Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Jay Douglas and Jamaica's  DJ General Trees drop a big one! Toronto’s all-time favourite reggae performer Jay Douglas has a new song out and a new “album” in the works. Still going strong after 45-years of performing, the Toronto singer has just “dropped” Jah Children, a single he has recorded with Jamaica’s Dancehall DJ General Trees. Saying that Douglas is part of Toronto’s reggae scene, is unfair to the singer.  Better to say he started the reggae scene in the Six back in the late sixties with the group The Cougars and continues to be the big draw for the sound. While the Yorkville and Yonge Street scenes have long since disappeared, Douglas continues to soldier on. You have probably seen him on stage at Caribana and Carnival concerts, headlining at the CNE, on TV as he accepted his Junos, and performing at some of the GTA’s most popular watering holes. “ We have never stopped,” Jay Douglas told the Caribbean Camera. “I started as a kid in Montego Bay in the early ...

New Biannual art fair for Caribbean art, all set for Mandeville Painting by Jamaica's Krystal Ball By Stephen Weir Attention Jamaica, a group of Caribbean Canadian art experts is about to   put the spotlight on art and artists from Jamaica and other Caribbean nations.   A 3-day exhibition and sale of local art beginning January 30th will take place in Mandeville Jamaica. The fair is being spearheaded by well-known founder of the Black Artists Network Dialogue and CArt’s Creative Director.   Karen Carter. She describes the upcoming CArt Festival as a contemporary art fair connecting artists from the Caribbean region to the international art world. “CArt is an opportunity for fair goers to meaningfully connect with local artists, and acquire original art to add to their art collection,” Karen Carter told the Camera.  It will take place at the Mandeville Hotel in Mandeville. This is the first installment of CArt which will be a biennial Art Fair. ...

and then some Real Jerk UK marks 1-year anniversary  By Stephen Weir  The Caribbean Camera spied a small news item which appeared in a Toronto newspaper’s food section saying that Toronto’s Real Jerk was about to open a outlet in London England.  While it is not unusual for a British restaurant to open in Toronto, it is newsworthy when a Canadian resto decides to set up shop within pickup and delivery distance of the Queen of England! When I contacted Edward and Lilly Pottinger, the founders and owner of The Real Jerk (TRJ) on Gerrard Street (where Drake and Rihanna shot their crazy popular music video) they said yes indeed there is now a Real Jerk in Streatham Hill only 5 miles south of Buckingham Palace. But, then they told me, neither the news story nor the resto is  new. In fact, “The London location was in fact opened in May 2018!” they said. “They recently celebrated their anniversary!” “Same menu. Same sign. Same vibe.” I took a look at the resto’...

                         Salad Days of Literature Brings Lots Of Cabbage to Ian Williams These are salad days for Caribbean Canadian authors. Earlier this week another Trinidadian-born author won big, really big, and the country has sat up and taken notice. On Tuesday evening  Ian Williams  won the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his very first novel “ Reproduction ”, published by Random House Canada, taking home $100,000. Earlier this month Trinidadian Canadian author  André Alexis  won big as well capturing the $50,000 Writers’ Trust fiction prize for his English language novel “ Days by Moonlight ”. He is only the second author in the country to capture the award twice. Days by Moonlight  is his seventh novel. The book is about Alfred Homer who takes a Southern Ontario road trip to investigate the story of John Skennen, a poet whose ghost haunts a few souls around the provin...

CARIBANA STALWART JOHN KAM DIES AT 68 Long considered the soul of Caribana and the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, John Kam, 68-year former bandleader and festival executive, passed away last Monday after a lengthy illness. The funeral will be held on Friday (tomorrow) November 22, at 10 am at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Sheppard Avenue East in Scarborough, followed by the burial at the York Cemetery. There will be also be a Thursday afternoon and evening visitation for Mr. Kam at the Highland Funeral Home on Sheppard Ave East in Scarborough. John Kam was born in 1951 to Wah Chew and Jean Kam in St. James, Trinidad, and immigrated to Toronto when he was 18 years old. He worked for Toronto City Hall as a budget analyst where he had a successful career for 34 years. He retired at the age of 52. Mr. Kam will be best remembered for his involvement with Toronto’s Carnival, be it the original Caribana, or the current Toronto Caribbean Carnival. Over the years he did it all ...

One day Canada’s top novelist will write about Trinidad.  André Alexis wins the Writer’s Trust for his book set in Ontario   By Stephen Weir   Author André Alexis is the toast of English Canada.  Last Tuesday in Toronto the Trinidadian Canadian won the prestigious $50,000 Writers' Trust fiction prize for his English language novel "Days by Moonlight". This is the fourth time Alexis has been nominated for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the second time he has won it. He is only the second author in the country to capture the award twice.  Miriam Toews also won the trophy two times. Days by Moonlight  is his seventh novel. The book is about Alfred Homer who takes a Southern Ontario road trip to investigate the story of John Skennen, a poet whose ghost haunts a few souls around the province! Days by Moonlight  is part of his  "quincunx" of five thematically linked novels. The second installment in ...

SLAM Andre Newell as hard as you can Don’t be shocked when you get a standing ovation from the audience By Stephen Weir Andre Newell doesn’t mind if you slam him. In fact the Toronto entertainment and events promoter says he has a stage you can stand on while you give him your best shot! For the past 8-years Andre and his cousin actress Oluniké Adeliyi have been staging Monologue Slams here in Toronto, across Canada and in Jamaica.  The pair is getting ready to present the final Slam of 2019 and they promise the December 1st event is going to be the Grandest Slam of them all. The evening Monologue Slam Canada Finale will be held at the Bad Dog Theatre. (875 Bloor St West). “A Monologue Slam is an acting competition where actors perform on stage in front of a panel of experts, who provide feedback and select a winner, with the audience watching on (and voting too) ” explained Newell. “ The essence of the event is to give actors a space to play, let them work on their mater...

Trout Stanley – Rising Toronto Star is not a fish out of water in this darkly funny, all Black Canadian Play By Stephen Weir Stephen Jackman-Torkoff has had so many edgy roles in his young acting career, crazy come easy.   This month he plays a touched barefoot wanderer who wanders through a British Columbia forest in a tattered police uniform looking for the lake where his jewelry-thieving parents accidentally electrocuted themselves years ago.   Early in this Black comedy he meets two equally crazy gun toting, noose carrying sisters and falls in love overnight.   Did I mention Jackman-Torkoff’s character only answers to the name of Trout Stanley? Jackman-Torkoff is the runaway star of Trout Stanley, a very dark comedy currently getting rave reviews at the downtown Factory Lab Theatre. Trout Stanley is a remount of play that first hit the boards back in 2004 in Nova Scotia, came to Toronto in 2005 and then on to a wow zowie response in New York C...