Riding the new wave of Caribbean cinema
There was a time when it seemed the Caribbean might be the next big thing in world cinema. In 1970, the first indigenous feature film in...
Signal Hill: The people’s voice
On a damp, drizzly evening in Port of Spain, the Signal Hill Alumni Choir is in full flight. They’re performing at an open-air concert at...
Breadfruit: superfood of St Vincent
On the face of it, the breadfruit isn’t the most exciting food in the world – just look at its name. But although it lives a quiet life...
Manaus: concrete and jungle
Getting there “Manaus?” my friend asked. “Of all the places in Brazil to visit—why there?” It was a fair question. And my friend...
Junot Díaz: the wao factor
Junot Díaz was born on New Year’s Eve, 1968 in a barrio of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. When he was six he relocated with...
Perfect, imperfect…future tense
Colin Laird looks out of the front of his first-floor office and creases his well-lined face. “It’s as if I’m not here any more,”...
Rebel with a camera: Carlos Lechuga
Melaza, the debut feature film from Cuban writer and director Carlos Lechuga, opens with a shot of a sun-drenched field of sugarcane, the...
Black hawk up in Tobago
In a backyard in Canaan, Tobago, there is a great black hawk – perched on my arm. Stalin – named for the acclaimed calypsonian, not the...
