Beneath the Ceiba Tree

Rooted in Storytelling (w/ d'bi young anitafrika)

theceibatree@gmail.com (Meghan Swaby, Sedina Fiati, d'bi young anitafrika) — Tue, 3 May 2022 15:10:01 +0000

Beneath the Ceiba Tree - Season Finale, Meghan and Sedina invite the magnetic and revolutionary d'bi young anitafrika to talk with us about the vitalness of storytelling.

To follow & support d'bi and their incredible work, please consider donating to the Go Fund Me Campaign below:

Official Website - dbiyounganitafrika.com

Go Fund Me Campaign - bit.ly/gofunddbi

Decolonial Arts Centre - decolonialartscentre

Decolonial Arts Residency June 6-13, 2022 (2 spots available) - decolonialartscentre.com/residencies

Ubuntu International Decolonial Arts Festival Aug 25-27, 2022 - decolonialartscentre.com/ubuntu-fest

Dedicated to Miss Lou

theceibatree@gmail.com (Meghan Swaby, Sedina Fiati) — Wed, 6 Apr 2022 16:15:00 +0000

This week's very special episode of Beneath The Ceiba Tree is dedicated to Miss Lou, Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, and educator, Louise Bennett-Coverley (1919-2006).

Beneath The Ceiba Tree is hosted by Sedina Fiati and Meghan Swaby and presented in association with Nightwood Theatre.

Audio Clips used in this episode:

Linstead Market - Jamaican folk song , 1954

Noh Likkle Twang (Aunty Roachy Seh / Miss Lou's Views, 1993)

Miss Lou in concert

Creepy Ghost Children AKA The Duennes (w/ Michelle Walker)

theceibatree@gmail.com (Michelle Walker, Meghan Swaby and Sedina Fiati) — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 13:49:29 +0000

This week on Beneath the Ceiba Tree, Sedina speaks with the wonderful Trinidadian born, artist and artsworker Michelle Walker. She shares stories of growing up in Trinidad and what she thinks about The Duennes folklore.

Books about Caribbean Folklore mentioned in this podcast:

The Jumbies by Tracy Baptiste

The Famished Road by Ben Okri

To keep up with Michelle:

https://www.instagram.com/warahoun/

https://www.facebook.com/MeeshWalker.tdot

Twitter: @de_warahoun

Michelle's Bio
Kairi (Trinidad)-born, Tkaronto settler, Michelle Walker is a proud descendant, mother and grandmother of artistic humans. A performing and recording artist and arts worker with four decades of experience, she's a regular face at parang shows around the GTA from November to January, and infrequently, as a member of David Rudder's Contra Band. Her weekdays are spent supporting artists as Toronto Arts Council's and Toronto Arts Foundation's Office Manager. Michelle is super excited to feature as a supporting vocalist on her daughter's recent release of womanist anthem I Am Wombxn, available on all platforms.

Do you have a Caribbean folklore that you'd love to share?

Get in touch with us! Send an email to theceibatree@gmail.com

Indo Caribbean Folktales (w/ Tiara Jade Chutkhan)

theceibatree@gmail.com (Tiara Jade Chutkhan, Meghan Swaby, Sedina Fiati) — Mon, 7 Mar 2022 18:00:22 +0000

This week we chat to new friend of the podcast blogger, writer and editor Tiara Jade Chutkhan and get into some creepy Indo Caribbean folklore.

About Tiara

Tiara Jade Chutkhan is a book blogger. writer and editor born and raised in Toronto. Her love of literature led her to start blogging and sharing her reads, particularly those by BIPOC authors. Through her blogging, Tiara has had the opportunity to review books for HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Simon and Schuster, and Dundurn Press.

Tiara is the Editor-in-Chief at The Brown Gyal Diary and Marketing Coordinator at Diaspora Dialogues. She is a regular contributor for The Brown Gyal Diary blog and Caribbean Collection Magazine. Tiara is also working towards a certificate in Creative Writing from University of Toronto.

