Newsday Reporter
Novelist and short story writer, Edwidge Danticat, right, and host Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw at a one-on-one session with the author at the Bocas Lit Fest held at the Old Fire Station, NALIS, Port of Spain, on April 28. - Photo by Venessa Mohammed
THE NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad and Tobago’s annual literary festival, took place from April 25-28.
This year’s festival included a diverse programme of author interviews, workshops, panel discussions, musical presentations, film screenings, slam poetry and the presentation of some of the Caribbean’s most prestigious literary awards.
A festival participant purchases T-shirts from volunteer, Nandy Ramsaroop at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, at NALIS, Port of Spain on April 27. - Photo by Faith Ayoung
The overall 2024 OCM Bocas Prize for literature was awarded to Jamaican author Safiya Sinclair for her book How to Say Babylon: A Memoir.
OCM general manager/director Douglas Wilson presents author Safiya Sinclair with the 2024 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature at Esperanza Alta, St Ann's on April 27. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle
TT author Kevin Jared Hosein won the fiction category for his novel Hungry Ghosts. Nicole Sealy of St Thomas, US Virgin Islands/Florida, won the poetry category for her collection The Ferguson Report: An Erasure.
NGC Bocas Lit Fest fiction, non-fiction and poetry winners Kevin Jared Hosein, Safiya Sinclair and Nicole Sealey respectively, with their awards at the prize ceremony, held at Esperanza Alta, St Ann's on April 27. Sinclair was the overall winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle
The award ceremony was held at the Esperanza Alta, St Ann's on April 27.
Author Ingrid Persaud speaks about her book The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh to an audience at the Old Fire Station, NALIS, Port of Spain on April 27. - Photo by Faith Ayoung
Festival guests included celebrated authors such as Edwidge Danticat, Dionne Brand, H Nigel Thomas, Ingrid Persaud and Geetanjali Shree.
Author Kevin Jared Hosein reads from his book Hungry Ghosts at a Take Two session at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest at the Old Fire Station, NALIS, Port of Spain on April 28. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle
Sessions at the festival included Writers First, a showcase for new and self-published authors, a Genre Fiction 101 workshop with Hosein, and They Don’t Write Them like They Used to, featuring Newsday columnists Mark Lyndersay and Marina Salandy-Brown, who is also the founder of the Bocas Lit Fest.
Newsday columnist Mark Lyndersay, makes a point during the Bocas Lit Fest panel discussion They Don’t Write Them like They Used to on April 26 the Old Fire Station in Port of Spain. Other members of the panel, from second left, ar journalist Asha Javeed, Bocas Lit Fest founder and director and Newsday columnist Marina Salandy-Brown and journalist Franka Philip. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale
Newsday's editorial consultant Judy Raymond hosted a panel discussion entitled the History We Need, featuring historians and writers Bridget Brereton, Claudius Fergus and Jerome Teelucksingh – also a Newsday columnist – on April 28.
From left, historians Jerome Teelucksingh (a Newsday columnist), Claudius Fergus and Bridget Brereton tackle questions about their late colleagues Brinsley Samaroo and Gerard Besson at the Bocas Lit Fest discussion panel entitled The History We Need, held at NALIS, Port of Spain on April 28. Panel moderator, Newsday editorial consultant Judy Raymond, is on the right. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle
The festival culminated with the First Citizens National Poetry Slam Competition on April 28 at Queen’s Hall, Port of Spain. Poet Shakira Burton took the top prize, with Alexandra Stewart and Seth Sylvester rounding out the top three, respectively.
Shakira Burton, winner of the First Citizens National Poetry Slam competition, held at Queen's Hall, Port of Spain on April 28. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle
Alexandra Stewart, second-place winner, in the First Citizens National Poetry Slam competition, held at Queen's Hall, Port of Spain on April 28. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle
Seth Sylvester, third place winner, in the First Citizens National Poetry Slam competiton, held at Queen's Hall, Port of Spain on April 28. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle
First Citizens Bank Group deputy CEO, business generation, Jason Julien presented the winners with their prizes.
Shakira Burton receives her prize for winning the First Citizens National Poetry Slam competition from FCB Group deputy CEO – business generation Jason Julien, at Queen's Hall, Port of Spain on April 28. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle
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"For the love of literature: NGC Bocas Lit Fest"