The Jamaica Book Festival (JBF), in partnership with The University of the West Indies (The UWI) PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean Advocacy (INAFRICARA), will host the inaugural Africa Caribbean Literary Exchange, February 25-28, 2026, in Kingston, with a community outreach engagement in western Jamaica included in the schedule.
The exchange is presented by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), marking the institution’s first major sponsorship of a literary exchange in the Caribbean, signalling a significant investment in culture as a platform for connection and cooperation, and strengthening Africa-Caribbean ties through literature, learning, and creative enterprise.
The Africa Caribbean Literary Exchange assembles writers, publishing leaders, educators, and cultural voices for a week of public conversation and cross-sector engagement shaped by shared history and future possibility. Confirmed guests include New York Times bestselling author Namina Forna; International Booker Prize judge Troy Onyango; author and co-founder of Book Bunk Angela Wachuka; Ghanaian-German Literary Advocate Alexandra Antwi-Boasiako; award-winning children’s content producer Jeunanne Alkins; professor of Caribbean Literature Dr Curdella Forbes; chess master Tunde Onakoya (virtual); and author and scholar Professor Paulette A Ramsay. The programme will blend readings, dialogue, and live exchange, creating space for audiences to encounter new ideas, new works, and new partnerships across the Atlantic.
“This exchange is a bridge we are building with intention,” said Latoya West-Blackwood, founder and director of the Jamaica Book Festival. “It brings African and Caribbean voices into the same room to spark relationships that can outlast the week itself — relationships that can grow new collaborations, strengthen our book ecosystems, and inspire young people to see their stories as powerful and globally relevant.”
West-Blackwood noted Afreximbank’s presenting sponsorship’s regional significance. “When an institution of Afreximbank’s reach puts its weight behind a literary initiative in the Caribbean, it sends a clear message that books, culture, and ideas matter — economically, socially, and diplomatically.”
The week begins in Kingston with an official welcome hosted in partnership with INAFRICARA, setting the tone for a programme grounded in scholarship, advocacy, and cultural connection.
On Saturday, 28 February, JBF invites the public to the Africa Caribbean Lit Fest in Kingston, providing readers with a direct opportunity for conversation with the visiting delegation through book chats and live literature experiences, climaxing with the launch of Lorna Goodison’s Dante’s Inferno: A New Translation. The exchange also includes a community outreach visit in western Jamaica, co-ordinated by the Hanover Authors’ Guild, in alignment with the initiative’s commitment to meeting communities where they are and widening access to literary and cultural exchange beyond Jamaica’s capital city.
Professor Paulette A Ramsay, research fellow and COO at INAFRICARA, noted that the partnership positions the exchange as both timely and necessary. “We must not lose that nostalgic longing for that book of adventure that keeps us excitedly anticipating the grand denouement, or the book that teaches us something new about ourselves as human beings, that book that introduces amazing new places, history, science fiction, or interesting cultures. We must celebrate books,” Ramsay pointed out.