DAWAD PHILIP:

Dawad Philip who holds a Masters of Arts (Carnival Arts) degree from the University of Trinidad and Tobago is a mas man, journalist, painter, calypso ten manager, organizer of Caribbean Theatre Week (NY), and poet. Philip was one of five poets selected to represent Brooklyn in a Brooklyn-Leningrad Literary Exchange in the 1990s. He is the author of three volumes of poetry, Invocations 1980, A Mural by the Sea 2017 (City Twilight 2020), and Jayden and the King of the Brooklyn Carnival, (co-authored with Yolanda Lezama-Clark, 2019), Dawad’s collection of poems is an homage not only to our elusive “Sweet Trinidad” but to the many homes and everyday people he encountered in his pilgrimage through life. Some of his poems discern echoes of the distinctive riddims of Andre Tanker’s “Back Home” and Sir Derek Walcott’s intimations in “Hic Jacket,” and have appeared in anthologies including Steppingstones, Bomb, Caribbean Voices, Poetry International, Voicing Our Vision and New Rain. A recipient of New York State Fellowship on the Arts (Poetry), he has performed his works around the Caribbean, U.S., Canada; Riga, Latvia; Moscow and St. Petersburg. Selected poems of his, have been translated into Russian by the former Leningrad Writers Union. Philip keeps an active hand in the annual Trinidad Carnival and further afield as a costume designer and mas-maker, after winning back in the day, mas band awards in San Fernando Carnival. He was instrumental in the genesis of Jazz on the San Fernando Hill and gave birth (with others) to We People Mas, an all-inclusive mas band in South with designs reminiscent of mas icon Peter Minshall. After living and working in Brooklyn for nearly four decades as a poet, journalist and artist, Philip has since resettled in his hometown of ‘Sando’ San Fernando, Trinidad. A Mural by the Sea (2018), a film by the late playwright/filmmaker Tony Hall, is based on selected poems from the book of the same title. His latest book Ayedemah, which means “We are a proud nation” is the precursor to another deep dive into the 100 years of New York Carnival. His works will shortly be entered into the Library of Congress. He remains active in the annual carnival with the National Carnival Commission in Trinidad, as well as being a J’Ouvert advisor to the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Culture.

Follow him @: https://www.facebook.com/dawad.philip

CLEM BOWEN

Clem Bowen grew up in Princess Town, Trinidad, and became an avid sportsman. For over a decade he worked in the aviation industry in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where he began his journey in the entertainment industry as a DJ. Soon he was driving tours for artists such as Sister Carol and Sugar Minot, and progressed to becoming a road manager of Soca artists throughout the Caribbean, Europe and Africa. He formed his Cariwak Management Agency, which books Calypso & Soca artists worldwide, acquires work permits, travel etc, which also includes Event planning & Productions and more. He is also President of the yearly July, “Sunday Brunch on the Green’, in Brooklyn.

His mas band, Burokeete, impacted the art of Carnival and is in the history books, with a song “Burrokeet Woman” by Calypsonian, “Mighty Swallow” created for Burrokeet; won ‘Band of the Year’ twice, with approximately 3000 masqueraders and was the first Trini style mas camp at the Shell, which was renamed Burrokeet mas camp. Clem franchised Burrokeet to Atlanta, Boston, Miami and London. The Burrokeet is a costume that resembles a person riding a donkey, which has its origins in the Spanish and Venezuelan cultures. Clem is passionate about preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of Trinidad and Tobago.

Check out this #educational #informative coming together @onthecallpodcast.com

Host/Creator: Ozzie Stewart

Exec. Producer: Ozzie Stewart

Editor: Kevin "Cheese" Tinsley

Music: JLC Media

Camera: Kevin "Cheese" Tinsley

Website: James Bailey

Art: Dawad Philip