Poet saffron in performance at the Poetry Society of jamaica's previous poetry Jam

The Poetry Society of jamaica starts its long running series of monthly poetry jams for 2006 with its first fellowship on Tuesday january 31, at its customary home, the amphitheatre on the Edna Manley College campus at Arthur Wint Drive.

Society President Tommy Ricketts outlined a new feature to this year's poerty outings - selected readings from well known poets, which will be subject to discussion and creative interpretation. "We will be using a variety of works," Ricketts said, "from Lorna Goodison to Dennis Scott to Shakespeare, and even verses from songs. Ricketts added that the selected readings will be done in short intervals during the session's 'open mike' period.

The highlight of the upcoming first jam will be a reading by featured guest poet, Gwyneth Barber-Wood, who will share works from her recently published book, The Garden of Forgetting. Barber-Wood has been a regular contributor to the Observer's Literary Arts publication and her poems have been included in the Observer-published anthologies, Bearing Witness 2000/01/02 edited by Wayne Brown.

A two-time fellow of the Virginia Centre for the Creative Arts (VCCA) Spring 2001 and 2004, barber-Wood was also among the poets invited to read at the Calabash International Literary Festival in St Elizabeth. A selection of her sonnets were included in the recent Literatures in English course (History of the Sonnet).

Since 1989, the Poetry Society of jamaica has been hosting poets, both published and unpublished, in sessions of reading and discussion. Society members have also read and performed at various institutions and events overseas.

The monthly poetry jams are free to the public. Persons wishing to read are asked to sign up on entry.

....Red Bones too

Kingston restaurant and performance space Red Bones the Blues Cafe returns with its regular poetry night, dubbed An Evening of Contemporary Literature on Wednesday, January 25, beginning at 8:30 p.m. The featured poets on this occasion are

Godrey Clarke and Duane Francis. Previous outings have featured owen 'Blakka' Ellis, Saffron, Mel Cooke and De I Am.

Red Bones will also host a Barbecue Blues showcase on Friday (Jan 20) featuring blues-rock band, Black Zebra, beginning at 9:00p.m.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World