~Mottley: “CARIFESTA does deserve to be held every two years”~
PHILIPSBURG:--- Writing is a conversation, an ongoing conversation of the experiences of individuals, families, communities, cultures, civilizations,” said St. Martin author Lasana M. Sekou at the CARIFESTA XV Symposia roundtable Writing the Caribbean Soul: Literature as Resistance and Innovation on August 25, 2025.
Sekou, projects director at House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP), was invited by CARIFESTA as a roundtable speaker alongside Bernice L. McFadden, U.S. novelist and professor; Marlon James, the U.S.-based Jamaican novelist; and Nancy Morejón, the internationally acclaimed Cuban poet. The discussion was moderated by Lafleur Cockburn of St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
In response to a question about breaking literary rules, James replied that “writing is a rule-breaker.” The Man Booker Prize–winning author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf—whose film rights were acquired by Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society and Warner Bros., according to the Los Angeles Times—is regarded as one of the strongest contemporary Caribbean writers.
Morejón impressed the audience with her reflections on the distinctions within Latin American literature, noting that not all of it connects directly to Caribbean writing—unlike the poetry of the great Cuban Nicolás Guillén.
At 81, the senior member of the panel also praised the late Rex Nettleford of Jamaica for his defining explorations of Caribbean geography and cultural identity.
McFadden spoke about writing primarily for herself and noted that it is her readers who find “similarities” in her work between Caribbean literature, works by Black Americans, particularly those set in the southern U.S., and African writing. McFadden has Bajan heritage.
Sekou also called for more translations of Caribbean literatures into the region’s various languages, an effort HNP has been working to advance. He pointed out that the Caribbean region is a market of over 20 million people, yet he knows of no Caribbean author who has sold a million books within the region.
He urged writers to do more to get their books into the hands of the people “where they belong”—whether that means doing a book tour in the country or territory where the writer lives, reading “at Lal’s rum shop,” or speaking to the fishermen’s association after their meeting.
The roundtable discussion, attended by just over 100 people, took place at the Walcott Warner Theatre, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill.
The writers were all guests of the 15th edition of the Caribbean Festival of the Arts (CARIFESTA), held August 22–31, 2025, in Barbados.
Concerts, dance, pageantry, and words of thanks from Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley brought CARIFESTA XV to a close on Sunday night, “in true Caribbean style,” according to the festival’s Facebook page, which shared spectacular video highlights.
Mottley thanked the “Caribbean family … and for the first time [as festival participants], our brothers and sisters from Africa, and our brothers and sisters from Central and Latin America. We thank you all for coming to Barbados for CARIFESTA XV.”
Addressing the “cultural practitioners” who participated in the festival, which remains the region’s largest gathering of artists and artistic expression since its founding in Guyana in 1972, the prime minister said, “You were deprived of this opportunity for six years.”
Citing the “continued crises that we have faced over the last six years,” which have prevented the organization of the biennial festival since 2019, Mottley stressed that “CARIFESTA does deserve to be held every two years, and we will find a way to do it across this Caribbean community, just as we’ve found a way to do all other things.”