Dr. Amina Blackwood Meeks is a multi-talented Jamaican educator and artist. She is a lecturer on Caribbean culture and identity at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. Dr. Meeks is also a renowned storyteller,founding the Ntukuma Storytelling Foundation and the Ananse SoundSplash storytelling festival. She even successfully petitioned to make November 20th National Storytelling Day in Jamaica!

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Dr. Meeks' stories draw from her diverse background, including her work as a teacher, political scientist, and farmer. Her tales touch on social issues like gender, environment, and child development. She has performed and conducted workshops around the world, and her work has been published in articles, books, and even CDs.

Kellie is a writer and development specialist, living in Kingston, Jamaica. Her passions are creativity and philanthropy.

Kellie is currently the Executive Director of the Caribbean Culture Fund, a new initiative to support creatives and cultural organizations across the Caribbean and its diasporas. She has more than two decades of experience in philanthropy, raising funds for Harvard University, the University of the West Indies and several non-governmental and international development partners and running projects for international development partners including the World Bank, the European Union, the Commonwealth Foundation, the InterAmerican Foundation, UNICEF and UNESCO. 

Outside of work, Kellie writes on creativity, creatives and the creative economy. Her writing has appeared in local and regional publications, and she has authored more than 15 children’s books, several of which are included in the Jamaican school system under the Literacy 123 programme spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

 

Favourite Genre: romance

Favourite Book: Bolu Babalola's Love in Color

Favourite Place to Read: in bed

Jo-Hanna Taylor is a certified fitness and wellness professional with over 9 years of experience. She combines physical training with stress management and mindfulness techniques to create a holistic approach to well-being. Her background in psychology helps her understand and address the behavioral aspects of achieving fitness goals.

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Jo-Hanna works with both individuals and organizations, providing guidance on stress management, resilience building and mindful exercise. She also shares her expertise through monthly radio appearances. Through her brand "I am TaylorMade", she empowers people to develop self-awareness, make positive lifestyle changes, and discover sustainable fitness and wellness solutions.

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Favourite Genre: Jo doesn't exactly have a favourite, but if she has to choose: Fiction/Self-Help

Favourite Book: "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Place to Read: On the toilet :)

Kevin Clarke is a communications and marketing professional who has been working in these areas for over a decade, at various levels.

He's from Kingston, Jamaica but was blessed with a childhood steeped in adventures in the cool hills of Manchester. 

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the Northern Caribbean University and a Master’s Degree in Communication, Media and Public Relations from the University Leicester.

When he's not doing work in communication and social media, he enjoys swimming, travelling around Jamaica and occasionally somewhere around the globe, cooking, shopping and reading a good book.

He currently blogs at 
www.kevinobryan.com.

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Favourite Genre  - Caribbean Fiction, Horror

Favourite Book - Brother Man by Roger Mais

Favourite Place to Read  - The Beach

Dr. Jhodi-Ann Bowie Dean is a psychologist and lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Mona. She received her PhD in Counseling Psychology from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA and her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Clemson University in South Carolina. Dr. Bowie Dean also works in private practice and is trained in the treatment and assessment of psychological conditions through the use of psychotherapy and other rigorous assessment techniques. For over 14 years, she has worked with clients struggling with a wide range of difficulties, including depression, anxiety, adjustment challenges, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. She believes that the therapeutic process is successful only when adequate work is done between both the therapist and the client, focusing on the innate strengths and resources of the client.

 

 

Favorite Genre: Romance

Favorite Book: Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Favorite Place to read: Coffee Shops

Nakeeta Nembhard is a strategic planning and marketing professional who currently works at one of Jamaica's major financial conglomerates. An ardent bibliophile, she primarily explores her creative side through content creation via her platform- Browning With a Book on Instagram- as well as through her role as Creator-in-Chief of handcrafted greeting card brand, Roseberry Paper Company. She credits the love of reading in enabling her to unlock the imagination for her various creative pursuits. 

 

Nakeeta is also a Distinguished Toastmaster with several notable achievements, including Toastmaster of the Year for Jamaica as well as National Speech Champion.

 

Outside of her professional and creative pursuits endeavours, she enjoys indulging in Golden Girls marathons while enjoying a specialty tea.

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Favourite Genre: Romance & Short Story Collections

Favourite Book(s): Reel by Kennedy Ryan, Things I Have Withheld by Kei Miller, The Duppy by Anthony Winkler (to name a few)

Favourite Place to Read: My couch with a searingly hot cup of tea in hand

Tanya Batson-Savage is a writer, filmmaker, publisher, and creative consultant, with a love of mangoes and a passion for Caribbean stories and ideas. She is publisher and editor in chief of the award-winning independent publishing house, Blue Banyan Books – the fastest growing tradebook publisher in the English-speaking Caribbean and co-founder of the film production company - Have a Bawl Productions Ltd. She Chairs of the Lignum Vitae Writing Awards and is president of the Jamaican Writers Society.

 

Her non-fiction has been widely anthologized and she authored Pumpkin Belly and Other Stories a collection of stories for children. Tanya produced the animated short film Agwe (2018) and A Shade of Indigo (2023) – both JAFTA Propella films.  Her play Woman Tongue received 8 Actor Boy Award Nominations (2016) and her short film script ‘Endeavour’ earned Best Script (Kingstoon Anime Festival, 2013). She is the 2022 winner of the Best Pitch Forward competition. 

 

Tanya is a Fellow of the Calabash International Literary Festival and Cropper Residential writing workshops as well as an inaugural participant of the Film Lab. She earned a JAFTA/Porter Screenwriting Fellowship (2020) and Rotterdam Producer Lab Fellowship (2024).