Author: Kelly Baker Josephs

‘Imagining Kingston’: A Conference on the Regeneration of a City

9-12 November 2017
Organized by University of the West Indies, Mona Campus in collaboration with the Institute of Jamaica

CFP deadlines: 250-word abstracts and short bio due 1 August 2017; presentation papers due 1 October 2017 imaginekingston2017@gmail.com

The restoration of old, historic, depressed or derelict quarters of cities is a common feature of social, economic, aesthetic and environmental development strategies around the world.

Restoration and regeneration are often used as the basis to catalyse and to chart pathways for economic growth and renewal, to pioneer new sectors of social and economic endeavours, and to cultivate pride and civic feeling in a people’s existential journey. The scholarship and expertise in this area are growing globally and providing governments/policy makers, investors/entrepreneurs, citizens and various publics with knowledge, advice, training/agential capacity, building facilities and skills for urban renewal, regeneration and a multiplicity of possibilities, including imagining and realizing new exciting urban spatial creations alongside the iconising of spaces. Continue reading ‘Imagining Kingston’: A Conference on the Regeneration of a City

Everyday Archives: Caribbean Edition

The Caribbean Memory Project and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture present “Everyday Archive: Caribbean Edition,” a day devoted to archiving the Caribbean.

1 April 2017
2pm-4pm
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library
515 Malcolm X Blvd, New York, New York 10037

From event description:

Do you have archival materials related to and/or from the Caribbean in your personal collection? Bring them into the Schomburg for this fun-filled workshop with The Caribbean Memory Project! Dawn Cumberbatch and Kevin A. Browne will be with us for a day filled of storytelling, document scanning, and archival collection organizing!

RSVP via eventbrite here.

Image from eventbrite announcement.

Maroons and the African Diaspora

Maroons and the African Diaspora: Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future
Conference
22-25 June 2017
Asafu Yard, Charles Town
Portland, Jamaica

CFP deadline: 1 March 2017

The Charles Town International Maroon Conference seeks papers and performances from scholars, artists, and activists interested in examining Maroon traditions in a contemporary global context. This year’s conference theme explores connections between Maroons or marronage and the African Diaspora around the world, emphasizing the productivity and persistence of indigenous knowledge, its origin, transformation, and its potential to sustain future generations. Presentations from all fields and genres are welcome, including history, anthropology, ethnomusicology, geography, education, literature, film, and the arts. Participants will work closely with each other and the Maroons of Charles Town to explore the relevance of indigenous knowledge to contemporary life.   Continue reading Maroons and the African Diaspora

Caribbean Literature and Globalisation

Summer School
Caribbean Literature and Globalisation
University of Konstanz, 02-05 August 2017

Applications due:  28 February 2017

universite_de_constance_-_logo

Call for Applications

Since the initial phase of accelerated globalisation, the Caribbean has been affected by the clash of Amerindian, European and African cultures. Added to these later on were Asian and North American cultures, making the Caribbean a unique place in the study of hybridisation, creolisation and transculturation processes that have arisen since the end of the 20th and beginning of 21st centuries. Countries in the Caribbean, and their respective societies, are at the heart of complex transnational networks that tie together a multitude of inter- and extra-Caribbean spaces within a constant circulation of people, cultural artefacts and knowledge. This flux has intensified with the radical changes that have come about in the fields of technology, economics, politics, and languages. The expansion of the world wide and digital revolution have once again highlighted how the Caribbean is interwoven with other parts of the world, creating at the same time new possibilities of connection between the Caribbean and its other diasporas. Our summer school will attempt to analyse effect of globalisation processes on the current field of Caribbean literature. Continue reading Caribbean Literature and Globalisation

Open Positions at Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University has two open faculty positions of interest to Caribbeanists: Assistant or Associate Professor of Caribbean Literature and Assistant Professor of World Anglophone Literature. Details about each below.

fau

Assistant or Associate Professor of Caribbean Literature

The Department of English at Florida Atlantic University invites applications for an Assistant or Associate Professor to begin August 2017. Candidates must have teaching and research interests in Caribbean Anglophone Literature.  FAU is making a cluster of hires in the fields of multicultural and world literatures in an effort to solidify and strengthen our already robust research and course offerings in these areas.

