The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 50

E4 SUNDAY, JULY 9, 2006 THE STATE, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA WWW.THESTATE.COM BOOKS New Jamaican writing rises in Iron Balloons' By DINITIA SMITH The New York Times THE STORY COMES at you with hurricane force and an irresistible title: "How to Beat a Child the Right and Proper Way." It is the creation of the Jamaican writer Colin Channer, also the editor of "Iron Balloons," an anthology of a new kind of Jamaican writing published by Akashic Books in May. On a recent Saturday, Channer read a section of the story at HueMan Bookstore Cafe in New York's Harlem. "The Right and Proper Way" is a big breath of a piece, 54 pages long, and something of a tour de force, spoken in various registers of Jamaican English by Ciselyn, a 68-year-old Jamaican woman who works at Macy's and is giving a talk in a speech class she is taking. One day in Jamaica in 1972, Ciselyn relates, she went to pick up her, daughter, Karen, from school and Karen wasn't there. When Karen finally appeared, she was very rude.

At Hue-Man, Channer read Ciselyn's child-rearing philosophy as told to her speech class: "Sink them down again below the grass, and stand up over them like you have a machete in your hand. If they push up they head again before they time, don't hesitate. Take one swing and chop it off." "The Right and Proper Way" reaches a terrible and inevitable conclusion. "I paint her body red," Ciselyn The work of editor Colin Channer, left, and USC's Kwame Dawes comes together in 'Iron an anthology of Jamaican authors. cries.

"I look at her and say, 'You think you is a woman in this Whap. 'You think you is woman, Spa-DIE. 'What you have to Whap" And so on. And on. "After that, let me tell you," Ciselyn says, "she see everything my way." And what's more, she tells us, Karen is now a senior vice president at J.P.

Morgan Chase. Channer's story, and the others that he has collected in "Iron Balloons," is raw and uncensored, unlike much of the Jamaican writing of previous generations. The writers in "Iron Balloons" take the multiple identities of the Jamaican diaspora for granted; some of them were not even born there. Above all, they are influenced by the rhythms, the colloquialism and the self-confidence of reggae music. Many of the stories in "Iron Balloons" were nurtured at the Calabash International Literary Festival in Jamaica, founded by Channer and the Ghanaian-Jamaican writer Kwame Dawes.

The men still are its artistic director and programmer. Dawes also is a professor at USC and director of the S.C. Poetry Initiative. The festival's mission is nothing less than "to transform literary art in the Caribbean," says Channer, 42. It sponsors an annual gathering of writers every May this year 5,000 attended and holds workshops throughout the year.

Its goal is to nurture a new generation of writers who are beyond post-colonialism, and who ride on the power of the reggae movement. 'Iron Balloons' is a rim shot heard around the world," Channer wrote in an e-mail message after the reading. "The Jamaicans are coming." Reggae "gave permission to tell narratives that use the Jamaican vernacular voice not as comedy," Channer said in an interview. "Reggae combines spirituality, sensuality, comedy and politics without apology." Channer, an assistant professor of English at the City University of New York's Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, wrote the novels "Waiting in Vain" (1998) and "Satisfying My Soul" (2002), and the story collection "Passing Through" (2004). Dawes has written about a dozen collections of poetry, including the latest, "Wisteria," based on the stories of working women in Sumter.

He has a story in "Iron Balloons" called "Marley's Ghost," after reggae superstar Bob Marley. INTERVIEW At 70, Kristofferson has become an unlikely Nashville legend "YOU WON'T FIND HOTTER ACTION, WILDER THRILLS OR LOOPIER LAUGHS THIS SUMMER!" Rolling PETER TRAVERS Stone WALT DISNEY PICTURES PRESENTS PIRATES CARIBBEAN DEAD MAN'S CHEST 13984-65 PG-13 pirates.movies.com Dot pouted. In BUT HA VISTA PICTURES aS ENTERPRISES, ING. MOBILE USERS: Free Showtimes Text PIRATES With Your ZIP CODE To 43KIX (43549)! AMC Carmike Phoenix Theatres Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas DUTCH SQUARE CTR. CARMIKE 14 COLUMBIA PLACE CINEMA 8 COLUMBIA 7 SANDHILL STADIUM 16 Bush River 122 Afton Court Two Notch Parklane Richland Fashion Mall 450 Town Center Place 750-5130 781-3067 803-788-7664 800-FANDANGO 800-FANDANGO SORRY, NO PASSES CAPT.

