A captivating performance by acclaimed Jamaican writer and poet Dr Natalie Corthésy highlighted Poetry in the Park, an event organised by the P J Patterson Institute for African-Caribbean Advocacy at the Mona Campus, The University of the West Indies (The UWI), to mark African Liberation Day recently.
She delivered powerful readings from three of her anthologies: Fry Green Plantains, Sky Juice and White Rum, and Coconut Water.
Corthésy’s work, including the impactful poem Blacktocracy, resonated with the audience as she addressed the evolving identity of Africans and their descendants with a blend of humour and profound insights.
She is the 2020 recipient of the Caribbean Writer’s Marvin E Williams Literary Prize for her work The Helper Experiment published in Volume 34 under the theme ‘Dignity, Power and Place in the Caribbean Space’.
African Liberation Day is an international tribute to the ongoing global journey of African liberation initiated in 1963 by the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) and observed annually on May 25.
The programme was also enriched by the contribution of Colombia’s Ambassador to Jamaica Emiliana Bernard Stephenson, who captivated the audience with several renditions, including the delivery of A who dem. Her performance offered another vibrant taste of the evening’s spoken word feast with powerful words such as “hard time gwan kill wi, but a Panaman qwan kill wi”, which echoed across the park and to the ears of the attendees.
Beyond her poetic prowess, Bernard Stephenson is a distinguished writer who is widely recognised for her activism as a feminist, newspaper columnist, and fierce defender of human rights. A poet, she has published in three languages — Spanish, English and San Andrés–Providencia Creole. Her latest anthology is Poems: Broken Windows, Ventana Rota, which was released in 2023.
The stage also welcomed Fabian M Thomas, a notable Calabash Writers Workshop Fellow who has had his work published in more than a dozen collections and anthologies. A prolific poet, he engaged the audience with excerpts from his published works, including his self-published collection of gratitude verses, New Thought, New Words (2018), and his début poetry and spoken word collection, The Solace of Sound, published in March 2025.
Another striking performance came from poet Omar Ryan, who galvanised the audience with verses that sounded the call for African identity with his poem My People, with the lines “leave the tricks of European politics and put race first. Contribute positively to your race cause in another we have no space”.
Adding another layer of icing to the distinguished proceedings was a special appearance and performance by celebrated Jamaican poet, essayist, and memoirist Lorna Goodison. Her powerful words, delivered virtually, was well received. Widely regarded as one of the foremost Caribbean writers of her generation, Goodison’s work, which includes acclaimed collections like Mother Muse and I Am Becoming My Mother, masterfully blended personal experience with Jamaican history and folklore, often exploring themes of identity, womanhood, and the African Diaspora.
The inaugural Poetry in the Park served as a powerful demonstration of the vital role of art and dialogue in advancing the collective journey towards justice and African unity.