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Celebrating Trinidad and Tobago authors at Tea and Readings

Authors Troy Hadeed, left, NG Peltier, Paula Obé, Ruth Osman, Monique Roffey and Ronald Harford with their books at An Evening of Tea and Readings. Photo courtesy Denicia Baptiste -
Authors Troy Hadeed, left, NG Peltier, Paula Obé, Ruth Osman, Monique Roffey and Ronald Harford with their books at An Evening of Tea and Readings. Photo courtesy Denicia Baptiste -

The popular annual series of Tea and Readings came to a celebratory Christmas close on December 2 with readings by six Trinidadian writers.

From memoir to poetry and prizewinning fiction, Paper Based, the Caribbean specialty bookseller, offered something for almost every book-lover and seasonal gift giver.

The 2020 Costa Book of the Year Award winner Monique Roffey, whose novel The Mermaid of Black Conch has been translated into 15 languages and was nominated for eight major awards, brought the curtain down on another year of Paper Based promoting the work of recently published TT writers to TT’s reading public.

Troy Hadeed signs his memoir My Name is Love at An Evening of Tea and Readings. Photo courtesy Bianca Peake -

Ron Harford, former chairman of Republic Bank, read from his provocatively subtitled memoir Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down, or Nil Illegitimi Carborundum.

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He was joined by Troy Hadeed with his My Name is Love, which Hadeed describes not as a memoir but an attempt to show how we can find the common ground across the things that often separate us.

Poet-musicians Ruth Osman and Paula Obé performed pieces from their respective new collections of poetry, All Made of Longing and Remembering Her Brown Head-Tie, both released by Obé under her Bamboo Talk Press publishing house.

Monique Roffey signs her award winning novel The Mermaid of Black Conch at An Evening of Tea and Readings. Photo courtesy Biana Peake -

Accompanying them was prolific young romance writer NG Peltier, author of the Island Bites series, of which books one and two, Sweethand and Don’t Go Baking My Heart, have achieved international success.

Tea and Readings has been running for ten years and according to shop manager, Bianca Peake, the six annual events will continue in 2024 to provide the much-needed opportunity for writers to connect with readers beyond the page. It’s a promise the writers unanimously welcomed as they expressed gratitude to Paper Based for its role in the local bookselling community and for bringing them together.

Ruth Osman signs copies of All Made of Longing at An Evening of Tea and Readings. Photo courtesy Bianca Peake. -

Signed copies of books and other Caribbean literature for children and adults are available from Paper Based Bookshop at The Writers Centre, home of the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, 14 Alcazar Street, St Clair, Mondays-Saturdays from 10 am-5 pm.

For further info call 628-3197 or 359-7042 (WhatsApp) or contact info@paperbasedbookshop.com

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"Celebrating Trinidad and Tobago authors at Tea and Readings"

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