More Than A Literary Festival

Awards

OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

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 other category winners receive US$3,000. The winner is announced at the annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest at the end of April every year.

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 prize, a book must have been published in the past calendar year, and written by an author born in the Caribbean or holding Caribbean citizenship. Books must also have been originally written in English. 

CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature

Administered by the Bocas Lit Fest from 2013 – 2019, the CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature was awarded annually to three English-language literary works for young adults (aged 12 through 18) written by Caribbean authors. Established by CODE – a Canadian charitable organization that has been supporting literacy and learning for over 60 years –  with the generous support of the Literary Prizes Foundation and in partnership with the Bocas Lit Fest, the Award aimed to provide engaging and culturally-relevant books for young people across the Caribbean. Through the award and readership programme, more than 40,000 award-winning books have been donated to libraries, schools and community centres in 11 Caribbean territories.  Read more about the Burt Award at www.burtaward.com.

Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize

This annual award for the development of literary talent ran from 2013-2015. It allowed an emerging Caribbean writer living and working in the Anglophone Caribbean to devote time to advancing or finishing a literary work, with support from an established writer as mentor. The prize was offered across three literary genres: fiction in 2013, literary nonfiction in 2014, and poetry in 2015.

Along with a cash award and a year’s mentoring by an established writer, the winner travelled to the United Kingdom to attend a one-week intensive Arvon creative writing course at one of Arvon’s internationally renowned writing houses, and three days in London to network with editors and publishers, hosted by Arvon, in association with the Free Word Centre and a leading London literary agency.

Created by the Bocas Lit Fest, the prize was funded by the Hollick Family CharitableTrust and jointly administered by the Bocas Lit Fest and Arvon. The judging panel consisted of Bocas Lit Fest Deputy Festival Director Professor Emeritus Funso Aiyejina, Ruth Borthwick, CEO of Arvon, literary agent Jenny Hewson, a writer in the relevant genre and a member of the Hollick family.

Prizewinners

2013  Barbara Jenkins — fiction

2014  Diana Macaulay — non-fiction

2015 Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné — poetry

Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize

The Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize followed the Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize and ran from 2019-2021. Over that three-year period it allowed three emerging Caribbean writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, living in the Anglophone Caribbean to devote time to advancing or finishing a literary work, with support from an established writer as a mentor.

Along with a cash award, each year’s winner received a year’s mentoring by an established writer,   attendance at intensive online Arvon creative writing courses and exposure to a leading London literary agency.

The sponsor of this second Bocas Lit Fest literary development prize was philanthropist Dr. Kongshiek Achong Low, to commemorate the lives of his parents Johnson and Amoy Achong. The panel of judges consisted of a representative of the Bocas Lit Fest, CEO of Arvon Andrew Kidd, a writer in the relevant genre, literary agent Chris Wellbelove, and a member of the Achong family.

Prizewinners

2019  Sharma Taylor — fiction

2020  Amanda Choo Quan — non-fiction

2021 Desiree Seebaran — poetry

Bocas Henry Swanzy Award

In 2013, the Bocas Lit Fest inaugurated a new annual lifetime achievement award to recognise service to Caribbean literature by editors, publishers, critics, broadcasters, and others. The Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters is named for the late BBC World Service radio producer (1915–2004) who took the BBC World Service programme Caribbean Voices, started by Jamaican Una Marson, to new heights, making it a landmark platform for Caribbean writing in the 1940s and 50s.  Swanzy commissioned, edited and promoted West Indian writers living at home and broadcast their fiction and poems across the region, helping to advance their writing careers and create the generation of successful West Indian writers of the last century.

The Bocas Lit Fest founded the award to honour and celebrate the contributions of the editors, broadcasters, publishers, critics, and others who have shaped the evolution of Caribbean literature behind the scenes. Recipients are chosen by the Bocas Lit Fest.

Bocas Children’s Book Prize

The annual BLF Children’s Book Prize is a prize that is given to one outstanding English-language children’s book for young independent readers, written by a Caribbean* author.  This Prize seeks to recognise and celebrate excellent writing and intriguing storytelling that can capture young imaginations and help establish a lifelong love and habit of reading in our young Caribbean demographic.

The prize is administered by the Bocas Lit Fest, and sponsored by the Wainwright family. It consists of a cash award of US$1,000, and is open to Caribbean-born authors, resident anywhere in the world, of English-language books.

NGC Bocas Youth Writer Award

Literature is always evolving. With the full landscape of literature in view, in 2021 the NGC Bocas Lit Fest introduced a pioneering inter-genre NGC Bocas Youth Writer Award for young people based in Trinidad and Tobago. With the help of a diverse panel of judges, we are determined to find and celebrate young writers of talent in any corner of literature, including poetry, playwriting, fiction, creative nonfiction, journalism, scriptwriting, spoken word, blog writing, and song lyrics. The winner will be the young person in the literary arts whom the judges deem as demonstrating the most impact with their work in the last year.

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