Family issues in focus at Bocas Lit Fest

Real family relationships in fictionalised settings provide the backdrop for many honest revelations at this year’s NGC Bocas Lit Fest, TT’s annual literary festival, which runs from April 23-25.

In intimate chats with authors of widely-acclaimed new novels, the 11th annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest is set to explore the theme of family relationships, over the three days of the all-virtual festival, said a media release from the festival. "Lingering on the theme of family stories is deliberate. This is a time when the regional and international literary and media landscape finds itself shaped by revisits to past events, shining light on long-forgotten histories, tracing ancestral lines and tackling issues of belonging," the Lit Fest said.

The festival’s second day line-up features Lawrence Scott, Trinidadian novelist based in London, and Lauren Francis-Sharma, US-born to Trinidadian parents, discussing the intricacies of historical fiction with Ayanna Gillian Lloyd, whose debut novel will be released in 2022.

Scott’s Dangerous Freedom (Papillote Press) journeys back to pre-emancipation London with the fictional telling of the real Dido Belle, born a slave but raised in her father’s home as a member of the aristocracy. Scott’s gentle re-writing of history is akin to Sharma’s Book of the Little Axe (Atlantic Grove), a beautifully imagined story that effortlessly carries the reader across oceans and cultures, from 18th-century Trinidad to the American Western frontier, the release said.

On April 25, Jamaican authors further explore the meaning of family ties, as Wandeka Gayle, author of Motherland and Other Stories (Peepal Tree Press) and Alecia McKenzie, author of A Million Aunties (Akashic Books) sit down with Sharon Leach, writer and editor at the Jamaica Observer. Both books unfold around the unburdening of past traumas and the critical role that birth and adopted families play in healing.

The final author conversation of the festival on April 25 will be hosted by Sharma Taylor, winner of Bocas’ Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize in 2019. Lisa Allen-Agostini’s soon-to-be released The Bread the Devil Knead (Myriad Editions) and Cherie Jones’ How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House (Little, Brown and Company) are two visceral, compelling novels, demanding to be read not only for their insight into the pain and tragic aspects of relationships, but because of the raw empathy that they encourage.

All festival events are free and easily accessible, with no tickets or registration required. The festival will be streamed live via bocaslitfest.com, facebook.com/bocaslitfest, and youtube.com/bocaslitfest.

April 24

3.30-4.30 pm Making history – Lawrence Scott and Lauren Francis-Sharma. Hosted by Ayanna Gillian Lloyd

April 25

12.30-1.30pm Family ties – Wandeka Gayle and Alecia McKenzie. Hosted by Sharon Leach

5-6 pm Love is war – Lisa Allen-Agostini and Cherie Jones. Hosted by Sharma Taylor