FREE literary festival, Aunty Roachy Festival, returns to the Independence Village at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St Andrew, today.

The event, which will cover a range of poetry, prose and drama writings, is scheduled for 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

Stephen Davidson, director of marketing and public relations at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), said the event was brought back by popular demand.

“The cultural and creative sectors are so diverse. We have so many great writers and we wanted to celebrate all of Jamaica… films, plays, poets and writers,” Davidson told the Jamaica Observer.

Children authors A-dZiko Simba Gegele and Kellie Magnus will headline the readings, while Gwyneth Harold will be joined by award-winning writers Roland Watson-Grant and Coleen Smith-Dennis in the young adult segment.

The young adult segment will also feature Akeem Mignott in a dramatic reading of Vic Reid’s New Day to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion.

Poets Cherry Natural, Abbebe Payne and Britton Wright will perform as Lyrical Hotsteppers.

Comedy and drama will take centre stage with an excerpt from the play Samson and Di Liar, featuring actors Tony ‘Paleface’ Hendriks and Ricky Rowe.

There will also be a Link Up and Labrish discussion forum under the theme “I Am Who I Am, But Who Am I?”, moderated by Amina Blackwood-Meeks and featuring panellists Dr Dennis Howard, Kemesha Kelly, Miguel ‘Steppa’ Williams, Nickesha Lindsay and Nadeen Spence.

The literary festival will end with a poetry reading hosted by the Poet Laureate of Jamaica, Professor Mervyn Morris, and called The Poet Laureate Presents, featuring two of Jamaica’s most well known story-tellers, Amina Blackwood-Meeks and Joan Andrea Hutchinson.