This Literary Festival in Jamaica Is the Island’s Best-Kept Secret
Sometimes it’s the places that really make you work to get there that leave the most lasting impression. This is what visitors tell themselves as they travel through winding dirt roads and hilly countryside, past makeshift bars with names like “Nuff Vibes,” to a sleepy fishing village called Treasure Beach. There are no high-rise hotels, all-inclusive packages, or kitschy souvenir shops in this southwest part of Jamaica. Instead, what you’ll find are colorful cottages shrouded in bougainvillea, roadside stands serving steaming pumpkin soup, and fishermen docking their brightly colored canoes on six miles of coral and black sand.
This corner of sun and sea is also the home of Calabash Literary Festival, a book lover’s mecca that takes place every two years, drawing the likes of international authors Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Salman Rushdie, and Eleanor Catton to read on its stage. Founded in 2011, the festival continues to be the Caribbean’s best-kept literary secret. In addition to international visitors, locals travel by moped, bus, and car from all around Jamaica to attend. When asked what makes it so special, repeat attendees will simply reply that’s it’s the vibes.
Part of Calabash’s magic is also its audience: a seamless mix of every race, class, and gender, all convening for one singular purpose: a love of literature and community. It doesn’t hurt that it’s free, either. That is exactly the way its founders—poet Kwame Dawes, novelist Colin Channer, and producer Justine Henzell—intend to keep it. “The magic of Calabash is the celebration of diversity which has been a hallmark of the festival since inception. Diversity on the stage in terms of voice, style, genre and point of view and equal diversity in the audience. Thousands of people commune together in the fishing village of Treasure Beach and the love and understanding flow to the stage and back. It is almost a spiritual experience," Henzell says.
This year’s theme, LIT UP, celebrated the power of words to ignite passion and spur action. It also recognized the voice of many incredible women authors, including poet Warsan Shire, whose work is featured on Beyoncé’s Lemonade interludes, poet and playwright Carol Ann Duffy, and author Tayari Jones, whose book An American Marriage caught Oprah’s eye as a book club pick and is currently in talks to become a movie. Over three days, 30 authors from around the world delivered some of their life’s work to an eager audience, with waves crashing in the background. “I had always dreamed I’d be invited here.” The authors greet the audience with those words over and over again before they begin to read. They are met with laughter, tears, and even singing—another communal vibe of the festival.
At night, Calabash takes it to the “yaad,” with musical performances and live DJs spinning until the early morning. Appleton rum and Red Stripe are consumed while hips and hands move to the sounds of dancehall and ska. Just a few hours later, more readings begin, proving that this literary festival is anything but stuffy. Part of that energy is due to its location: Jake’s Hotel, an eco-friendly property where Solange and Venus and Serena Williams (who played on its tennis courts) have stayed. Calabash co-founder Justine Henzell, whose father directed the Jamaican classic The Harder They Come, helps run the property with her family. The ethos of Treasure Beach can be felt throughout Jake’s design. Guests can stay in rustic, colorful cottages and villas accented with shells and seaglass, with decks overlooking the ocean. There is a 180-degree outdoor yoga pavilion, spa, and saltwater pool steps away from a thatched-roof bar serving some of the best (and strongest) rum punch in the world. The most stunning accommodation is Seaweed Villa; perfect for groups considering Calabash, with seven rooms, two pools, a full-time staff, and turquoise decor that matches the water it peers over.
In the mornings, guests can take a short boat ride to the famous Pelican Bar—a wooden institution in the middle of the ocean that serves (you guessed it) rum cocktails, and freshly cooked fish. During the ride there, Calabash Bay reveals itself with small coves and sand strewn against low-hanging palm trees. It waits, unhurried, until the next time Calabash returns to light it up.
How to get there: Montego Bay is the closest international airport. From there, Treasure Beach is about a 2.5 hour drive. From Kingston, it is a 3 hour drive.
Where to stay: Jake’s Hotel, Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth 00000, Jamaica +1 876-965-3000 HomeAway also offers a number of private rentals in the area.
