Sponsored by the Regional Council of Guadeloupe in partnership with the Association of Caribbean Writers [Association des Écrivains de la Caraïbe] the 3rd International Congress of Writers of the Caribbean [Congrès Internationale des Écrivains de la Caraïbe] will take place on April 10-13, 2013, at the Langley Resort Fort Royale in Deshaies, Guadeloupe. The guest of honor will be U.S. writer Russell Banks. There will also be a tribute to Aimé Césaire.

There will be writers, scholars, journalists, and publishers from all over the Caribbean region, including Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, St Martin, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. The guest list is truly impressive (I am truly sorry I am missing this event).

Description: The aim of this congress is to contribute to the organization of a Caribbean literary collective, ensuring the defense, exemplification, and promotion of literature and award the Grand Literary Prize [Grand Prix Littéraire] of the Association of Writers of the Caribbean.

The theme for this third edition will explore collective sagas and battles for freedom. This Congress will be held on three days of study, divided into in plenaries and roundtables. Guests will be able to discuss complex issues related to memory and history writing and the poetics embodied through our literature. They will also continue their reflections on the conditions of creation and the need to develop practical tools for translation, editing, and dissemination of Caribbean works. In this way, the crucial question of authorial rights will be discussed. Globally honored, literatures of the Caribbean need to overcome language barriers and geographical boundaries in order to build a common literary space.

Writers and scholars include Russell Banks, Délia Blanco, Marion Bethel, Erna Brodber, Colin Channer, Raphael Confiant, Suzanne Dracius, Zelma Edgell, Joanne Hillhouse, Max Jeanne, Earl Lovelace, Griselle Merced, Ernest Pépin, Esther Phillips, Gisèle Pineau, Velma Pollard, Emilio Jorge Rodríguez, Aurea Maria Sotomayor, Lyonel Trouillot, Chiqui Vicioso, Elizabeth Wilson, and many more.

For a full list, see http://ecrivainsdelacaraibe.com/congres-2013/invites-3eme-edition.html

For more information, see http://ecrivainsdelacaraibe.com/