ROSE HALL, St James — American novelist Nina Revoyr has hailed the Calabash International Literary Festival as the best in its class.

“Calabash is the best literary festival in the entire world,” Revoyr said in reference to the biennial event which was staged between Friday, June 3, and Sunday, June 5 in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth.

Revoyr, who read her recently released book Lost Canyon at Calabash, also ranked the Caribbean region’s writers among the best in the world, noting that their works are at times inspired by the challenges and beauty of the region.

“Some of the most amazing writers in the world have hailed from this region. There are some wonderful stories from here and one of the things that makes the Caribbean interesting, as I have said to my crowd in my city of Los Angeles, this is a region of both great challenge, great difficulty, but also great beauty, and often the hardship and the beauty are wrapped up in each other and that makes some fascinating and interesting stories that it is very important that they be told”, she told the Jamaica Observer West.

Revoyr, who also works with an NGO in Los Angeles that serves children and families affected by poverty and violence, was in Montego Bay last week at the invitation of the US Embassy.

“I was in Jamaica for the Calabash Festival.This is actually my fourth time in Jamaica and at the festival. I was asked by the State Department in Jamaica to come and visit some places in Montego Bay because of my work with the NGO and serving children in Los Angeles and so that is what I have done. It’s really been a wonderful privilege to get some extra time in Jamaica,” the novelist remarked.

“I so enjoyed being here and getting to meet real people who live and work in Montego Bay. We just came from Flanker where we met the people at the community centre, and it felt very familiar to me because it reminded me of some of the communities that I work in in Los Angeles where people have struggles, socio-economically, but there is also a great deal of potential, particularly with the children,” said Revoyr.

Revoyr was born in Japan.