We seek a candidate who will balance high-quality scholarship, excellence in teaching, and committed service. Faculty typically teach a 3-2 course schedule. Faculty teach and mentor graduate students in the department’s Master’s Degree programs as well as the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters interdisciplinary Ph. D. program.  Ideally, the new hire will also contribute substantially to the university’s developing Peace, Justice, and Human Rights Initiative and to the College’s new initiative in Atlantic World Studies.

Requirements include a Ph. D. in English or Comparative Literature, or related field, at time of appointment, publication record in field, and relevant teaching experience at the college level. Send letter, vita, and three letters of recommendation to english@fau.edu, with the subject line “Caribbeanist search.” Applications must be submitted by November 1, 2016.  Applications must also be submitted online at http://jobs.fau.edu, position number 991314.  A copy of the candidate’s transcript must be attached to the jobs.fau.edu submission.  A background check will be required for the candidate selected for this position.

FAU serves a culturally and ethnically diverse six-county region in Southeast Florida (Broward, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties) whose total population is more than five million people. Florida Atlantic University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action/equal access institution and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veterans status or other protected status. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation, please call 561-297-3057. 711.  FAU is committed to the principles of engaged teaching, research and service.  All persons aspiring to achieve excellence in the practice of these principles are encouraged to apply.

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Assistant Professor of World Anglophone Literature

The Department of English at Florida Atlantic University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in World Anglophone Literature, to begin August 2017. Special consideration will be given to candidates whose research and teaching interests include Asian Anglophone Literature, including Asian-American Literature.  FAU is making a cluster of hires in the fields of multicultural and world literatures in an effort to solidify and strengthen our already robust research and course offerings in these areas.  These hires may also contribute substantially to the university’s developing Peace, Justice, and Human Rights Initiative.

This position will be located primarily on the Boca Raton campus, along with a minor teaching assignment on the Davie campus. We seek a candidate who will balance high-quality scholarship, excellence in teaching, and committed service. Faculty typically teach a 3-2 course schedule. Faculty teach and mentor graduate students in the department’s Master’s Degree programs as well as the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters interdisciplinary Ph. D. program.  The new hire may also contribute to FAU’s Asian Studies Certificate program, which recently was awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Education to enhance the university’s Asian studies curriculum.

Requirements include a Ph. D. in English or Comparative Literature, or related field, at time of appointment, publication record in field, and relevant teaching experience at the college level. Send letter, vita, and three letters of recommendation to english@fau.edu, with the subject line “World Anglophone specialist search.” Applications must be submitted by November 1, 2016.  Applications must also be submitted online at http://jobs.fau.edu, position number 990453.  A copy of the candidate’s transcript must be attached to the jobs.fau.edu submission.  A background check will be required for the candidate selected for this position.

FAU serves a culturally and ethnically diverse six-county region in Southeast Florida (Broward, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties) whose total population is more than five million people. Florida Atlantic University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action/equal access institution and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veterans status or other protected status. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation, please call 561-297-3057. 711.  FAU is committed to the principles of engaged teaching, research and service.  All persons aspiring to achieve excellence in the practice of these principles are encouraged to apply.

 

Caribbean events and panels at the Brooklyn Book Festival

Below are a list of Caribbean-related events and panels before and during the Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday, 18 September. The list may be incomplete. Events are listed in chronological order, with location noted at the end of each description. Of special note are two “Bookend” events: “Write This in Fire” on Wednesday, 14 September, 6:30pm and “Readings, Rum & Reasoning” on 17 September, 7pm. More information available at the Brooklyn Book Festival’s site.

All events free unless otherwise noted.

**Bookend events** 

bocas-brooklyn-2016

Write This in Fire: Bocas Presents Five Burning Voices from the Caribbean
Wed, 14 September, 6:30pm
Old Stone House
336 3rd St, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Celebrated Jamaican writer Olive Senior, winner of the 2016 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, heads a lineup of extraordinary, incendiary Caribbean writers of prose and poetry. Also featuring Tiphanie Yanique of the US Virgin Islands (author of Wife, winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for poetry), and Jamaican Jacqueline Bishop, (The Gymnast and Other Positions) winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for non-fiction, alongside two searing talents from Trinidad: prizewinning fiction writer Sharon Millar (The Whale House) and poet Shivanee Ramlochan (featured in the anthology Coming Up Hot).

