Queer Resilience: Celebrating Caribbean LGBTQI+ Voices is the theme of BackChat, hosted by Caiso: Sex & Gender Justice, at the 15th Bocas Lit Fest.
From 9 pm at Kaiso Blues Cafe, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, readings and performances of prose, poetry, drama, and music will take centre stage, in an event that is free and open to the public on May 1.
[caption id="attachment_1152585" align="alignnone" width="969"] Linzey Corridon -[/caption]
Angelique V Nixon, a Caiso director, explained that the theme of queer resilience was especially important to the ongoing and heightened challenges faced by members of the queer community in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean, “amid increasing backlash against LGBTQI+ rights and anti-gender and anti-rights movements,” a media release said.
Nixon was enthusiastic about the ongoing supportive role the Bocas Lit Fest has played in this regard.
“This partnership has meant so much to Caiso – this is one of our signature annual events and has been a vital way that we create space for Caribbean LGBTQI+ writers and writing. Caiso is fuelled by creativity, and being a programme partner of the Bocas Lit Fest has offered us the flexibility and support needed to organise and host a unique and powerful event.
[caption id="attachment_1152586" align="alignnone" width="683"] Alexis Pauline Gumbs -[/caption]
"This work of celebrating and using creative imagination remains at the centre of our work to transform harmful cultural norms and to create spaces for LGBTQI+ visibility and creativity,” Nixon said in the release.
A diverse range of both visiting and local writers will share their talents on the BackChat stage. Among them is Andre Bagoo, winner of the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize for Nonfiction. His most recent publication is Midnight Bestiaries. Other featured TT writers include Tamara Ali, Daniel Blaize, earth, Shivanee Ramlochan, Velvet, and a special curation of drag performances by Ms Khalisi, Mizz Understood, and Yasmine DuBois.
Flanking the home-grown voices will be visiting authors at the Bocas Lit Fest: Linzey Corridon, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and Yesha Townsend. For those desirous of throwing their hat in the performance ring, an open mic segment will be in effect on the night, with music and dancing to follow the full speakers lineup, the release said.
BackChat’s history and legacy are worth valuing, said Nixon, who offered context for the origins of the event.
“We call this event BackChat in honour of the groundbreaking Caribbean LGBT literary readings held in New York in 1998. The original BackChat was curated by Caiso’s late founder Colin Robinson and friend of Caiso and award-winning queer poet and writer, Rosamond S King, who was a beloved performer at BackChat 2018 and 2022.”
Nixon has been a part of its curatorial and organising team since 2017.
At BackChat, donations of non-perishable items, personal hygiene products, or cash can be made to Caiso’s Community Food Bank.
Bocas Lit Fest runs from May 1-4 at the National Library, Abercromby St
