the writers who grace its stage. It is a festival infused with reggae—there are nightly concerts on the beach and an incredible closing acoustic concert in tribute to a selected classic album—but more than that, Calabash moves like reggae, with an insouciant feel that masks the meticulously calculated coordination at its core.
Making such magic takes a village—literally: the tight-knit community of Treasure Beach is itself a main ingredient in the festival—but there is a powerhouse trio at the heart of that calculated coordination. Following last month's staging of the festival, its largest one yet. I asked them some questions.
Justine Henzell
JUSTINE HENZELL, CO-FOUNDER AND PRODUCER OF CALABASH
Can you break down the beautiful alchemy that is Calabash: what are the ingredients that go into this inimitable festival? It is indeed magical but yet obvious that if you fill an exquisite destination with fascinating people, let them listen to diverse points of view read and spoken eloquently, feed them delicious food, and provide music to vibe and dance to a good time will be had by all.
In decades of Calabash, what have been, for you as Producer, its most challenging moments and its most magnificent moments? 2027 is the 16th staging so there are so many but simply looking at this year I can find challenges and magnificent moments. Like finding a way, in 24 hours, to fill the space left by Michael Ondaatje's unavoidable absence was indeed a challenge! But because the Calabash team can pivot and draw on a deep well of talent and support, the conversation with Marlon James and Paul Holdengraber was a triumph rather than a consolation. The echoes of Sheryl Lee Ralph song at the end of her conversation with Kwame Dawes are still resonating weeks later. Having a sitting Prime Minister of Jamaica attend for the first time and engage deeply with the authors and audience was also a highlight.
What will Calabash look like in 20 years? Hopefully it will look the same in 20 years. The beach will be present in the background, the sea will be safe for swimmers, flowers pollinated by bees will decorate the stage and the audience will be as diverse as it is now. How will it feel? The hunger for sharing experiences has only increased since we started Calabash in 2001 and I believe it will continue to be a need. The palpable joy of the festival weekend feeds the soul as well as the mind and Calabash will continue to be treasured for providing that space. Kwame and I will be 'Calabashemerita' looking on from our comfy chairs strategically placed to catch the breeze, overwhelmingly pleased as we whisper and laugh with each other while watching our successors hurry about.
Kwame Dawes
KWAME DAWES, CO-FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF CALABASH
Can you share more about the process of selecting readers for Calabash? How do you ensure the right combination of wordsmiths? There is really no mystery to our system and our process. We rely on recommendations and on paying careful attention to what is happening in the literary world. We always managed to limit our options by the rules we built into our process--we prioritize new work by our authors, and we seek always to create a balance across all kinds of markers of range a diversity. The principle is to never lose sight of where good and interesting work may be happening in the world, and then making sense of how that work will go over at Calabash. What people may not know is that we are persistent about inviting writers year after year, and we have sought to keep a good relationship with writers, some of whom have not yet said yes to coming. Each year, after the festival, we write to all the writers and we ask them to suggest writers who they know and who they think would be a good fit for the festival. This approach is important for a few reasons. The first is that we know that those who have read at the festival understand what its beauties, strengths and unique qualities are, and so they can communicate this to those writers they know. The second is obvious: they know these writers and can open a door of communication directly with the authors. This has proved especially helpful. While many festivals can offer good fees, and the quality of feed can be a deciding factor for the writers (and their agents) for us what we have to be able to offer assurances of are the following: a large and engaged audience, the opportunity to sell books, a destination that they would pay to go to on their own, an assurance that they will be well-cared for and valued by the festival organizers, an exceptionally good sound system, that they are being invited not entirely for their fame but for the quality of their work with which we are familiar, if not intimate, and the company of really gifted and successful writers.
Our secret weapon is Justine. There are few people who can ask for impossible things from people in a manner that makes them regret saying no. Finally, there is our other secret weapon. We do not always know how a reading will go down, but we have come to trust the generosity, hospitality and good humor of our audience, it is a quality that actually transforms the writers in quite remarkable ways. Calabash is a vibe—this may be a cliche, but it is so because it is true. And it allows space for writers to be themselves, but it also moves them into shaking off the usual anxieties of reading at festivals, and capture the Treasure Beach vibe, the Jamaican vibe. We work on this. Needless to say, we have started to think of 2027. Truth is, we started to think of 2027 in 2017. This is the nature of programming.
