May 30th is Indian Arrival Day. First celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago as Indian Emigration Day in 1945, 100 years after the first girmityas (Indian immigrants) crossed the kala pani on the Fatal Razak to land here. Those who survived the journey brought with them their rich and ancient culture that has become an intrinsic…
The Caribbean is finally getting its chance to see one of its most dynamic performers on a stage since his shock release from jail last July 31st. On Saturday (technically Sunday 25th May, when he graced the stage) I got to see Adijah Palmer, aka Vybz Kartel at Providence Stadium in Guyana. How did I…
One of the biggest awards in writing for Caribbean authors is the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Held annually since 2012 it rewards great writing and supports writers at various stages of their careers. As in most professions a prize means validation. But it also means opportunity and money. A new writer may find it delivers…
I visited Curaçao on vacation a few years ago, and I really hope to make a return trip because I had such a wonderful time there. I certainly did not do a fraction of the things I wanted to do but still had an incredible experience that left me wanting more. The thing about travelling…
Hosted in 101 Art Gallery was a fun and enjoyable exhibition that was perfectly themed for Mother’s Day. Peter Sheppard curated a delightful collection of floral pieces across a range of media that was open to the public from April 29th – May 10th. I sneaked in on Saturday, the last day of the show….
I went to see Dr. Kevin Adonis Browne’s ‘A Sense of Arrival’ at Medulla yesterday (May 6th). It is, for him, a re-visiting of a theme he first explored in 2022, also at Medulla. I attended the launch then and remembered being blown away by the exhibit. You see at that point I had known…
5th May 2025 was the date of the famed Met Gala. It is a charity ball. Basically a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute. This year the theme focused on the black male dandy, how suiting became an act of individual stylistic expression and rebellion, and a bold assertion of one’s right…
Returning To Our Roots is a free cookbook created by the World Food Programme’s Caribbean Multi-Country Office. It is an exploration of our food and how we prepare and eat it. It is part of an attempt to ” emphasizes the strategic importance of root crops in addressing the region’s food security, rural development, and…
On Thursday (27th March) UWI’s Literary Cultural and Communications Studies department presented ‘From Steam to Soca,’ the latest in a series of talks on issues that matter to the culture of Trinidad and Tobago. Hosts, and PhD candidates within the department, Abeo Jackson and Omari Ashby interviewed Lady Lava and Squeezy Rankin. Let me first…
One of the things I missed the most about home when I lived away was the food. It’s crazy how many cultures influenced what we eat regularly in Trinidad and Tobago. You can literally taste our history. I remember when I was a student at UWI, Mona a classmate’s husband was on a business trip…