Finally, the moment we’ve been waiting for (and we hope you have been too): the announcement of the programme of events and list of participating authors for the inaugural Bocas Lit Fest!

This morning, at a press conference at the National Library in downtown Port of Spain, the festival organisers released the full 2011 programme of readings, performances, panels and discussions, workshops, film screenings, and children’s events. There will be over fifty events in the inaugural Bocas Lit Fest, and nearly as many writers and other participants (with a few more names still to come, as we fine-tune the programme).

The inaugural festival celebrates literature in many forms and from many points of view. At the heart of the programme are a series of readings by some of Trinidad and Tobago’s and the Caribbean’s finest writers of fiction and poetry. In each session, writers will read from their recent books, discuss their work, motivations, and writing habits, and answer questions from the audience. There will also be daily performance poetry and open mic sessions (curated by Gillian Moor of Songshine and Muhammad Muwakil), and a Friday night poetry crawl, bringing poets and audiences together in some of Port of Spain’s most popular nightspots.

The readings series also includes a special focus on talented emerging writers. Every year, the Bocas Lit Fest New Talent Showcase will select three exceptionally talented writers who are yet to publish their first book, and give them a platform to share their work and engage with a larger audience. Find out who our 2011 New Talent Showcase writers are here.

But literature doesn’t just mean fiction and poems — it’s also about ideas, questions, and debates, and using the tools of reading and writing to understand the world. The Bocas Lit Fest programme includes a series of panels and talks on topics ranging from current affairs to questions of the ages, led by some of our sharpest writer-thinkers.

For budding writers, we have lined up a series of lively, informative, practical workshops, covering basics of writing like plot, character, and language; an introduction to writing poetry and writing for the stage; sessions on song lyrics and robber talk; even a book reviewing workshop, and a “how to workshop” workshop, explaining how to critique your own work in a group setting.

For younger readers, there’s a whole festival-within-a-festival. The Republic Bank / KFC Children’s Bocas Lit Fest includes storytelling, appearances by children’s authors, a drama workshop, and more.

Plus screenings of films based on Caribbean literary classics and live musical performances! Books by all Bocas authors will be on sale from our participating booksellers, and there’ll be opportunities to get books signed and meet your favourite writers.

All events in the Bocas Lit Fest are free (except the workshops — there’s a modest participation fee for those), and everyone is invited! So mark the dates in your calendar: Thursday 28 April to Sunday 1 May. See you there!

The typical image of the Caribbean, in the minds of many, is a beach lined with palm trees. It’s true that this part of the world has its share of spectacular coastline, but Caribbean landscapes are much more diverse than that: lofty mountains, rolling savannahs, teeming forests — and of course bustling cities.

During the month of April 2011, the Bocas Lit Fest will host outreach events all over Trinidad and Tobago, but the main festival venue — the centre of all the action from Thursday 28 April to Sunday 1 May — is in the heart of the capital. It’s the National Library, a downtown Port of Spain landmark, and the adjoining Old Fire Station, a heritage building that was once home to the Trinidad Theatre Workshop.

The Bocas Lit Fest will fill the whole library compound for four days, with events ranging from headline literary readings to workshops for aspiring writers, performance poetry and open mike sessions, discussions and interviews with authors of recent books, a full programme of children’s activities, the award ceremony for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature — and even more.

And all this just steps away from the downtown buzz and action. Some literary festivals have a laid-back vibe. The Bocas Lit Fest will be plugged into the urban energy of Port of Spain, with some performances opening right onto the street, and satellite events in other parts of the city (including a Friday-night poetry crawl — more about that soon).

We’re thrilled that NALIS, the Trinidad and Tobago National Library and Information System Authority, is partnering with the Bocas Lit Fest to host this celebration of books, writing, and writers. We’ll soon be sharing more information about the library and other venues — stay tuned!

The Bocas Lit Fest and OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature have been in the works for months now. And today we finally go public. At just about the same time that this post is being written, Bocas Lit Fest founder and director Marina Salandy-Brown is making an official announcement at the International Conference on Caribbean Literature, taking place today at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

We’re thrilled to share the news of the exciting event we’re planning for April next year — the first major literary festival in the southern Caribbean, with international scope, regional focus, and a uniquely Trinidadian and Tobagonian twist. And thrilled all over again to announce the OCM Bocas Prize, a major literary award for Caribbean writers of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. The inaugural OCM Bocas Prize opens for entry on Monday 8 November — see our prize page for more information — and the first winner will be announced during the 2011 Bocas Lit Fest.

There’s lots to do between now and then — and there’ll be lots of news to share. Keep an eye on this blog for the latest updates on both the festival and the prize. And if you’re of the twittering persuasion — you can follow us there too.