More info here

Edward Paulino at Grandchamps Kitchen & Market
Wed, 14 September, 6:00pm
Grandchamps Kitchen & Market
197 Patchen Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

Celebrate the publication of Dividing Hispaniola and discuss the border campaign against Haiti with Edward Paulino, assistant professor of history at CUNY John Jay and cofounder of Border of Lights, an organization that promotes solidarity between Haitians and Dominicans. Grandchamps Author Spotlight is an open discussion of literary works highlighting Haitian affairs. Writers, scholars, and folks of the community gather for a conversation over Haitian fare  at Grandchamp Kitchen & Market.

RSVP HERE

Cuban Heavy Metal Sci-Fi: An Evening with Yoss
Thu, 15 September, 8:00pm
ISSUE Project Room
22 Boerum Place, Brooklyn
$15 

One of Cuba’s bestselling science fiction authors, Yoss is a notorious literary rocker, as the lead singer for Havana band Tenaz. Co-hosted by BOMB Magazine, ISSUE Project Room, and Restless Books, the event will begin with a discussion of the Cuban literary and metal scenes, and the role that science fiction plays in the culture. Then, Yoss takes the stage to perform some metal classics. Ticket price includes a free drink and a copy of Yoss’ intergalactic space opera, Super Extra Grande.

More info here.

Far From Home: Naomi Jackson and Masande Ntshanga in Conversation
Sat, 17 September, 3:00pm
Barnes & Noble
106 Court St
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Join hosts Africa is a Country and Chimurenga Magazine for a conversation between two acclaimed writers—Naomi Jackson, whose The Star Side of Bird Hillwas longlisted for the NBCC’s John Leonard Prize and the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and winner of the PEN International New Voices Award, Masande Ntshanga (The Reactive)—to be streamed live on Pan African Space Station.

More info here.

rrr-2016

Readings, Rum & Reasoning – A Caribbean Literary Lime
Sat, 17 September 7:00pm
South Oxford Space
138 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
$10 

Whether it’s the fantastic or the realistic, six Caribbean writers gather to reason and lime about how writers shape society and how society shapes what they write. Featuring Imam Baksh (Guyana), Nicole Dennis-Benn (Jamaica), Bernice L. McFadden (US/Barbados), Carol Ottley-Mitchell (St. Kitts – Nevis), Elizabeth Nunez(Trinidad & Tobago), Olive Senior (Jamaica). Co-presented by Caribbean Cultural Theatre, Caribbean Reads, and Read Jamaica in celebration of the 10th Anniversary Season of the Poets & Passion – A Caribbean Literary Lime. And yes, we have rum…

More info here.

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**Festival events**

Brooklyn Book Festival
Sunday, 18 September 2016
10am-6pm
More information: http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/

10AM-11AM

The Legacy of Octavia Butler presented by Greenlight Bookstore

Octavia Butler’s classic novel Kindred is nearing its 40th anniversary, and its narrative exploring slavery through time remains strikingly relevant. As a black woman who used science fiction and fantasy to address race and social issues, Butler is increasingly recognized as a vital and empowering voice in literature and culture. Contemporary writers and artistsJohn Jennings (Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation), Daniel José Older(Shadowshaper), Ben Winters(Underground Airlines) and Ytasha L. Womack (Afrofuturism) discuss Butler’s influence on their own work, and the significance of writers of color and social justice movements in genre fiction.
Borough Hall Courtroom, 209 Joralemon St


11AM-12PM

Exile, Within and Without

There are various kinds of exile—from one’s country, one’s community, even oneself. Join Cameroonian Patrice Nganang, author of Mount Pleasant; Jamaican Olive Senior, author of The Pain Tree; and South African Imraan Coovadia, author of Tales of the Metric System, for a discussion of the ways, large and small, exile and displacement inform their work. Moderated by Anderson Tepper.
Borough Hall Media Room, 209 Joralemon St

Who? New!

Each season, the Brooklyn Book Festival chooses five debut books to present as books that we think should not be missed! This year we feature JJ Amaworo Wilson(Damnificados), Natashia Deon (Grace),Matt Gallagher (Young Blood), R.J. Hernández (An Innocent Fashion)
and Jessica Winter (Break In Case of Emergency). Novelist Emma Straub, (Modern Lovers)
will introduce the authors who will read from their novels.
Main Stage, Columbus Park


