Iron Balloons: Fiction from Jamaica's Calabash Writers' Workshop - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933354054 ISBN 13: 9781933354057

Publisher: Akashic Books,U.S., 2006

Synopsis

Reggae's rebel spirit blazes in this hot selection of short fiction from Jamaica's Calabash Writer's Workshop. Set in the Caribbean and the U.S.A., the stories sweep across a range of moods and genres to create a narrative LP of fascinating voices. From the old lady who gives a "how to" speech on beating children, to the schizophrenic singer who thinks he's Bob Marley, to the hotel maid who gets a sexual offer that she can't refuse, the diverse mix of characters are linked by the fundamental principle that all cliched conventions must be shouted off the page. In the proudly odd tradition of Jamaican music, the selections seek to entertain while asking daring questions that provoke new ideas into being.

Contributors include: Colin Channer, Elizabeth Nunez, Marlon James, Kwame Dawes, Kaylie Jones, Geoffrey Philp, Rudolph Wallace, Konrad Kirlew, Alwin Bully, A-dZiko Simba, and Sharon Leach.

About this title

Synopsis:

Jamaica's literary lion, Colin Channer presents new fiction from the freshest young Jamaican authors. The Calabash Fiction Writer's Workshop is Jamaica's foremost breeding ground for quality cutting-edge fiction. An Iron Balloon is an unbreakable singer in Jamaican dancehall language. And unbreakable in music is not a good thing. When the Calabash International Literary Festival Trust began its workshops in 2003, most people said the writing talent in Jamaica had been cased in tempered steel. People had been saying this so much it had turned into a truth. So, nobody tried to break it out. On an island with a population closing in on three million, only one workshop existed and it wasn't cheap. Taking many cues from the local music industry, the dynamo that helped to generate careers for acts like Bob Marley and The Wailers, Jimmy Cliff and Shabba Ranks, the Calabash Writer's Workshop has produced a loud discordant chorus of contrary fiction writers who're encouraged to value the sound of their voice. This title features writing from Colin Channer, Marlon James, Rudolph Wallace, Konrad Kirlew, Alwyn Bully, Adziko Simba, Ronnie Saulter and others.

About the Author:

COLIN CHANNER's major works of fiction include the novel Waiting in Vain and the story collection Passing Through, which Junot Diaz described as "a splendid collection by one of the Caribbean Diaspora's finest writers." He is an assistant professor of English and the coordinator of the B.A. creative writing program at Medgar Evers College.

About this edition

• Publisher: Akashic Books,U.S.
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1933354054
• ISBN 13: 9781933354057
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 250
• Editor: Channer Colin