Avid listeners: The larges-ever crowd at Calabash 2025
In decades of Calabash, what have been its most magnificent moments? I am never good at this kind of question. As an organizer, I have always cherished the generosity of the audience—their patience and the cooperation. When I stand on the stage and start to list out the "tent etiquette,' or when I have to respond to the million questions about the open mic and when it is going to happen, or when I am aware that something may have been said on stage that may not have sat well with many, I have always been impressed with the good humor, the kindness and the incredible level of community that this audience has shown. I have been as impressed at the manner in which this attitude is contagious—how generations of Calabashers have passed this spirit on to others from festival to festival. Here is the thing: I have read all over the world, and I mean it when I say that this audience is the most attentive and informed audience to whom I have read. They prepare for the festival, but they also come with a remarkable skill which in many places, has been lost—the skill is the ability to listen and apprehend buckets full of spoken words. I have always observed that Jamaica is a radio society—the radio is still a part of the way we live, and listening is engendered by this.
The vibe that is Calabash
The second thing that has impressed me year after year, has been the style of the audience. This year, I saw a series of instagram reels featuring Calabash style and I thought this was ingenious. I mention style because what we see revealed is idiosyncratic approaches to style and fashion. People seem to just express themselves how they want, and the result is a chaotic collage of beauty. It's a thing. I could name some of the big names who have come to the festival, and a list of the less than big names who have read. But none of them have surprised me with their brilliance. Their brilliance was known to us when we invited them. What was a surprise for me, and continues to be this has been their willingness to come to our festival. I will never take this for granted.
What will Calabash look like in 20 years? Here is what I hope. That the festival will maintain its core principle of being a free festival, of being primarily designed for a Jamaican audience, of being an international festival that is fundamentally Jamaican in spirit, that we hold to our motto of 'earthy, inspirational, daring and diverse'; that Calabash will hold to the reggae principles of its beginning in those, philosophy, and consciousness. We are a festival based on the southern hemisphere, in the third world, in a country shaped and defined by the African those and understanding, and My hope is that this will not be lost.
But I can also say that we have been working on the legacy of the festival—its incredible archive of assets surrounding each staging—the photos, the videos, the planning ideas, the art and design work, the merchandize, and on and on. We believe we have created something that such be memorialized as a truly transformative force in Jamaica, and we are working on this and have been doing so for many years.
We also, know that Calabash may have to change to meet the needs of the country. When we started the Workshops and Seminars were critical parts of our mission which was to elevate reading and writing of the literary arts in Jamaica. That goal will not change, but Calabash is now looking at other ways to achieve this. The launching of a Caribbean Poetry Book Series, Calabash, is a case in point. Jamaica has to decide whether it wants Calabash to be here in twenty years time. This is a money question, yes, and it is a will question. Justine and I, and the team carry in us tremendous knowledge and skill about running a great festival. People may think this is simple, but if it were, there would be many more of these. The fact is, there are not. If Calabash is around in twenty years, it will be because we have found a way to transfer this knowledge to people who have the vision for the festival.
Jason Henzell and his sister Justine
JASON HENZELL, CHAIRMAN OF JAKES HOTEL
I don't think Calabash could be held anywhere else but at Jakes. Why do you think that is? What is it about the relationship between Jakes, Calabash and Treasure Beach that is so magical?
In 2000 Noel Mignott of the Jamaica Tourist Board took [Jamaican novelist and Calabash co-founder] Colin Channer around Jamaica on book tour for his first novel, Waiting in Vain. When reaching Jakes I told them Justine & I came from a family that understood creative people and production and that such a festival would mean a lot to a small village like Treasure Beach. I told them about Alex Haley writing the seminal book Roots at Treasure Cot, our grandparents' beach house on Calabash Bay, which they built in 1941, the year our mother Sally was born. Colin and Kwame Dawes had been hatching the idea of a literary festival already so once Colin and Justine met in Montego Bay the founding trio began to plan in earnest. In 2001, Jakes hosted the first Calabash with about 300 people attending, mostly family and friends. The writers were drawn from the Jamaican and overseas literary community that Kwame and Colin knew. There were more yellow butterflies in the lignum vitae trees than there were people but we knew something special had been created. Jakes, Calabash and Treasure Beach have all grown together over the past 24 years, a beautifully symbiotic relationship. The success of Calabash 2025 has also inspired us to plan the second staging of the Food, Rum & Reggae Festival set for Nov 7-9.
Can you share some details about new developments at Jakes and in Treasure Beach, especially since Hurricane Beryl? What did recovery look like—and how was it both a local and a global effort?
The outpouring of love and support from overseas visitors after Hurricane Beryl was tremendous and enabled the BREDS Treasure Beach Foundation to assist hundreds of families to 'build back with love.' It proved that the community tourism model, where tourists interact in a myriad of meaningful ways with the local residents, works in good times and challenging ones. Less than a year later Treasure Beach was able to host thousands for Calabash 2025 and show that we are ready to welcome guests again. It was a huge boost to area in every way.