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A Night Of Exploring Caribbean Narratives Through Food And Poetry

Matthew Webb
Red Cabbage Picklez with Indian Chaat Masala prepared by chefs Matthew Webb and Anita Sharma.

Miami is the backyard of the Caribbean and it’s National Poetry Month, so naturally there’s a convening that will blend South Florida’s Caribbean roots over food and prose.

Chefs Matthew Webb and Anita Sharma, husband and wife, fell in love with O, Miami—the annual poetry festival that showers Miami-Dade County with poetry infused everything during the month of April—as fans at first, and then they decided they too wanted to be a vehicle to bring poetry to the people through the medium they’re most accustomed to—food. 

“Food and poetry may not be the normal kind of connection you make, but there is poetry in the way people use words to talk about food, the connection to home and what gives them comfort. That is poetry,” Webb said. 

They’ve teamed up with O, Miami to create Sangam Garden, a five course plant-based Indo-Caribbean dinner that pays homage to the flavors of the Caribbean diaspora and South Indian flavors. 

Jamaican poet Ishion Hutchinson will read from a collection of his poetry throughout the evening. Hutchinson said food and poetry naturally go together. 

“A poet tries to build a communion between different people—strangers, friends—and share in this banquet of language,” he said.

And he adds, the acts of dining together or taking in a poetry reading are always about connection: “Something that brings people together.” 

If You Go 

Sangam Garden + Ishion Hutchinson 

Saturday, April 20, 2019 

Naomi's Garden Restaurant & Lounge 

650 NW 71st St, Miami 

For tickets visit omiami.org

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