ICCL History

Our History

The International Conference on Caribbean Literature (ICCL) was founded in July 1997 by Dr. Melvin Rahming, former Hugh M. Gloster Chair and retired Professor of English at Morehouse College, and Dr. Jorge Roman-Lagunas, former Director of the Center for International Studies at Purdue University Calumet. Its chief purpose is the promotion of a global understanding of Caribbean cultures. ICCL is always sponsored by Morehouse College and usually takes place in collaboration with institution of higher learning in the Caribbean. The conference averages approximately 125 participants. 

To date, ICCL has convened in Nassau, Bahamas (1998); Paget, Bermuda (1999); Ponce, Puerto Rico (2000); Trois-Illet, Martinique (2001); Freeport, Bahamas (2003); St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (2004); Cartagena, Colombia (2005); Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2006); Castries, St. Lucia (2007); Buea, Cameroon (2008); Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (2010); Havana, Cuba (2011); Panama City, Panama (2013); Willemstad, Curaçao (2014); and Salvador, Brazil (2015), Saint Martin (2016), Nassau, Bahamas (2017), Costa Rica (2018) Barbados (2019), and virtually (2021).  ICCL has averaged roughly 150 participants per conference, and these participants have come from colleges and universities around the globe—from Europe, Africa, Latin America, South America, the Caribbean, North America, and Asia.

Because of its historical significance, the history of ICCL is currently being documented in the archives of the Atlanta University Center RADAR collection. Here is the link  to the collection in RADAR.

Concept

ICCL is unique. It is the only Caribbean literary forum that aims to unite, on an annual basis and in a Caribbean setting, writers and scholars for concurrent presentations in the three most prominent languages of the region: English, French, and Spanish. Likewise, ICCL is the only conference on Caribbean literature that involves the host country in the planning of each event. It also seeks to expose scholars to the cultural preeminence of the Caribbean through supplemental cultural events and optional post-conference tours (among other activities).

Although each conference spotlights at least one internationally acclaimed writer or scholar from the host country, ICCL endeavors to also expose lesser-known writers of the Caribbean to provide them an international platform. Past keynote speakers include Rex Nettleford, Derek Walcott, Kenneth Ramchand, Antonio Benitez-Rojo, Jan Carew, Maryse Condé, Carol Marsh- Lockett, Brenda Flanagan, Edgardo Rodriguez-Julia, Sylvia Winter, Ian Strachan, Raphaël Confiant, Earl Lovelace, Tita Lucille Berry-Haseth, Elizabeth Nunez, Ben Olguin, Damaris Serrano, and Décio Torres Cruz. 

Finally—and arguably most importantly—ICCL provides a forum for each country to showcase its visual and performative arts cultures before an international audience of acclaimed scholars and writers.

Goals

ICCL has the following goals: 

• To promote a global understanding of Caribbean cultures; 
• To serve as the preeminent forum for the global discussion of Caribbean literature by writers and scholars from academic institutions in the Caribbean, Europe, North, Central, and South Americas, Asia, and Africa; 
• To contribute meaningfully to the existing body of criticism that interrogates Caribbean literature; 
• To involve Caribbean states in the discussion and promotion of their own and the region’s literatures and cultures; 
• To involve Caribbean institutions of higher learning as hosts and planners for each conference; 
• To establish and develop relationships between American and Caribbean postsecondary institutions.

Format

The annual conference is a 3-4-day event of faculty and students’ scholarly research; daily keynote speakers; evening cultural events, and tours. The opening ceremonies and the closing ceremonies are special occasions in which the governmental officials and educational institutions in the host nation interact with the conferees.