Kayla Cayasso was born and raised in Jacksonville, along the banks of the St. Johns River. Her ongoing love-affair with the written word began in grade school and she hasn’t looked back since. She dabbles in poetry, short stories, stage plays, and most recently screenplays.

As a student at Florida A & M University in the African American Studies program, she is looking to bring some more color to the landscape of southern literature. Her writing attempts to create dialogue around the intersection of her Caribbean and Latinx cultures.

She is an avid meme enthusiast and enjoys coffee and likes to think of herself as an amateur beer snob and novelist-in-the-making. Her favorite activities include being asked what she plans to do after college, reading tarot, and having a snuggle on the couch with her cat, Voodoo.

Kayla’s comedic murder-mystery stage play Another Whodunit was produced and brought to life through the work of some very determined high school students in 2011, and in 2012 she was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award for Creative Writing by Stanton College Preparatory School.

Cayasso will read in the JaxbyJax Student Showcase on Saturday, October 13th from 1:30 – 2:30 PM at Women Writing for a Change, 1610 Osceola Street.

Let’s all pray for good weather on Saturday, October 13th so JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival patrons can enjoy hearing two Jacksonville authors read in the lovely fern garden at Flaire Celebrations fro 3-6 PM.

Here’s how the owners describe their beautiful venue:

“Flaire Celebrations was born out of several late-night conversations between mother/daughter duo, Laura and Cassandra.  With a desire to establish a premium boutique experience for the discerning shopper who has grown weary of the impersonal big box stores, they have created a gift shop where customers are treated with kindness and personal attention, and where truly unique gifts can be found.  Because life is filled with special events, Flaire Celebrations carries gifts to celebrate all those occasions from birthdays, weddings, births and anniversaries, to the everyday moments of life when you want a ‘just-because’ gift to say, “thank you” or “I’m thinking about you.” Gift wrapping is always complimentary with your purchase.

More than a gift shop, however, Flaire Celebrations also carries a full line of wedding invitations, favors, and social stationery, as well as paper goods for your next party.  The merchandise lines we carry are from a wide range of companies, some representing women entrepreneurs in third world countries, others featuring home-grown (made in the U.S.A.) products.  Some of our lines have specific goals such as zoo conservation, some employ special-needs adults, others seek to be environmentally friendly.  We carry hand-crafted items specifically created for our shop.  We are firm believers in supporting companies that are giving back to their communities.”

Please tune in at 11 a.m. on Monday, Oct 8th when Tim Gilmore and I promote JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival with Rance Adams on River City Live.

JaxbyJax is this coming Saturday, October 13th. Hope to see you there!

Tim Gilmore is the founder of JaxbyJax, a literary arts festival built on the theme of “Jacksonville Writers Writing Jacksonville.” For the first four years of the festival, 2014-2017, Gilmore directed JaxbyJax, and in 2018, thoroughly worn out, he asked Brad and Darlyn Kuhn to take over. In honor of all the assistance and advice they sought and received from him, the Kuhns awarded Gilmore the title “Director Emeritus Ad Infinitum.”

Tim Gilmore teaches Literature and Writing at Florida State College at Jacksonville, where he was awarded a 2018 Distinguished Faculty Award. The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville named Gilmore the 2018 “Literary Artist of the Year.” Also in 2018, Gilmore served on the Jacksonville City Council’s Civil Rights History Task Force. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Florida.

He is the author of 17 books and the Southern Gothic blog  jaxpsychogeo.com.

Come hear Tim and 23 of his old and new best friends on Saturday, October 13th.