Colin Channer ... I feel a tremendous sense of excitement now that Calabash 2009 is on. - File

With the 2009 Calabash International Literary Festival back on stream following a three-day suspension in plans last week, founder and artistic director Colin Channer said he is looking forward to readings from three particular authors.

"I'd have to say Junot Diaz, who just won the Pulitzer Prize. I'd have to add US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and the Honourable Edward Seaga, whose memoirs are fascinating," a press release quoted Channer in responding to the authors he's most anticipating.

The mastermind

Channer, a professor in creative writing at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and the author of numerous books, started Calabash in 2001.

Last Tuesday night, Calabash organisers released a statement saying they had cancelled this year's festival due to lack of funding. "The straw that broke the camel's back", according to one organiser, Justine Henzell, was the Jamaica Tourist Board's (JTB) refusal to provide US$40,000 in sponsorship. Instead, the JTB offered US$25,000.

Henzell

Henzell said the festival's budget is approximately US$120,000. At the time, she did not say how much of the money organisers had secured.

Last Friday evening, the JTB reneged on its decision, offering US$40,000 in sponsorship. Henzell also said the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education Fund had agreed to a three-year partnership.

"I feel a tremendous sense of excitement (now that Calabash 2009 is on). We've been planning Calabash 2009 since the beginning of last year," Channer said.

Publicity stunt

Responding to allegations that the cancellation was a publicity stunt, Channer said: "Let me be clear about something. We take this festival very seriously and we don't play with the people's emotions or time."

Channer added he was "amazed at the number of people who wrote letters and made phone calls and started internet sites on our behalf" following the announcement the event was cancelled. He said he was also grateful to the JTB for reconsidering its decision.

Important partner

"The JTB has always been one of our most important partners. They've been with us since the beginning, all the way back in 2001. I think all long relationships will have blips of miscommunication. Ours is no exception," said Channer.

"I think that recent events gave the JTB a reason to take a long, hard look at our relationship, to take stock of it. In the end they realised the true value of this relationship and showed this understanding in a tangible way. They now have a clearer sense of what we mean to them. They also have a clearer sense of what we mean to thousands of people in Jamaica and the rest of the world."

Calabash will be held from May 22-24 at Jake's in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth.