Carnival, Trinidad and Tobago | Wish you were here (Jan/Feb 2019) By Caribbean Beat | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Postcards from the Caribbean’s most extraordinary places
Need to know | Events calendar (Jan/Feb 2019) By David Katz and Shelly-Ann Inniss | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Essential info to help you make the most of January and February across the Caribbean — from jazz in Haiti to reggae month in Jamaica to a film festival in Barbados
Bookshelf (Jan/Feb 2019) | Book reviews By Shivanee Ramlochan | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) This month’s reading picks, with reviews of High Mas: Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture; Giant; Black Dogs and the Colour Yellow; A View of the Empire at Sunset; and Erotic Islands: Art and Activism in the Queer Caribbean
Playlist (Jan/Feb 2019) | Music reviews By Nigel Campbell | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Keba; 5OH8 + KVL; and Tebby
Q&A with Ian Harnarine | Screenshots (Jan/Feb 2019) By Jonathan Ali | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Filmmaker Ian Harnarine talks about his new short, Caroni
Coco Loco | Cookup By Franka Philip | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) A longtime traditional ingredient in Caribbean cuisine, coconut is enjoying a new popularity, thanks to health trends. Franka Philip considers the potential for culinary innovations. Coconut flour, anyone? Coconut vinegar?
Beauty and the Beast | Panorama By Caribbean Beat | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) T&T Carnival may be the world’s greatest street party, but among the glamourous bikini bands and shimmering sequins, some traditional masquerades offer a defiant take on the darker side of our history
Dennery Style | Backstory By Laura Dowrich-Phillips | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) If you have ears to listen at Carnival time, you’ve heard Dennery Segment, even if you don’t know the name. Laura Dowrich explores the roots of the soca genre originating in a small village in St Lucia
The Mighty Shadow | Icon By Attillah Springer | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Attillah Springer writes a letter to T&T’s late calypsonian-philosopher
Adam Patterson: barbed beauty | Closeup By Shereen Ali | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) For Barbadian artist Adam Patterson, masquerade and performance are mediums for challenging Caribbean stereotypes, writes Shereen Ann Ali
Claire Adam: “I’ve always felt, ask me where I’m from!” | Own words By Nicholas Laughlin | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Claire Adam, Trinidad-born novelist, on learning to observe, the usefulness of honest criticism, and the notion of “home” — as told to Nicholas Laughlin
All about blue | Round trip By Caribbean Beat | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Is any colour more distinctive of the Caribbean? Take a tour of the region through our many hues and shades of blue
Road Town, Tortola | Neighbourhood By Caribbean Beat | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) A year and a half after the devastation of Hurricane Irma, the capital of the British Virgin Islands is back in the business of welcoming visitors
Little Tobago | Bucket list By Caribbean Beat | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) A wildlife sanctuary off Tobago’s northeast coast, this tiny island has an unlikely history — and numerous seabirds
The plastic wars | Green By Erline Andrews | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Plastic pollution is a growing danger to the environment, to wildlife, and to ourselves. As Jamaica implements the first major plastics ban in the Caribbean, Erline Andrews learns about its possible impact — and pitfalls
Saved by microbes | Discover By Raymond Ramcharitar | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Trinidadian microbiologist Adesh Ramsubhag is a pioneer in researching potentially revolutionary uses of the Caribbean’s native microorganisms, writes Raymond Ramcharitar
“Papa Doc” Duvalier: When the bogeyman is real | On this day By James Ferguson | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Sixty years ago, Haitian dictator “Papa Doc” Duvalier set up a fearsome paramilitary corps to dispatch political opposition. James Ferguson looks back at the sinister history of the Tontons Macoutes