Bless Up: Calabash 2025 Launches with Big Energy and Even Bigger Stories
The vibes were high at Devon House in Kingston last night as the organizers of the 2025 Calabash International Literary Festival officially launched this year’s staging. Set for May 23–25 in the scenic community of Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, Calabash 2025 will unfold under the vibrant theme “Bless Up“—a celebration of gratitude, resilience, and the enduring power of stories.
As always, the festival promises three days of literature, music, magic by the sea and little sleep for the die-hard amongst us.
In December 2024, the upcoming festival was featured on treasurebeach.com with a focus on what the festival has meant to the local community of Treasure Beach and the wider literary world since it was first held in 2001. (See that article here)
A Preview Full of Heart
The launch event gave guests a taste of what’s to come, with acclaimed British author Zadie Smith reading from her latest novel, The Fraud. Smith, best known for her award-winning debut White Teeth, was joined on stage by beloved cultural critic and professor Carolyn Joy Cooper for a lively and thoughtful conversation. Their conversation captured the warm, spontaneous spirit Calabash is known for—especially during the cherished Open Mic sessions, which Professor Cooper will again host throughout the weekend.
Professor Carolyn Cooper and Author Zadie Smith at the Devon House launch of Calabash 2025
This year’s festival will feature an impressive lineup of acclaimed authors, including four winners of the prestigious Booker Prize. The Booker, widely regarded as the leading literary award in the English-speaking world has brought recognition, reward, and readership to outstanding fiction for over five decades.
🗓️ Full Program: Calabash 2025
FRIDAY, MAY 23
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm TRUTH AND DARE Memoir: (re)claim your story Alexandra Fuller, Safiya Sinclair
9:00 pm – 10:00 pm WRITING A CONTINENT Poetry from the African Poetry Book Fund Mary-Alice Daniel, Thabile Makue, Mahtem Shiferraw
10:30 pm – 11:30 pm TWO THE HARD WAY Noir fiction: The secrets that lie in the heart George Pelecanos, Harold Schechter
Midnight – 2:00 am MIDNIGHT RAVERS Live concert featuring Treasure Beach’s own Mr. Hennessy, Zac Jones (Billboard personality), rising reggae star Jaz Elise, and Special Guest Artistes.
SATURDAY, MAY 24
10:00 am – 11:00 am LOVERS ROCK Short stories long on love Alexia Arthurs, Mateo Askaripour, Diana McCaulay
11:30 am – 12:30 pm REASONING PRESENTS: A CONVERSATION Michael Ondaatje with Paul Holdengräber
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm OPEN MIC Hosted by Prof. Carolyn Cooper
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm CALABASH CAFÉ SERIES Publishing in the Caribbean Hosted by Tanya Batson Savage
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm ALL MEMORY IS FICTION The past is present Candice Carty-Williams, Tao Leigh Goffe, Jason Allen-Paisant
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm REASONING PRESENTS: A CONVERSATION Ian McEwan with Marlon James
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm OPEN MIC Hosted by Prof. Carolyn Cooper
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm LYRICAL FYAH Poetry blazing & simmering Caleb Femi, Kimiko Hahn, Danez Smith
10:00 pm – 11:30 pm SO MUCH THINGS TO SAY Fiction… Fantasy… Fact Hernan Diaz, Christopher John Farley, Shehan Karunatilaka
Midnight – 2:00 am CALA-CLASH DJ battle featuring Bad Gyal Marie and ZJ Liquid.
SUNDAY, MAY 25
10:00 am – 11:30 am TRIBUTE READING: ANNIE JOHN by Jamaica Kincaid Celebrating its 40th anniversary Beverley East, Kei Miller, Maxine Walters
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm REASONING PRESENTS: A CONVERSATION Sheryl Lee Ralph with Kwame Dawes
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm OPEN MIC Hosted by Prof. Carolyn Cooper
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm CALABASH CAFÉ SERIES What does a literary agent do? Hosted by Johnny Temple Guest: Margaret Riley King (WME)
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm THE CALABASH ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE A musical tribute celebrating the 50th anniversary of Burning Spear’s iconic album Marcus Garvey.
📚 Featured Authors at Calabash 2025
JASON ALLEN-PAISANT
ALEXIA ARTHURS
MATEO ASKARIPOUR
CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS
CAROLYN COOPER
MARY-ALICE DANIEL
KWAME DAWES
HERNAN DIAZ
BEVERLEY EAST
CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY
CALEB FEMI
ALEXANDRA FULLER
TAO LEIGH GOFFE
KIMIKO HAHN
PAUL HOLDENGRÄBER
MARLON JAMES
SHEHAN KARUNATILAKA
THABILE MAKUE
DIANA MCCAULAY
IAN MCEWAN
KEI MILLER
MICHAEL ONDAATJE
GEORGE PELECANOS
SHERYL LEE RALPH
HAROLD SCHECHTER
MAHTEM SHIFERRAW
SAFIYA SINCLAIR
DANEZ SMITH
MAXINE WALTERS
Why It Matters
The Calabash Festival continues to be a cultural anchor for Jamaica and the wider literary world. It’s where big names, fresh voices, and curious minds meet—by the beach, under the stars, and over shared stories.
Whether you’re a page-turning book lover, a poetry fiend, or just here for the music, Calabash 2025 is not to be missed.
Justine Henzell O.D. Co-Founder Calabash International Literary Festival at the official launch of Calabash 2025 held at Devon House in Kingston, Jamaica
Come through. Bless up.