12PM-1PM

Brutally Honest: Real-World Destruction in Literature

Fiction has increasingly become an outlet for writers worldwide to work through cultural pain, and to search for insight into the traumatic events that saturate media headlines. Jonathan Lee (High Dive) infuses a historic bomb plot in Thatcher’s England with new life, empathy, and interest; Karan Mahajan (The Association of Small Bombs) dissects the long term effects of terrorism on both the victims and the perpetrators; and Sharon Millar (The Whale House) tackles class divides and social tumult in modern day Trinidad. Moderated by Anna North, (The Life and Death of Sophie Stark).
Brooklyn Law School Student Lounge, 250 Joralemon St

New Works: A Poetry Reading

Poets Camille Rankine (Incorrect Merciful Impulses), Ocean Vuong (Night Sky with Exit Wounds), Monica Youn (Blackacre), and Rickey Laurentiis (Boy With Thorn) will read from their recently published volumes of poetry. Moderated by Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center.
Main Stage, Columbus Park


1PM-2PM

The Racial Realities of Fiction presented by the Times Literary Supplement

Stig Abell, The Times Literary Supplementeditor, leads a conversation with T. Geronimo Johnson (Welcome to Braggsville), best selling author Esmeralda Santiago (Conquistadora) and debut novelist Ali Eteraz (Native Believer) in a conversation about race in their novels, in culture and in contemporary society in America and the UK.
Borough Hall Courtroom, 209 Joralemon St

2PM-3PM

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

“Write what you know” takes on new meaning in recent releases by NYT bestseller Charles Bock (Alice and Oliver), novelist and short story writer Elizabeth Crane (The History of Great Things), and NAACP Image Award Finalist Bernice L. McFadden (The Book of Harlan). These novelists borrow from their own personal histories to weave beautiful, heartbreaking stories that are both intimate and universal. Moderated by Tiphanie Yanique (The Land of Love and Drowning).
Brooklyn Historical Society Library, 128 Pierrepont St


4PM-5PM

From Sci-Fi to Meta (and Heavy Metal): New Dimensions in Latin American Fiction

From the futuristic fantasies of Cuban writer and rocker Yoss (Super Extra Grande) to the metafictional twists and turns of Mexican author Álvaro Enrigue(Sudden Death) and Chilean Carlos Labbé(Loquela), contemporary Latin American fiction continues to surprise and astonish in new ways. Bolaño translator Natasha Wimmer leads a conversation with these groundbreaking authors.
Borough Hall Media Room, 209 Joralemon St

Magic and Mayhem in New York

NYT bestselling author Libba Bray (Lair of Dreams: A Diviners Novel) moderates a discussion on the mystique, mythology, magic, and mayhem of New York, and how the city can shape a story and its characters with authors Marina Budhos(Watched), Daniel José Older(Shadowshaper), and Sarah Porter (Vassa in the Night).
Saint Ann’s School Rotunda

We the People

First and second generation immigrants and refugees, documented or not, are living in communities across America. Through their memoirs of migration, authors Kao Kalia Yang (The Song Poet) and Dan-el Padilla Peralta (Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League) and José Orduña (The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration and Displacement) talk candidly about adapting to and confronting American life. Moderated by Moustafa Bayoumi.
Brooklyn Law School Moot Courtroom, 250 Joralemon St


5PM-6PM

On Identity and Sexuality

To what extent do discriminatory politics, social and cultural distinctions, and immigration oppress and build individuality? Join Malaysian writer Tash Aw, author of The Face: Strangers on a Pier; Jamaican-born Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of the debut Here Comes the Sun; and Swedish writer Jonas Hassen Khemiri, author of Everything I Don’t Remember, for a conversation about the freedoms and burdens of identity and sexuality and the ways in which they intersect in their work. Moderated by Emily Raboteau.
Borough Hall Media Room, 209 Joralemon St

Source Texts

In Salman Rushdie’s Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, Elizabeth Nunez’s Even in Paradise and Michael Seidlinger’s The Strangest, there are echoes of Scheherazade’s One Thousand and One Nights, Shakespeare’s King Lear, and Camus’s The Stranger, respectively. How close the author plays to a text, and how much she or he departs, varies. Join us in a discussion about choices in using a literary classic as a muse. Moderated by Baz Dreisinger (Incarceration Nations).
St. Francis College Auditorium, 180 Remsen St

Study on Women, Islam, and Caribbean Diaspora

The following is a request for participants who identify as Muslim Latina Women (of Caribbean descent) and/or Muslim South Asian women:

LOOKING FOR PARTICIPANTS:

