The Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ), organisers of the event, has released a schedule of launches, seminars, tours, readings, and the signature event, the Kingston Book Fair.

KBF 2015 will open with Love Affair With Literature on Sunday, March 1, at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona. This year’s edition will feature Tanya Shirley and Roland Watson-Grant. Shirley recently released her second collection of poems, The Merchant of Feathers. Watson-Grant is the author of Sketcher and its sequel, Skid. Other readers for Love Affair with Literature are to be announced.

The festival will also include author tours to primary and high schools, a BookJam, focusing on magazine publishing, as well as an up-close-and-personal meet with Poet Laureate Professor Mervyn Morris, hosted by the National Library of Jamaica on Tuesday, March 3.

Other key events include the Digital Day, hosted by iPublish Jamaica, which will provide independent writers with a window to the opportunities provided by digital technology. The Jamaican Writers Society (JaWS) will also be hosting an event dubbed Late Night Lit, celebrating poetry and prose for the mature audience.

“It’s been a great year for Jamaican literature,” said KBF chair Kellie Magnus, pointing to the recent successes of Marlon James, Kei Miller, and Claudia Rankine. “Jamaican literature has captured the attention of the world in the last year, and there have been exciting developments in Jamaica as well. We want to continue to generate this kind of interest at home and show the power brokers and the wider public that amazing things are happening on the literary scene.”

Director of promotions for the BIAJ Tanya Batson-Savage points out that one of the great things about KBF is that it offers something for everyone.

“Many people refer to KBF as Kingston Book Week, and although that isn’t the official name, it is a great description for the event. KBF 2015 will remain diverse and entertaining. Books open doors, and we want you to step through them with us,” she said.

The KBF 2015 will take place at multiple venues across the city, culminating with The Kingston Book Fair on Saturday, March 7.