Words Alive

Writers Debbie Jacob and Baz Dreisinger host a special event at the Port of Spain prison with poetry readings by winners of the prisons poetry competition and a list of celebrity guests.... Read More

Drinks, music, poems, stories, and a sizzling open mic: come and lime with some of the Caribbean’s best LGBT writers, plus some surprise guests. Featuring Kei Miller, Rosamond S. King,... Read More

The award-winning biographer of Michael Manley talks to Barbara Lalla about his move from active politics to biographical and historical writing. Bookmark

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley discusses his recently published memoir, From Mason Hall to Whitehall, with Bocas deputy festival director Funso Aiyejina. Thursday 27 April, 5–6 pm • Old... Read More

This special two-part event begins with readings by Forward Prize-winning poets Kei Miller and Vahni Capildeo and a conversation with Susannah Herbert, director of the Forward Arts Foundation; followed by... Read More

The celebrated Guyanese poet, novelist, and scholar talks to Susheila Nasta about his career spanning genres and continents, and how contemporary Guyanese writing tackles the intricacies of the country’s troubled... Read More

Artist Kwynn Johnson discusses her drawing based on Derek Walcott’s play The Haitian Earth, installed in the Library during the festival.  Place as Palimpsest by Kwynn Johnson (2017, Graphite and conte... Read More

The celebrated Cuban poet talks to Nicole Roberts about her life and work and the crucial necessity of translation for Caribbean literary exchange. Bookmark

Trinidadians Aliyyah Eniath, author of The Yard, and Nathalie Taghaboni, author of Side by Side We Stand, read from and discuss their fiction based on complicated family stories; chaired by... Read More

Explore the darker side of contemporary Trinidad and Tobago with Earl Lovelace, co-editor of a new anthology of classic noir writing, plus writers Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw and Sharon Millar, alongside Anthony... Read More

OCM Bocas Prize shortlisted fiction writers Kei Miller, author of Augustown, and Marcia Douglas, author of The Marvellous Equations of the Dread, read from and discuss their novels reimagining Jamaican... Read More

The eminent Jamaican writer and scholar talks to Ishion Hutchinson about a life and career in devotion to poetry. Bookmark

Readings and performance of much-loved poems and stories in dialect by Talk Tent artiste Miguel Browne. For all ages. Saturday 29 April, Library Rotunda, 11 am–12 pm Bookmark

The Kenyan author of Dance of the Jakaranda talks to Johnny Temple about his transition from journalism to fiction-writing, and the literary scene in East Africa. Bookmark

In a lively, interactive session, Miguel Browne plays with our Trini-English language. Great fun for the whole family. Saturday 29 April, Library Rotunda, 2–3pm Bookmark

The eminent American writer and translator talks to Nicholas Laughlin about his explorations in the art of the essay, from history to natural science to politics. Bookmark

Writers’ Union members share “Epic Poetry from the East”, as the literature of India becomes the inspiration for a new wave of T&T’s writers. Presented in partnership with the Writers’... Read More

Novelists Nicole Dennis-Benn and H. Nigel Thomas read from and discuss their novels of queer Caribbean coming-of-age; chaired by Malaika Adero. Bookmark

In tribute to the late St. Lucian Nobel laureate Derek Walcott, inaugural winner of the OCM Bocas Prize in 2011, a series of readings from some of his most popular... Read More

Participants in a special life-writing workshop read their stories, poems, and essays inspired by family documents and heirlooms. In partnership with the Caribbean Memory Project, hosted by Kevin Browne and... Read More

It’s a dramatic history lesson, with a few twists. Presenting an excerpt from a new play by Raymond Ramcharitar, taking a sly look at the relationship between T&T’s first prime... Read More

Poets Ishion Hutchinson, Rajiv Mohabir, and Safiya Sinclair read from their highly anticipated new books; chaired by Shivanee Ramlochan. Bookmark

The ambitious new collection of linked short stories by Jennifer Rahim takes in a broad sweep of contemporary T&T and tackles some of the most contentious events in the country’s... Read More