My name is Samina Gul Ali and I am looking for any Muslim Latina Women (of Caribbean descent) and/or Muslim South Asian women to fill out a confidential online questionnaire about their experiences with religion and identity. You must be a U.S. citizen to participate in this questionnaire. The questionnaire will take approximately 30 minutes to complete, and will close on September 1st, 2016. The link to the questionnaire is below.

https://umiami.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bCUXrwDa7WUJyyp

I am also looking for any Muslim Latina Women (of Caribbean descent) and/or Muslim South Asian women living in New York City or Miami who would be interested in confidential interviews about their religion, depictions of Islam in American media, and ethnic identity. You must be a U.S. citizen to participate in this study. The interviews will take place at a location of your choosing, and will last approximately one hour. All participants will remain anonymous. Participating in this interview will be a huge help for me to complete my studies. Please contact me via email (sga15@miami.edu) for more information. Thank you!

* This study has been approved by the Human Subjects Review Board and the University of Miami

Fulbright Opportunities in the Caribbean

The Fulbright Scholar Program offers teaching, research or combination teaching and research awards in over 125 countries for the 2017-2018 academic year. Opportunities are available for college and university faculty and administrators as well as for professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars and many others.

This year, the Fulbright Scholar Program is offering over 60 awards in the Western Hemisphere, including 11 awards to the Caribbean. Opportunities include but are not limited to the following: Continue reading Fulbright Opportunities in the Caribbean

Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess

SummerStage events presents a free screening of the documentary:

Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess
Directed by Roy T. Anderson

26 June 2016
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Betsy Head Park
Dumont Ave. & Strauss St., Brooklyn, NY

“This landmark documentary, conceived by award-winning Jamaican-born, New Jersey-based filmmaker Roy T. Anderson and history professor Harcourt T. Fuller, unearths and examines this mysterious figure, who led a band of former enslaved Africans in the rugged and remote interiors of Jamaica in their victory over the British army during the early to mid-18th century.”

Read more about the event on the City Parks Calendar.

Read more about the film in this review essay by Paul Youngquist. Continue reading Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess

Caribbean Writers, Performance Artists, and Visual Artists Working From Canada

Call for Papers for a special issue of Caribbean Vistas Journal: Critiques of Caribbean Arts and Cultures

CFP deadline: 1 August 2016

Volume 2.2 (Summer 2017) of Caribbean Vistas Journal: Critiques of Caribbean Arts and Cultures will highlight the work of Caribbean Writers, Performance Artists, and Visual Artists working from Canada.

Caribbean Vistas Journal seeks critical essays on all aspects of Caribbean Writers working from Canada are welcomed entries. Previously unpublished poetry and literary nonfiction from Caribbean artists working from Canada are also welcomed entries. Visual art images and video links to performances by Caribbean artists working from Canada accompanied by artistic statements also will be accepted for publication consideration. Interviews with Caribbean Artists [working from Canada] will be considered as a special feature of Volume 2.2 (Summer 2017). Continue reading Caribbean Writers, Performance Artists, and Visual Artists Working From Canada

Black and Latin@: Conceptualizing Afro-Latinidad in Afro-Latina/o Literature and Performance

Co-Directors Michele Shaul and Kathryn Quinn-Sánchez announce a special edition
of Label Me Latina/o edited by Jill Toliver Richardson

CFP Deadline: 4 November 2016

This special edition focuses on the work of Afro-Latino/a writers who are developing a literary and performance tradition, which delineates an Afro-Latina/o experience in the United States and defines the elements of Afro-Latina/o identity. Afro-Latina/o writers within the United States are producing their own literary tradition that is deeply connected to the experiences of those of African heritage throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Together they are demanding the recognition of Afro-Latinidad throughout the African diaspora. This issue was conceived in response to recently published texts, including The Afro-Latin@ Reader: History and Culture in the United States edited by Miriam Jiménez Román and Juan Flores 2010 (Duke UP), which examine various elements of Afro-Latinidades and provide diverse conceptualizations of Afro-Latina/o identity within and beyond the U.S. For this special edition of Label Me Latina/o, we are requesting works that identify and explore the most pertinent topics in Afro-Latina/o literature and
performance including but not limited to memory, the body, race, nation, diaspora,
transnationalism, sexuality, gender and spirituality. We are also requesting creative works by Afro-Latina/o writers (US-based) that explore some aspect of the Afro-Latina/o experience. Continue reading Black and Latin@: Conceptualizing Afro-Latinidad in Afro-Latina/o Literature and Performance