First Caribbean Literary Festival combines love of sun and books.

This past November, there was more than just sunbathing and windsurfing at the Jolly Beach Resort in Antigua, when more than 100 attendees gathered for the first Caribbean International Literary Festival. Joy Bramble, publisher of The Baltimore Times and the energy behind the festival, says that it took more than two-and-a-half years to put together the event, which brought together American, British and Caribbean writers, as well as book-industry professionals, to mingle with aspiring writers and book lovers--all in the name of promoting literacy and celebrating the craft of writing.

Bramble says her love of books was just one of the reasons behind creating the festival.

"I found out that the library that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1972 was just being rebuilt" says Bramble. "After the earthquake, the books that were left were taken to the top of a storefront in downtown St. John's, the capital of Antigua, and the library has been functioning out of there since ... It only made me more determined to have the literary festival here.

"A country needs a library, books open a new world, books change lives, and poor children need access to books that don't cost; and access to the Internet levels the playing field for the young people living here," Bramble adds.

Perhaps it was coincidence or simply careful planning, but the four-day festival took place as Antigua residents were celebrating the island's 25th anniversary of independence from British rule. The festival was kicked off by a welcoming speech from Antigua's Prime Minister, The Honorable Winston Baldwin Spencer: "It is through our exposure to books--whether educational or strictly recreational--that we have learned that our stories, too, are legitimate. That our lives are worth chronicling. That our conclusions are worth validating. That our stories form a vital part of the vast human experience."

Marie-Elena John, author of the novel Unburnable (Amistad/HarperCollins, 2006), says she was excited about the festival from the moment she heard about it. "First off, once the organizers contacted me, there was no question about whether or not I'd be there. I had to be there. I'm an Antiguan writer and here was a literary festival on Antiguan soil. And I have to admit that the festival exceeded my expectations."

Other authors who participated in the festival were L.A. Banks, Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due, Allegra Bennett, Cora Daniels, Christopher John Farley, S. James Guitard, Kimoko Hahn, Nalo Hopkinson, D. Gisele Isaac, Yanick Rice Lamb, Christine Lincoln, Victoria Christopher Murray, Courttia Newland and Shana Yarborough, a poet who was also one of the event's sponsors.

Conducting workshops were veteran literary agent Marie Brown, journalist Christopher Jack Hill, author and Hurston/Wright Foundation founder Marita Golden, British children's book publisher Verna Wilkins of Tamarind Publishers, public relations impresario Terrie M. Williams and Linda Duggins, of Hachette Book Group, who helped Bramble coordinate the event.

One highlight of the festival was the joint reading by Antiguan novelist Jamaica Kincaid, who read from her 1985 novel Annie John (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and Akilah A. Jardine, a 16-year-old Antiguan writer who read from her first story about her early school years.

Trinidadian author Elizabeth Nunez commented about the festival saying, "I've been to more than my share of literary festivals, and I've directed a national one, the National Black Writers Conference, for sixteen years. And I can say without hesitation that this festival was one of the best I've ever attended."

The second annual Caribbean Literary Festival is scheduled for November 1-4, 2007. For more information, contact Joy Bramble at 410-366-3900, e-mail: [e-mail] or Avonelle H. Poole at [e-mail].

Clarence V. Reynolds is the managing editor for Black Issues Book Review.