Alexandra Stewart wins Bocas Youth writer award

Spoken word poet Alexandra C Stewart has been named the 2023 winner of the NGC Bocas Youth Writer Award.

Stewart, 25, was announced as the winner at the closing event of the NGC Bocas Youth Fest on October 21. The award recognises talented young writers from Trinidad and Tobago, a media release said.

Stewart is also a three-time champion and eight-time finalist in the First Citizens National Poetry Slam.

The judges commended Stewart for “her evocative and powerful spoken word piece Dear Daughter, which pushes past ‘page and stage,’ living online and rent-free in the minds of anyone lucky enough to hear or read it.”

She won a cash prize of $5,000. sponsored by the NGC.

The judges also gave an honourable mention to writer Kela Roberts for her creative nonfiction piece, When I Think About Climate Change, “which articulates, with persuasive authority, the frustrations of her generation inheriting the burdens of climate change.”

UWI student Scyllina Samuel was the third writer on the award shortlist.

Chaired by author Celeste Mohammed – the winner of the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature – the NGC Bocas Youth Writer Award judging panel also included 2023 First Citizens National Poetry Slam winner Kyle Hernandez, advertising executive and songwriter Julie Harris, and writer and editor Britt McHugh.

Mohammed said the judges were pleased with the award nominations. “It was encouraging to see so many young people who are not only pursuing their passion for writing with resolve, but are also maximising the benefits of social media to make an impact on the consciousness of our wider world,” she said.

Launched in 2021, the NGC Bocas Youth Writer Award goes to the young person in the literary arts whom the judges deem as demonstrating the most impact with their work in the last year. It includes all genres of writing: poetry, playwriting, fiction, creative nonfiction, journalism, scriptwriting, spoken word, blog writing, and song lyrics.

The award was the highlight of the two-day youth fest held at the Department of Creative and Festival Arts of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, UWI, St Augustine.

Festival attendees, ranging in age from 13-25, enjoyed a lively, interactive, and entirely free programme of performances and workshops, a career fair, and a youth debate, among other activities.

The NGC is the title sponsor of the NGC Bocas Youth Fest, founded with the aim of making literature more relevant, appealing, and accessible to young people nationwide.