Heartfelt congratulations to the pioneers of the inaugural Spice Word Festival. This innovation augurs well for the literary arts in Grenada. At a time when we hear of the falling and failing standards of English Language in our region, the organizers have devised an avenue to stimulate reading and writing among our population. The Spice Word Festival Committee followed the old adage that if the Mohammed will not go to the mountain, then you bring the mountain to Mohammed. They committed to bring literature to the people and succeeded.
The Spice Word Festival dares to give a national platform to the creators and consumers of literature and this must be commended. From the launch last Tuesday, October 19th at the St. George’s University, to the Grand Concert at the National Stadium on Sunday, the signal was clear, culture unites. The guest artistes, the impromptu performers, the poets, the storytellers represented all age groups and all sections of the socioeconomic landscape of Grenada. Just as our songs stir the emotions of our people, it became obvious that our literature excites us. Not surprisingly, the voices vary. Just as with our musical voice, the young and old may appear to choose between soca and calypso, so too the genres used to express the interpretations of our society, our history, our culture, our experiences and our emotions varied but they were all heard. The bonfire night at Bathway heard from stalwarts like Aunty Tek to newcomers like the Privilege Theatre Company. Poetry slam ranged from the veteran Wayne Bubb to the young sensation Donella Hosten. The Grand Concert had celebrities Mutabaruka and Jerico.
The Spice Word Festival dared to bring the reading of literary pieces live on national television for two (2) hours, as if it was carnival time and they were staging Spice Up de Carenage. The cultural ambassadors on this occasion performed through readings from full length books, short stories and poems. The lineup encompassed persons from age eight to eighty something, fro primary to PhD’s, notables and nobodies. It was a joy to behold! Typically, when we think of culture we settle on Mas, Pan and Calypso. We expect melee and mayhem, contention and controversy, boycotts and bad pay. This cultural experience was of a different ilk but was still our culture. A celebration of our people, by our people, in our voices.
The timing of the festival is also noteworthy. The launch took place on October 19th. Here was a launch of a festival promoting positive avenues of expression, a lesson that we all wished prevailed 27 years ago. This is a festival for which there should indeed be thanksgiving because it encourages us to write, document, reflect, embrace, discuss, argue, who we were, what we have become and where we want to go. It allows us to vent. It allows us to b us, all of us, in whatever voice we choose.
To the pioneer of the Spice Word Festival, Senator Arley Gill, his staff at the Division of Culture and his Directors on the Grenada Cultural Foundation, hats off. To the membership of the Grenada Writers Association, well done. To the major sponsors Grenlec and St. George’s University along with the other supporters ,kudos for helping this dream to come to fruition. To everyone who assisted in whatever way, thank you on Grenada’s behalf for lifting our level of consciousness and showing this other side, this beautiful side of our people.