JACK SPARROW JOINS THE CLASSIC ATTRACTION (her Disney Work Rent The literature of Jamaica, which has a population of about 2.5 million and a relatively small publishing industry, has existed as much off the island as on it until now. Traditionally, Jamaican literature has been grounded in folklore and rural byways, or has consisted of chronicles of colonialism and of the island's violent political conflicts. Frequently the subject was migration, as in Andrew Salkey's novel "Escape to an Autumn Pavement" or in "The Last Enchantment," a novel by Neville Dawes, Kwame Dawes' father. "Caribbean literature, especially in the case of Jamaica, in its first incarnation in the 20th century, was reacting to colonialism," Kwame Dawes said. Along with the independence movement came "an effort to forge a cultural identity." Dawes cited the works of Roger Mais, John Hearne, Orlando Patterson and his father, all of whom went abroad for their educations.

"They were acutely aware they were taken away from their own landscape," Dawes said. "They were trying to recapture the Jamaican experience." At the same time, "the unstated assumption is that people did not have a voice," Dawes said. Then in 1962 came Jamaica's independence and the rising popularity of reggae. Because of reggae, Channer said, "I can write with a confidence that reggae music has turned the ears of the world to Jamaica." As the island has become more urban and American culture has made in- in L.A. opening for Linda Rondstadt.

Robert Hillburn (a Los Angeles Times music critic) wrote a fantastic review and the concert was held over for a week. There were a bunch of movie people coming in there, and I started getting film offers with no experience. Of course, I had no experience performing either (laughs). What do you think about the tribute album? Some artists view them as bittersweet a sign of respect but also that their best work might be behind them. I don't usually like tribute albums because I want to hear the person who originally did it, but I really like this one.

So many of the people just nailed the soul of the song. Patty Griffin singing "Sandinista" just brings me to my knees. ANSWER TO TODAY'S PUZZLE INTRO YAPS THETA A AS MESH OGLE OATHS TER BEHOLD YOU I DID ROG BYTE DUST BERATE MOVIES BOA EDT AAA DAN HOW GOES OT HUM PANARAB ETCH AT BAT RED. OR BED SHEB BEAU GRATIN A LOAN HELIPAD CRED EFT US BOR TIGHT ROT UNUM DIOR REAL ASTOR BEAD A YELL TALL ATE STYES EARN STEALTH ALE CUP FINALS CEE SR DS ANE GAR BEARS POET CA ISOBARS BOR AHA UGH REPO BEGET NADA ONE TO EMIR STET REMAX A PS All Shows Before 6:00 P.m.$5.00 THEATRES PHOENIX Columbia PlACE CINEMA 8 Two Notch Parklane at Columbia Place Showtimes 788-7664 or www.phoenixtheatres.com Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 (PG-13) 1200, 100, 330, 430, 700, 730, 1015, 1045 Superman Returns (PG-13) 1140, 1245, 300, 410, 645, 715, 955, 1025 The Devil Wears Prada (PG-13) 1145, 215, 435, 710, 945 Waist Deep (R) 1210, 240, 510, 740, 1000 Click (PG-13) 1220, 235, 455, 720, 930 Fast And Furious Tokyo Drift (PG-13) 1155, 210, 500, 725, 950 Free Kid Show Rugrats The Movie (G) Tues Wed 98478-65 Madagascar(PG) Matinee: Before 6pm $5.00 'NO PASSES Military with ID $5.50 roads into Jamaica's traditional culture, the country's literature has become more multinational. The 11 stories in "Iron Balloons," some by writers who have taken part in the Calabash workshops, have universal themes, stitched into a Jamaican fabric.

The characters slip between patois and regular English. The stories have none of the genteel Victorianism that has hung over Jamaican fiction. In Sharon Leach's story "Sugar," for instance, a maid in a tourist hotel has a three-way sexual encounter with a white tourist and his wife. In "A Little Embarrassment for the Sake of Our Lord," Konrad Kirlew, a doctor in Kingston, confronts an often-unspoken reality of Jamaican society, the fathering of children out of wedlock. Geoffrey Philp's "I Want to Disturb My Neighbor" takes the culture clash between reggae and the traditional religiosity of the island head on.

