May 2009 would mark Calabash's ninth year as a free literary festival. Alas! This free festival may not celebrate its ninth year as it has been unable to secure the required funding.

When I was nine, I was already fully immersed in the wonderful world of literature. I couldn't wait to come home to curl myself up with a book and be taken away from my home high in the hills of Norwich, Portland, to far away and distant lands. Each book brought a new and different adventure. Calabash celebrates this love of literature at a time in our society when television, the Internet and a fast culture dominate. Everything now is quick and immediate and Calabash and Treasure Beach remind us to take our time.

Life is not quick - it's a journey worth taking slowly like a great book, savouring each page and the ability of the author to carry you through the highs and lows of the story. Jamaica needs Calabash. We need to be reminded that there is much to be gained from slowing it down and reading a book.

economic crisis

I know the global economic crisis has affected our lives in ways that we haven't even begun to realise, but the festival desperately needs US$30,000 to take place. Calabash is a free literary festival and that's what makes it special. Reading is not for any one group or sector; it is for us all if we just take the chance and open a book.

There are many Jamaicans who love this festival and who can afford to make the sacrifice - if not alone a solid group of Jamaicans - to let the journey and love of literature continue.

I am, etc.,

HOWARD HAMILTON, Q.C.

Kingston