New writing talent in focus at Bocas festival

A new generation of talented writers in all genres will be in the spotlight at the 2023 NGC Bocas Lit Fest.

Running from April 28-30 and based at the National Library in downtown Port of Spain, the annual festival – now in its 13th year – returns to an in-person format, with a programme of over 80 events for all ages.

Alongside celebrated international authors like Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo and legendary Jamaican dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, the 2023 NGC Bocas Lit Fest is showcasing a host of emerging writers, set to reshape the landscape of contemporary Caribbean literature.

Among the lineup are early-career authors of some of the past few years’ most celebrated books. Trinidad and Tobago’s Kevin Jared Hosein and Breanne Mc Ivor will be joined by Sharma Taylor from Jamaica (winner of the 2019 Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize) and Cherie Jones from Barbados (shortlisted for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction). All four writers won major book deals from international publishers while based at home in the Caribbean.

Returning to the festival programme this year is the New Talent Showcase series, with readings by a curated selection of emerging writers – eight from TT and one from Barbados – who have not yet released their first books, but are busy publishing work in international journals and winning prizes and fellowships.

The New Talent Showcase writers are Akhim Alexis, Jannine Horsford, Jay T John, Garvin Tafari Parsons, Rajiv Ramkhalawan, Ark Ramsay, Desirée Seebaran, Deneka Thomas and Hadassah K Williams. Their readings are scheduled daily in the Abercromby Street Arcade.

Festival and programme director Nicholas Laughlin said, “Seeking out and promoting new literary talent is something the NGC Bocas Lit Fest has become known for.

“It’s maybe the most exciting aspect of what we do, and we’re thrilled to have such a diverse and accomplished lineup this year. These are writers we’ll all be talking about in a decade – just as we’re right now celebrating authors like Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, who first shared her writing in an earlier Bocas New Talent Showcase years before she published her acclaimed novel When We Were Birds.”

This isn’t the only platform for budding and early-career writers to present their work at the festival. The daily Stand and Deliver open mic series – back in an in-person format – offers a chance for writers of all kinds and ages to share their work with peers and audiences. And a special New Voices session on the afternoon of April 28 at 3 pm, will offer a showcase of debut and self-published books by TT authors, including Cecily Alexander Pouchet, AM Ali, Carolyn Ali, Dion Carrington, Tricia Chin, Keon Francis, Rori Heffes-Doon, Gavin Luke, and Elena Molchanova.

Beginning writers can also benefit from the NGC Bocas Lit Fest’s workshops series, currently open for registration. Six workshops on diverse topics will share hands-on, practical tips and techniques, from how to get started writing fiction to the art of the memoir – for a fee of $100 per session. The workshop listing is online at www.bocaslitfest.com/workshops.

On April 28, the festival also brings back its Writers First series of free seminars to guide new writers in shaping their careers.

The full festival programme is online at www.bocaslitfest.com.

New Talent Showcase

April 28, 12.30 pm: Garvin Tafari Parsons, Ark Ramsay, and Desirée Seebaran

April 29, 1 pm: Akhim Alexis, Deneka Thomas, and Hadassah K Williams

April 30, 12 pm: Jannine Horsford, Jay T John, Rajiv Ramkhalawan

Readings take place in the Abercromby Street Arcade, National Library.