At Hue-Man in Harlem, Marlon James, another contributor to the anthology, read his story "The Last Jamaican Lion." It was about a former Jamaican prime minister, gone senile and haunted by his crimes and the ghosts of his political opponents. The story centers on the failure of Jamaican politics after independence to realize the ideal of revolution as embodied in the figure of Che Guevara. "What you want, eh?" cries the old man when he is confronted by a grinning ghost from his past. "Is Did you 1 think in your wilder days that you'd reach 70? I never dreamed of making it to 70. Hank Williams didn't get past 29.

I feel fortunate that I have such a good relationship with all my kids and my wife. Family is more im- TIME MAGAZINE PROCLAIMS "CARS" "THE FIRST GREAT MOVIE OF THE SUMMER! AN INSTANT CLASSIC!" Richard Corliss Disney PIXAR carsthemovie.com MOBILE USERS: Free Showtimes Text CARS With Your ZIP CODE To 43KIX AMC SEE IT NOW! Broad DUTCH River SQUARE Bush River CTR. 750-5130 Carmike Regal Cinemas Consolidated WYNNSONG 10 SANDHILL STADIUM 16 COLUMBIANA PLACE 5320 Forest Dr. 450 Town Center Place 1250 Bower Pkwy. 782-8100 800-FANDANGO 407-9898 MEET THE STARS OF CARS AT ColumbiANA GRANDE CINEMAS 1250 Bower Pkwy 407-9898 Highback seats that Rock! STADIUM SEAMING! www.consolidatedmovies.com Columbiana Grande Cinema Presents SUMMER MOVIe MAGIC ALL CHILDREN'S SHOWS ONLY SHOW SCHEDULE and Thur.

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The book, published in 2005, was a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Jamaica is a small place, and to succeed, Jamaican writers must break through to a wider Englishlanguage market. Channer was thinking about how tough that is when he tried to come up with a title for his new anthology. He looked to Jamaican music, to its origins in the slum back yards of the island, its brutal competitiveness, the sheer difficulty of producing it in an impoverished place. Channer said the term "Iron Balloon," was a music term that referred to performers who "don't seem to be able to 'bust "They've been denied opportunities or they've been offered them and haven't seized them," he said.

"You keep pricking them, but they don't bust out. We took this name as a point of pride." By JOHN GEROME The Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. THE VOICE ON THE OTHER be end is honest, gruff, a little familiar intimidating. and, to "I was about to pick up the phone and track you down," Kris Kristofferson grumbles, sounding like that mob boss he played in the Mel Gibson movie "Payback" several years ago. Soon, though, the reporter's 10- minute tardiness is forgotten, and Kristofferson, who celebrated his 70th birthday last month, turns cordial and introspective.

He will appear in the film "Fast Food Nation" later this year and is the subject of a tribute album coming out Tuesday, "The Pilgrim," which has artists as diverse as Gretchen Wilson, Patty Griffin and Brian McKnight covering his songs. Despite leaving Nashville years ago, Kristofferson continues to be an important almost mystical figure in the city's musical history. He's the former Rhodes scholar who turned down an appointment to teach literature at West Point so he could go to Nashville to write songs. He was a janitor at Columbia Studios while Bob Dylan recorded his 1966 landmark album "Blonde on Blonde," and once landed a National Guard helicopter on Johnny Cash's lawn to hand the star a tape of his songs. He lived hard and brought a gritty realism to country music with the compositions "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" (Cash), "Help Me Make it Through the Night" (Sammi PARK FROM PAGE E1 coaster of a life.

Imagine: a 73-second ride to match Brown's age, with climbs and drops at the age he took them. It would be, well, crazy. PARIS HILTON PHOTO BOOTHS What's anything without Paris? Seriously, though, she has a CD coming out. That's so hot. JAY-Z AND BEYONCE TUNNEL OF LOVE Go with someone who isn't your significant other, because they haven't admitted their relationship, either.

DIXIE CHICKS LOUNGE Where the talking stops, because nobody cares what you're saying. And nobody will come see you play. (Signs of patriotism welcome.) 'AMERICAN IDOL' HOUSE OF MIRRORS Who's real and who's fake? Oh, there's Tommy Lee. Ouch. THE NEW CARS GARAGE There aren't any cars here.

