The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature  //  Archipelago by Monique Roffey wins 2013 prize

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Monique Roffey’s novel Archipelago is the winner of the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature.

The novel Archipelago by Trinidadian writer Monique Roffey is the winner of the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize. The announcement was made on Saturday 27 April by chief judge Olive Senior, during the 2013 NGC Bocas Lit Fest.

The 2013 OCM Bocas Prize shortlist consisted of the winning books in the three genre categories:

POETRY: Fault Lines, by Kendel Hippolyte (St. Lucia)

FICTION: Archipelago, by Monique Roffey (Trinidad and Tobago)

NON-FICTION: The Sky’s Wild Noise: Selected Essays, by Rupert Roopnaraine (Guyana)

The 2013 OCM Bocas Prize longlist, announced in February, included ten books in the three genre categories, with a further three books receiving special mention:

POETRY

Dark and Unaccustomed Words, by Vahni Capildeo (Trinidad and Tobago)
Fault Lines, by Kendel Hippolyte (St. Lucia)
South Eastern Stages, by Anthony Kellman (Barbados)

Special mention:
The Festival of Wild Orchid, by Margaret Ann Lim (Jamaica)

FICTION

This Is How You Lose Her, by Junot Díaz (Dominican Republic/USA)
Archipelago, by Monique Roffey (Trinidad and Tobago)
Light Falling on Bamboo, by Lawrence Scott (Trinidad and Tobago)
God Carlos, by Anthony C. Winkler (Jamaica)

NON-FICTION

The Predicament of Blackness: Postcolonial Ghana and the Politics of Race, by Jemima Pierre (Haiti/USA)
The Sky’s Wild Noise: Selected Essays, by Rupert Roopnaraine (Guyana)
Sugar in the Blood: A Family’s Story of Slavery and Empire, by Andrea Stuart (Barbados)

Special mention:
Abolition and Plantation Management in Jamaica, 1807–1838, by Dave St Aubyn Gosse (Jamaica)
Ismith Khan: The Man and His Work, by Roydon Salick (Trinidad and Tobago)

ABOUT THE PRIZE

The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature is a major award for literary books by Caribbean writers. Books may be entered in three categories: poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction. The prize includes an award of US$10,000, sponsored by One Caribbean Media. The inaugural OCM Bocas Prize, presented in April 2011, was won by Derek Walcott’s White Egrets, and the 2012 Prize was won by Earl Lovelace’s Is Just a Movie.

The OCM Bocas Prize has two stages. First, panels of distinguished judges select the best book in each of the three genre categories. Next, the chairs of the poetry, fiction, and non-fiction panels, joined by the overall chair and vice-chair of the prize, form a final prize jury to select the overall winner from the three genre winners.

To be eligible for the 2013 prize, a book must have been published in the calendar year 2012, and written by an author born in the Caribbean or holding Caribbean citizenship. Books must also have been originally written in English.

The winner of the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize will be announced in April 2013 at the third annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest.

Download full submission guidelines and the official entry form here. Note: the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize is now closed for entries.

For further information about the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, contact us at [email protected].

2013 JUDGES