Join us for the 43rd Annual West Indian Literature Conference, presented in partnership with the University of Miami as part of Pérez Art Museum Miami’s (PAMM) Caribbean Cultural Institute. Centered on the theme “The Time of the Bruggadung: States of EmUrgency,” this year’s conference explores one simple question—what are Caribbean writers reckoning with today?
Caribbean societies and, by extension, Caribbean writers, reckon with crises that feel both new and cyclical. Increased volcanic activities, record-breaking hurricanes, droughts and heatwaves are only some of the environmental pressures we face. States of emergency in response to political and social violence have become commonplace in Haiti, Trinidad, and Jamaica. Caribbean critics have also had to reckon with the passing of a generation that helped to establish and define our field and take on the mantle of adding to a foundational canon. This conference brings together some of the premier Caribbean scholars of our time for insightful and lively discussions on current issues and ideas.
Keynote Conversations 2: The Sense of Urgency featuring Fabienne Josaphat and Anthony Joseph
4pm
About Fabienne Josaphat
Fabienne Josaphat is the author of “Kingdom of No Tomorrow,” winner of the 2023 Pen Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, and longlisted for the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize. Her first novel, “Dancing in the Baron’s Shadow,” was published by Unnamed Press. Her publications include The Washington Post and Teen Vogue, and her essay, “Summer is an Empty House,” made the Notable Essays mentions in Best American Essays 2016. She is currently at work on a third novel.
About Anthony Joseph
Dr. Anthony Joseph F.R.S.L. is an award-winning Trinidad-born poet, novelist, academic, and musician. He is the author of five poetry collections and three novels. His novel “Kitch: A Fictional Biography of a Calypso Icon” (2018) was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award, and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Fiction. His most recent fiction publication is the experimental novel “The Frequency of Magic.”
As part of PAMM’s commitment to accessibility live translation for this program will be available in Amercian Sign Language, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. The program will also be streamed live, online via PAMM’s Youtube Channel.
Keynote Conversations 3: Juracán – Huracán – Hurricane Stories: From the “I” of the Storms with Dr. Angelique V. Nixon, Erica Moiah James, and Tiphanie Yanique
6pm
About Dr. Angelique V. Nixon
Dr. Angelique V. Nixon is a Bahamas-born, Trinidad-based queer writer, artist, community worker, scholar, and activist. Dr. Nixon is a senior lecturer (with tenure) and researcher at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Her research and teaching areas include Caribbean and postcolonial studies, African diaspora literatures, gender and sexuality studies, tourism and diaspora studies, and transnational migrations.
About Erica Moiah James
Erica Moiah James is an art historian, curator and Associate Professor at The University of Miami. Her research centers on indigenous, modern, and contemporary art of the Caribbean, Americas, and the African diaspora. James has been awarded a Warhol Foundation/Creative Time Art Writing Prize, and grants from the Terra and Mellon Foundations for The Geoffrey Holder Project.
About Tiphanie Yanique
Tiphanie Yanique is a novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer from the Virgin Island. Her novel “Monster in the Middle” (2021) appeared on numerous best-of-year lists and was a Lambda Literary Awards finalist. Her poetry collection “Wife” won the Bocas Prize and UK’s Forward/Felix Dennis Prize.
As part of PAMM’s commitment to accessibility live translation for this program will be available in Amercian Sign Language, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. The program will also be streamed live, online via PAMM’s Youtube Channel.
