Poets & Passion, the Caribbean Cultural Theatre monthly celebration of the work of Caribbean writers, kicks off its fifth season with award winning writers Marlon James and Tiphanie Yanique at the Downtown Brooklyn campus of St. Francis College, 182 Remsen Street, on Friday, October 15 at 7pm.
Mr. James, who will be launching the paperback edition of his debut novel, John Crow’s Devil, is the recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for fiction for his critically acclaimed 2009 novel The Book of Night Women. Ms. Yanique, who has been a regular supporter of the Poets & Passion Series, has recently copped the 2010 Rona Jaffe Award for her first book, How To Escape Form A Leper Colony.
Initiated as a platform for Caribbean-American creative writers to present their work and network, Poets & Passion has evolved into a curious mix literary salon featuring celebrated poets and novelists, emerging New York area talents, spoken work artists, and lovers of the written word. For reservations and information contact the Caribbean Cultural Theatre at 718-783-8345.
Marlon James was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1970. His first novel, John Crow’s Devil was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Commonwealth Prize. His second novel, The Book of Night Women, a New York Times Editor’s Choice, has been released to widespread critical acclaim. His short fiction has appeared in the anthologies Iron Balloons, Bronx Noir, and Silent Voices, and his nonfiction in the Caribbean Review of Books. Currently he is a professor of literature and creative writing at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Marlon is a nominee for the 2010 National Book in fiction for The Book of Night Women
Tiphanie Yanique is a fiction writer, poet and essayist from the Virgin Islands. She is the winner of a Pushcart Prize, the Kore Press Fiction Prize, The Academy of American Poets Prize, a Fulbright Scholarship in writing and the Boston Review Fiction Prize. Her fiction, poetry or essays can be found in the Best African American Fiction, Transition Magazine, American Short Fiction, The London Magazine, Prism International, Callaloo, and other journals and anthologies. She has had residencies with Bread Loaf, Callaloo, Squaw Valley and the Cropper Foundation for Caribbean Writers. Tiphanie is a professor of Creative Writing and Caribbean Literature at Drew University.
Poets & Passion is a project of the Brooklyn, NY based Caribbean Cultural Theatre, a multi disciplinary arts organization presenting work for the stage, screen and page that honours a balanced rendering of Caribbean culture and the Caribbean-American experience.
Now in its fifth season, this sharing creativity, experience and insight has featured such renowned literary talents as poets Kamau Braithwaite (Barbados), Merle Collins (Grenada) and Linton Kwesi Johnson (UK), novelists E.R. Braithwaite (Guyana), Thomas Glave (US), and Elizabeth Nunez (Trinidad & Tobago). This coming season will also see Trinidardian, Cheryl Boyce Taylor and Everton Sylvester, from Jamaica on November 11, and Bahamian, Christian Campbell and Jacinth Henry-Martin for St. Kitts-Nevis on December 9.
The season launch is made possible with the support of Akashic Book Publishers, Graywolf Press, Poets & Writers, Inc., St. Francis College- Office of Community Relations, University of the West Indies Alumni Association and Wolmers High School Alumni Association, along with public resources from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Material for the Arts.