Just bands that need to be retired to the rock 'n' roll garage. There are spots for Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and INXS. Smith), "For the Good Times" (Ray Price) and "Me and Bobby McGee" (Roger Miller, Janis Joplin). Kristofferson, inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004, spoke to us recently by phone from I his home in Hawaii: Do you ever wonder what things would have been like for you if you had taken that appointment at West Point? Things would have been radically different. I often think how grateful I am that I had the nerve or whatever it was to go in the other direction, because once I'd been to Nashville and hung out with the songwriters, I knew that was what I had to do.

You were influenced by Bob Dylan and others rooted in folk and rock. What made you choose Nashville to pursue your craft rather than New York or California? I grew up in Brownsville, Texas, and had been a country-music fan since I was a little boy. I probably went to Nashville because my platoon leader had a relative there who was in the business and so we sent her a tape and she said come on down to Nashville. I spent a couple of weeks there and fell in love with it. You enlisted in the Army in the 1960s, yet that seems so counter to your political views today.

I was in ROTC in college, and it was just taken for granted in my family that I'd do my service (his father was an Air Force general). From my background and the generation I came up in, honor and Pearl Jam had a space, but someone gave them a new engine. GUEST DIS The park will have a state-ofthe-art sound system, so wouldn't it be interesting to have amphitheater performers be DJ for an hour each? Don't you want to hear what Nickelback, Nick Lachey or Bon Jovi has on his iPod? BACKSTAGE ISLAND You've read the stories (the Motley Crue biography "The Dirt" comes to mind) and heard the tales of what goes on behind the curtains. A simulation would get us close enough and probably save someone a hospital trip. DANCE STUDIO OK, something practical.

Learn how the stars move. Some of you need all the help you can get. You know who you are. Taylor Hicks should join the class, too. WHAT'S THERE TO EAT? The Hard Rock restaurant on the premises should feature the favorite dishes of the rock 'n' roll elite.

An early crowd favorite would have to be Elvis' peanut butter and jelly and bacon sandwich. To drink? Snoop Dogg's Gin Juice. Reach Taylor at (803) 771-8362. serving your country were just taken for granted. So later, when you come to question some of the things being done in your name, it was particularly painful.

How important was Johnny Cash to your career? I might not have had one without him. Shaking his hand when I was still in the Army backstage at the Grand Ole Opry was the moment I'd decided I'd come back. It was electric. He kind of took me under his wing before he cut any of my songs. He cut my first record that was record of the year.

He put me on stage the first time. Your songs became more political in the 1980s. Did you worry that country radio might not play them or that they might not sell as well because of your views? I remember Jackson Browne telling his audience at a show one time that it was almost insane for me to be doing what I was doing because of the difference in markets for his songs and mine. From the very beginning, I always resisted being told what to do. I got into the business of writing songs because I thought I was writing the truth about what I was experiencing, and as long as I can do that and still make a living, I feel very blessed.

How did you get into acting? Was that something you pursued? It just happened that my first professional gig was at the Troubadour THE MUST SEE MOVIE EVENT OF THE SUMMER! SUPERMAN RETURNS. PG-13 supermanreturns.com TM 0 DC COMICS LEGENDARY DE WARNER HROL PICTURES 10p la For MOBILE downicads test: '5 to 43892 (GE TWE) and for FREE movie SHOWTIMES test'S' Zip Code to 43K1X Carmike Cinemas Regal Cinemas REGAL 7 Phoenix Theatres Regal Cinemas CARMIKE 14 122 Affon Court Richiand Mall Rooftop 99-28681 COLUMBIA MALL 8 SANDHILL STADIUM 16 Two Notch Parklane Clemson Rd Two Notch Rd AMC DUTCH SQUARE 14 CHECK THEATRE SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS Dutch Square Shop C1r DIRECTORIES OR CALL NO PASSES FOR SOUND INFORMATION OR DISCOUNT AND SHOWTIMES COUPONS ACCEPTED portant at this age than ever. I feel grateful every day that I'm respected, and, God, who could have dreamed that I'd be getting all this stuff when I first came into the business? It was very unlikely at the time that I'd even get a song recorded. This is global warming's moment. This is our last, best chance to tip things back in the planet's favor.

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