Kacy Garvey, Poet
Kacy Garvey is a Jamaican poet, performer, and literary arts advocate. She is the Founder and Managing Director of JAIKU, a non-profit organization dedicated to professionalizing poetry and empowering Caribbean poets through training, advocacy, and creative enterprise. Since debuting on Jamaica’s spoken word scene in 2008, Kacy has become known for her spiritually grounded performances and her albums Undone (2014) and Water Jar (2018)—the first Christian poetry albums produced in Jamaica. Her poems appear in The Caribbean Writer, BIM: Arts for the 21st Century, and the National Library of Jamaica’s New Voices anthology selected by Poet Laureate Lorna Goodison. She is the 2017 winner of The Caribbean Writer’s Cecile de Jongh Literary Prize, a 2020 Edward Baugh Poetry Prize finalist, and was named Best International Artist at the 2025 American National Spoken Word Awards. Through JAIKU, Kacy has led major literary initiatives, including leading a delegation of JAIKU poets to CARIFESTA XV, co-producing the second staging of the St. Mary Literary Festival in Jamaica, and preparing to host Kingston Poetry Week in March 2026. An advocate for poets’ rights and professional development, Kacy serves on the Board of the Jamaican Copyright Licensing Agency, leads the Jamaican Chapter of the Poetry Business Network, and spearheaded the Caribbean Chapter of the International Authors Forum. Her recent initiatives include UNESCO-supported webinars and bilingual workshops across the Caribbean and Latin America exploring literature, education, and digital futures in poetry.