We were thoroughly impressed with Guyana’s staging of CARIFESTA X

Sep 05, 2008 Letters

CARIFESTA was a tremendous success as far as the writers were concerned. I vouch for my friends, Derek Walcott, Austin Clarke and Earl Lovelace, when I say that we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We were very impressed by the scale of events at CARIFESTA, and that Guyana, in spite of paucity of resources, was able to host this huge festival without any serious glitches. We were also all overwhelmed by the art and sculpture on display, many of them by Guyanese.

That Guyana has a dedicated art school and one of the most beautiful national art galleries in the Caribbean (Castellani House) impressed us all. That Guyana had restored its theatre (Theatre Guild) moved Walcott, since St Lucia’s theatre is in a state of dereliction. As to music and dance, we were very excited to know that Guyana has a National Dance Company, with dedicated space to practice and perform.

Finally, we were delighted to meet the President, who hosted a lunch for us, and who readily agreed to the idea of setting up a Caribbean Publishing House. Caribbean Governments have been talking on and off, since Federation, about a Caribbean Publishing House for the literary arts, but they never got round to it. President Jagdeo’s swift and positive response left the writers dazed! Derek Walcott and the President got on so well that Walcott volunteered to return to Guyana in June to do a two-week master class.

Earl Lovelace and Austin Clarke are very keen to do the same. Walcott, over many years, has boycotted CARIFESTA; so his attendance and his desire to return to Guyana speak volumes for his appreciation of what Guyana is doing for the arts (art, sculpture, dance, literature, drama). Walcott was particularly satisfied to learn that Guyana funds the largest literary prize in the region, the Guyana Prize.

The writers agreed that St Lucia has its Jazz Festival, Barbados its Opera Season, Cuba its Film Festival etc., but that Guyana can become the literary space in the region, with a Publishing House and visits by the region’s leading writers to hold master classes and to read. Visits need not be restricted to Caribbean writers: Derek Walcott has offered to invite Seamus Heaney, his fellow poet and Nobel Laureate, i.e. we can attract world-class writers to Guyana.

Finally, we were happy to see the crowds at the popular venues (the music concerts at the Stadium) and to sense their pleasure that entertainment was being provided for them, and their pride that they had a place in CARIFESTA. That hundreds of people volunteered to make CARIFESTA a reality reveals the generosity of the Guyanese character, the abiding desire to do good for the country. We thank the President, Dr Frank Anthony, Dr Paloma Mohammed, the CARIFESTA Secretariat, and the people of Guyana for inviting us to a memorable CARIFESTA.

Professor David Dabydeen University of Warwick, UK

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We were thoroughly impressed with Guyana’s staging of CARIFESTA X

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We were thoroughly impressed with Guyana’s staging of CARIFESTA X

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