The fifth annual Calabash International Literary Festival that takes place in Jamaica has been scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, May 27-29. Over the past four years, the festival has managed to acquire the respect of the literary community as a certifiable international literary event. Although in the Caribbean, Calabash is known to be the hottest and coolest literary gathering of its kind. Calabash 2005 will take place at Jake's, a resort nestled on the South Coast of Jamaica. This festival features three days and nights of readings and music, and is free to the public. The Calabash International Literary Festival aims to transform the literary arts in the Caribbean, and gain international respect by offering the region's best-managed workshops, seminars and performances. The goal is accomplished through strategic partnerships that the organization has developed with the media and through government support. This years special guest readers include Oliver Clarke, Chairman of the Gleaner Company Limited, and Perry Henzell, writer and director of The Harder They Come, who will be reading passages on Sunday, May 29, honoring the 50th anniversary of the novel. Calabash assembles the best poets, writers and musicians from around the world. Highlighted performers include Dionne Brand, one of Canada's most prolific poets, Russell Banks, a well-known American writer, and Andrea Levy, winner of the Orange and Whitbread prizes from the UK. There will be additional featured artists from Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Mali, and Indonesia that will be performing and introducing attendees to works of literature from around the world. For a full schedule of events visit the Calabash Literary Festival Web page at www.calabashfestival.org. On Saturday, May 28 the Calabashment concert will be held. The four-hour Reggae concert features the most popular artists around. There will be a special tribute to mark the ten year and 25 year anniversaries of the deaths of Delroy Wilson and Jacob Miller; two legends of reggae.