The CABA Fair 2009
The CABA Fair was held in Hollywood, Fl and hosted an array of Caribbean writers, scholars and artists. The first night I attended a discussion between Derek Walcott and Rex Nettleford. Walcott has been one of my favorite poets for sometime so you can imagine my excitement. (An excitement that was only minimally doused when he declined my request for a picture-seconds after taking a few with other guests … but I digress) The ideas presented were varied, and a few perhaps profound. What I am most grateful for is the subsequent dialogues that this discussion has put bin motion, both within myself and between friends.
While Walcott was the guest of honor for the fair, female writers, scholars and artists were represented very well. Paule Marshall, a writer I’d previously been unfamiliar with, shared excerpts from her work, “Triangular Road: A Memoir,” that were rife with wit and candor. Other writers, scholars, artists in attendance were: Eintou Pearl Springer, Evelyne Trouillot, Nelly Rosario, Cynthia McLeod-Ferrier, Nerissa Street, Tony Muhammad, Jessica Alarcon, and of course yours truly (I shared a poem).
(i met Edwidge Danticat (right))
All in all the fair was a great experience, they even had a section for vendors who displayed everything from handmade jewelry and incense to fine art and literature. I think the experience was particularly beneficial for me because it helped me understand better a phenomena I’d been unable to in the past. I have roots in deep-southern-sharecropping-Georgia as well as pigeon-peas-and-rice-sugar-plantation-with- no-representation-Bahamas. I claim both legacies with no qualm and feel personally welcome in any diasporic circle. With that said, it is only among (some) Caribbean circles that I feel a duality that implies simply being a descendant of Africa is not enough. In the past I’d thought perhaps it was just a strain of elitism particular to the Caribbean. After hearing some of the experiences and expressions shared at the fair, I’m convinced it’s deeper than that. I look forward to exploring the depths and seeing what it’s really about.
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