| | 20 Unique documentaries on Caribbean authors Profiling Caribbean-Canadian authors from the 1960s through to the hip-hop generation, these 26 revealing and provocative documentaries explore the lives and creative processes of some of today's most brilliant writers, poets, and lyricists. In so doing, we discover the links between personal experience, ancestry, and migration; between Canada and the Caribbean; between an artist and their art. For Bravo! Canadian Learning Television, Book Television, OMNI, and Gayelle TV (Trinidad). Literature Alive! was first broadcast on October 6 2005 on Bravo! Canada. Download Literature Alive Series Press Release and Press Kit (242 KB) |
Season 1
Download Individual Episode Press Kits  CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Memory Places
Author: Andre Alexis Author and playwright Andre Alexis takes us on a tour of those places that spark his memories and stir his imagination. We travel from his birthplace in Trinidad, to Ottawa, where he spent his childhood, and finally to the Toronto neighborhood he now calls home. As he discusses his work, we come to realize why each location has such a remarkable hold on him.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Memory Places (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | | 
CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO
| | | My Dinner With Shani
Author: Shani Mootoo.
We are invited to celebrate the launch of Shani Mootoo's new novel, 'He Drown She In The Sea' at an intimate dinner party with her friends, filmmaker Richard Fung and writer Gamal Abdel-Shehid.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : My Dinner With Shani (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Home
Author: Tessa McWatt
British based writer Tessa McWatt takes a rare trip to Toronto to visit her family. Along the way, Tessa discusses her life and work, her past and passions, and her evolving understanding of the concepts of ‘belonging’ and ‘home'.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Home (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | |  CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | The Man Behind the Mic
Author: Dwayne Morgan
In this portrait of enterprising young poet/promoter/producer Dwayne Morgan, we witness his tireless efforts to mount rousing literary and music events in Toronto, and to bring his spoken word poetry to an ever-expanding and always appreciative audience.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : The Man Behind The Mic (PDF) | | 
BUY NOW! | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Un Homme Dans Sa Ville
Author: Dany LaFerriere
Dany takes us on a tour of Montreal, showing those places that hold special meaning for him, and discussing his success in accepting, and being accepted by, his adopted home. A fascinating man in a charming city.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Un Homme Dans Sa Ville (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Believe
Author: Richardo Keens-Douglas
Like all great children's authors, Richardo Keens-Douglas is first and foremost a storyteller. Performing his work for young audiences, we see him inspire the children to believe in themselves and have pride in their cultural heritage. Richardo speaks to us candidly about the importance of this message and about his struggle, as a young man, to find the confidence in his identity.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Believe | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Blood, Dub & the Matriarch
Author: d’bi young
Dub poet d’bi.young shares the screen with her mother, Anita Stewart, emphasizing the importance of family and heritage in her work.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Blood, Dub and The Matriarch (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | A Fabulous Space
Author: Nalo Hopkinson
She has been called a sci-fi writer, a speculative fiction writer, a fantasy writer, a fabulist, and somehow none of these terms seem to do her justice. Her work combines Caribbean and Canadian culture, mixes her life story with folklore, blurs the boundaries between the real and the fantastic, and takes place in an invented urban landscape that reflects her hybrid history.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Fabulous Spaces (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Jemini in the City
Author: Jemini
Poet, Writer, Actor, Comic, Journalist, Spoken-Word Artist, and Host of Flow 93.5's 'Morning Rush', JEMINI has become a voice that stands out in the Babel of urban Toronto. Dedicated to her work and community, JEMINI is an inspiration, and generously shares her talents with us.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Jemeni in the City (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Word Hammers
Author: M. NourbeSe Philip
She is a poet, novelist, and former lawyer. Not one to sit still, she takes on a power walk through the park. Accompanied by her friend, Dr. Patricia Saunders of the University of Miami, the two explore M. NourbeSe Philip's use of language as a weapon in her powerful and courageous work.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Word Hammers (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Gardening with Olive
Author: Olive Senior
We join Olive Senior to discuss her interest in gardens and birds, imagery that appears again and again in her poetry and prose. We also talk to her about her recent departure from fiction, with the release of her comprehensive Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Gardening with Olive (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Her True Name
Author: Pam Mordecai
In a delightful candid conversation with fellow Jamaican writer, academic and long time friend, Velma Pollard.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Her True True Name (PDF) | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | | Miss Lou: Then & Now
Author: Louise Bennet
Louise Bennett is a Jamaican icon. The country’s leading author, poet, and comedienne, ‘Miss Lou’ pioneered the use of the Jamaican language, raising the patois dialect to an art level and reflecting the truth and essence of Jamaican life. Louise reflects upon her rich life story and her illustrious body of work
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Miss Lou Then and Now (PDF) | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hour long Episode broadcast on OMNI Television  CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | Coming Home
Author: Ramambai Espinet
Ramambai Espinet visits her home town of San Fernando, Trinidad. What was planned as 'a simple, nostalgic trip' soon becomes a fascinating journey into a brilliant writer's personal history and cultural heritage.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PRESSKIT : Coming Home (PDF) | | | | Season 2 Launched September 20, 2006 and aired November 2, 2006 on BRAVO and was shown weekly for six weeks. | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | Creation Fire Pt. 1
Calabash Festival
In May 2005, Jamaica's Calabash Literary Festival celebrated its fifth year. The theme of the festival was The Fire Is Lit and searing performances by international stars Staceyann Chin, Mutabaruka, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Canada's own Dionne Brand live up to that promise. | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | Creation Fire Pt. 2
Calabash Festival
“I never doubted that Caribbean literature had international appeal,” says Colin Channer founder of the hugely successful Calabash Literary Festival that explodes like a rock concert in Treasure Beach, Jamaica every year, “because I grew up with the example of the huge impact of Bob Marley on world culture.”
| | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | Gimistory Pt. 1
Calypsonians & Extempoists
For the past 6 years, the Cayman National Cultural Foundation has been hosting a Caribbean story-telling festival called Gimmistory. On Sunday, September 12th, 2004, the Island of Grand Cayman was devastated by class 5 Hurricane Ivan. Against all odds, the Gimmistory Festival forged ahead to bring Caribbean Story-tellers and performance artists to the Island of Grand Cayman. | | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | Gimistory Pt. 2
Calypsonians & Extempoists
For the past 6 years, the Cayman National Cultural Foundation has been hosting a Caribbean story-telling festival called Gimmistory. In this documentary, the authors showcase the importance of Calypso and Extempo in the tradition of Caribbean storytelling.
| | | | | | | | | | | | CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | In the Shadow of my Father
Author: Rachel Manley
Author and biographer Rachel Manley talks about the reasons why she began writing Drumblair, her book about her grandfather, Jamaica's first Prime Minister Norman Manley.
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CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO | | Honor-Bound
Author: Honor Ford Smith
Playwright, director, actress, and poet, Honor Ford Smith is best known for her work with the internationally recognized Jamaican theatre collective Sistren, which empowered working-class women to tell their personal life-stories through plays, writing and drawing. This documentary examines her work and how she continues to adapt that collective theatre model to enable youth in Toronto to speak out on contemporary issues like the rise of gun violence in the city.
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