Tiara's first book, Two Times Removed: An Anthology of Indo-Caribbean Fiction, was released in May 2021. She is currently working on her second book, set to be released in May of 2022.

You can keep up with Tiara

IG: @bookwormbabee
Website: https://www.tiarajade.com/

Youtube: bookwormbabe

Twitter: @_TiaraJade

Check out Tiara's blog post - Jumbees of the Caribbean

Anansi (w/ Daniel Jelani Ellis)

theceibatree@gmail.com (Daniel Jelani Ellis, Meghan Swaby and Sedina Fiati) — Mon, 7 Feb 2022 20:46:59 +0000

In this week's episode, we welcome Jamaican performer, playwright and educator Daniel Jelani Ellis to chat with us about his spiritual connection to Anansi.

To keep up with Daniel Jelani Ellis on insta - @danjelani

Check out his theatre company groundwork redux

We'd love to hear from you!

Hit us up at theceibatree@gmail.com to share your favorite Caribbean folklore

The Soucouyant

theceibatree@gmail.com (Rhoma Spencer, Meghan Swaby and Sedina Fiati) — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 21:17:33 +0000

This week's episode features another fascinating folklore within Trinidad and Tobago. We caught up with the wonderful Rhoma Spencer to chat about the infamous soucouyant, and why you won't find her in these frigid Toronto streets.

To keep up with Rhoma Spencer and her work - find her on IG @rhomaspencer

Send us your thoughts!

Hit us up at theceibatree@gmail.com and tell us about the Caribbean folklore you heard growing up. We'd love to chat

La Diablesse

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 21:05:34 +0000

This week Sedina Fiati interviews her uncle Rodney Clark to discuss La Diablesse. We discuss the feminist implication of the Trinni take on the femme fatale. In another family affair, music featured at the end of the episode by the wonderful Savannah Taylor (Sedina's cousin Roodney's daughter).

Find Savanah:

Insta & Ti k Tok @savtaylormusic, Spotify and Bandcamp.

See the full performance of Savannah's interpretation of La Diablesse on youtube.

If you have any Caribbean folktales you'd like to share with us, hit us up at theceibatree@gmail.com we would love to hear from you!

Rolling Calf

theceibatree@gmail.com (Meghan Swaby and Sedina Fiati) — Mon, 6 Dec 2021 15:11:36 +0000

In this episode, the rolling calf folklore is a jumping off point for conversation on how to outsmart a duppy, nine nights and how Caribbeans approach living with the unrested spirits amongst us, with a special appearance from future star (and Meghan's nephew) Xavier Oliver Burke.

Book mentioned in this episode

Essie's Kids & The Rolling Calf.Essie's Kids & the Rolling Calf #1 By Luke A M Brown

Interweaving research, conversations, family and expert interviews, join hosts Meghan Swaby and Sedina Fiati in Beneath the Ceiba Tree, an exciting podcast about Caribbean folklore, exploring how its impact ripples through history to present day and beyond.

Beneath the Ceiba Tree is a Podcast-in-Residence with Crow's Theatre and is presented in association with Nightwood Theatre.

This episode was mixed and sound engineered by alaska b

River Mumma bruk out

theceibatree@gmail.com (Meghan Swaby and Sedina Fiati) — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 16:02:14 +0000

Learn more about Lorna Goodison and her work - here

Beneath the Ceiba Tree is a Podcast-in-Residence with Crow's Theatre and is presented in association with Nightwood Theatre.

Duppy Talk

theceibatree@gmail.com (Meghan Swaby, Sedina Fiati) — Mon, 8 Nov 2021 21:22:27 +0000

The Ceiba Tree (SAY-ba) / La Ceiba/ya’axche

(Also known as Silk Cotton Tree or Kapok Tree)

The word, ceiba is from the Indigenous Taino people living throughout pre colonial Caribbean. The tree carries enormous spiritual significance and is often seen as a home to spirits and birthplace of otherworldly connections to nature.