Twenty-five years after her publication of the landmark anthology Daughters of Africa, Margaret Busby returned with the companion work New Daughters of Africa, featuring 200 emerging and established writers.

The esteemed author will appear to the Calabash stage, along with Yvonne Bailey-Smith (The Day I Fell Off My Island), Taiye Selasi (Ghana Must Go), and Namwali Serpell (The Furrows: An Elegy).

These four powerhouse women showcase the diversity and daringness that has been brought to the Calabash 2023 line-up. Their writing and lives have criss-crossed the continents of the world.

Dubbed ‘Daughters of Africa in Conversation with Margaret Busby’, the segment will open the stellar line-up today at 10:00 am.

The three-day Calabash 2023 takes place under the theme ‘Onward Upward… Forward’.

The day will also feature publisher Jeremy Poynting of Peepal Tree Press as well as poet and reggae star Linton Kwesi Johnson ‘Reasoning’ with festival founder Kwame Dawes.

The ‘Reasoning’ sessions also feature Emmy-nominated producer and television host Padma Lakshmi, who will sit down with Kei Miller. Poetry lovers will also be able to hear from Andrew Motion, Olive Senior, Staceyann Chin, Yona Harvey, among others. Prose presentations will come from Jonathan Escoffery, Sadie Jones, and Tom Zoellner.

The literary festival is supported by Audible, Jakes Hotel & Villas, The Jamaica Tourist Board, The Tourism Enhancement Fund, and Wisynco Trading, as well as individual donors from home and abroad such as Beverley East a long-time supporter. Calabash also partners with the Embassy of the United States and the Canadian High Commission.

Calabash first launched in 2001. After 10 successive years, from 2001-2010, Calabash moved to a biennial event until 2018. The 2020 & 2022 festivals were cancelled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and this year will be the official return for its 15th staging. The event, which has not been held since 2018, will include workshops, seminars, and performances.

As a registered charity, Calabash is diversifying the way it fund-raises locally and internationally with a focus on digital promotions and payments.