Olive Senior, Celeste Mohammed launch new novels at Bocas Lit Fest

Two past prizewinners of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature will launch new novels at the upcoming Bocas Lit Fest.

Olive Senior and Celeste Mohammed will debut their latest offerings on May 4 at Nalis, Abercromby Street, Port of Spain.

Senior, a past Poet Laureate of Jamaica, is also a celebrated writer of fiction, winning the 1987 Commonwealth Writers Prize for her book Summer Lightning and the 2016 OCM Bocas Prize for her short story collection The Pain Tree.

She returns to the Bocas Lit Fest for the world debut of her new novel Paradise Once (Akashic Books), a media release said.

Set in the 16th century, Paradise Once is a historical novel exploring the resilience of Indigenous Caribbean peoples in the aftermath of Spanish colonisation. It opens in 1513 with the massacre by Spanish forces of the fictional Maima village in Cuba.

“Some believe the destruction of Maima is the result of angering the
cemíes –Taíno spiritual entities – when foreign practices, contrary to the sacred laws of the Taíno, began to infiltrate the village,” the publisher’s summary states.

“Four young people who survive the massacre are unwittingly chosen by the cemíes to save a Sacred Bundle and return it to a cave in the Cauta mountain. The four survivors start off on separate perilous paths and only learn of their roles in the sacred mission when they unite at the holy site and encounter the Maima shaman Candlewood, who has orchestrated their journeys.”

Also making its debut at the event will be the second novel by Trinidad and Tobago’s Celeste Mohammed, winner of the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize with Pleasantview.

Ever Since We Small (Jacaranda Books) is similarly structured as a novel-in-stories, “a family saga which covers a sweeping landscape from the days of the British Raj in India, to multicultural modern Trinidad,” the publishers said.

“The book follows the bloodline of a young woman, Jayanti, after her decision to become a
girmitiya, an indentured labourer in the Caribbean. Jayanti’s grandson, Lall Gopaul, seeks to escape the rural village where he was born, but becomes seduced and corrupted by urban life. His son, Shiva, is forced to take a child-bride, Salma, but never recovers from the guilt. Heartache follows for their three children – Anand, Nadya and Abby – who must each find a way to accept and yet move past their parents’ failed example.”

Mohammed explains the significance of the event’s timing: “The book launch is taking place on May 4, exactly four years after the release of Pleasantview, my debut. “So it’s a sentimental moment for me,” she said in the release.

As for sharing the stage with Senior?

“It should make for a firecracker of a conversation.”

The launch is free and open to all.

With the theme, Always Coming Home, the festival – marking its milestone 15th year – includes over 50 events in all, ranging from authors’ readings and discussions to workshops, films, music, and events for youth and children.

The full programme is online at bocaslitfest.com, with frequent updates on social media (@bocaslitfest on Facebook, Instagram, and X).