JAMAICAN Poets School Tour - October 27 to November 9, 2023

Under the  patronage of Jamaica’s Poet Laureate Olive Senior, the Jamaica Poets Nomadic College and School Tour, Inc., in collaboration with the Poetry Society of Jamaica, will officially launch the 2023 edition of the Jamaica Poets Nomadic School Tour on Tuesday, October 31, 7 pm, at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

This marks the fifth staging of the tour, created and produced by outstanding poet Malachi Smith. The guest speaker of this special anniversary launch is well known publisher Tanya Batson-Savage, with Country-Reggae singer Wesrok making a special guest appearance.

MC is Amina Blackwood Meeks, celebrated international storyteller and senior lecturer at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

The tour will run from Thursday, October 26, 2023, to Thursday, November 9, 2023.

A stellar line up of poets will visit educational institutions across the length and breadth of Jamaica.

This includes including Professor Opal Palmer Adisa, the founding editor of Interviewing the Caribbean with over 25 publications to her credit;

Kwame MA McPherson, a prolific award-winning writer who is the first Jamaican to win the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (2023);

Tomlin Ellis founding member of Poets in Unity and the Poetry Society of Jamaica, Cherry Natural, IRAWMA Award winner;

Malachi Smith, internationally acclaimed award-winning dub poet and founder of the tour.

The tour will include a free poetry workshop at UWI, Mona. It will be taught by Professor Opal Palmer Adisa and fabian m. thomas.

The tour partners with the UWI Department of Literature in English in offering this free workshop annually.

The tour began with just Malachi Smith in 2017. To date, over 30 Jamaican poets have taken part bringing the joy of poetry to students and teachers who have also participated and shared their work.

Since the launch of the tour, over six thousand students and 37 schools have been featured.  

Importantly, this year’s tour also marks a major milestone with the publishing of an anthology by the participating poets.

Named the Jamaica Poets Nomadic Tour Anthology, it was designed by Judith Falloon-Reid and edited by Prof. Opal Palmer Adisa. Copies will be provided to participating schools.

One of the main features and strengths of the tour is the richness of the offerings from poets with different styles and background in a campaign of positive messaging.

Please make donations to: Jamaica Poets Nomadic College & School Tour, Truist Bank, Zelle (305) 302-5365 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
JPNCST is a registered Public Non-Profit Organization, 501(c)(3).