Welcome to the latest installment of the Bocas Book Bulletin, a monthly roundup of Caribbean literary news, curated by the Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad and Tobago’s annual literary festival, and published in the Sunday Express.
New Releases
Daughter of Mother-of-Pearl (Graywolf Press) by Mandy-Suzanne Wong gathers essays on the interior lives of nonhuman invertebrates, prompting closer examinations of humanity’s empathy. These creative nonfiction reflections eloquently make room for the possibilities of intelligence in all sentient beings, no matter how tiny or soft-shelled. Through tender and careful case studies of Bahamian marine life, drawing on science and selfhood, Daughter of Mother-of-Pearl displays radical thinking at its critical heights — to be immersed in this collection is to never see a starfish or mollusc in quite the same way again.
Fireflies in Winter (Berkley) by Eleanor Shearer centres on Cora and Agnes, two girls from wildly disparate backgrounds who must contend with the dangerous Nova Scotian winter of 1796. The novel reanimates interest in, and focus on, a comparatively underexplored historical context in Caribbean fiction: the enforced migration of more than 500 18th-century Maroons from Trelawny Town, Jamaica, to the then-British colony of Nova Scotia. Fireflies in Winter explores the distressing, inhospitable conditions they faced there, while presenting the bonds of sisterly love as a tremendous emblem of survival.
Che Lovelace (Skira), the first full-length artist’s monograph on Trinidadian painter Che Lovelace, is the most comprehensive book-based presentation of his visual arts career to date. A decade in the making, the monograph is accompanied by essays on Lovelace’s vision and practice, written by prominent curators Rujeko Hockley, Gavin Delahunty, and Ekow Eshun. Lovelace’s paintings are presented to their full advantage. The book is a tangible artefact that simultaneously conveys scale, range of colour, and dedication to Caribbean landscapes, all of which are hallmarks of the artist’s award-winning, internationally exhibited work.
The First Thousand Trees (ECW Press) by Premee Mohamed is the final novella instalment in the Indo-Caribbean author’s post-apocalyptic series The Annual Migration of Clouds. Deepening the repercussions of climate devastation established in books one and two, The First Thousand Trees follows an unexpected, even unlikely character as its protagonist, tracing his journey in the aftermath of his friend’s departure. Mohamed unwinds notions of failure and the limits of friendship in the novella form, propelling both the individual book and the wider trilogy to a deeply satisfying — though not uncomplex — resolution.
The Eternal Forest: A Memoir of the Cuban Diaspora (St. Martin’s Press) by Elena Sheppard traces three generations of the author’s family, documenting their politically motivated escape from Cuba to their settlement in Miami and ultimately New York City. Told with unflinching honesty, Sheppard draws on more than dry data to populate the world of the memoir: rich swathes of Cuban literature, art, and folklore are made accessible to the reader, too. In so doing, the writer calculates the unmitigated costs of exile to diaspora Cubans, and to her family specifically.
Awards and Prizes
Ibis by US-based Trinidadian writer Justin Haynes has been shortlisted for the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, one of the annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Established in 1991, the award recognises debut works of fiction. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on 17 April.
David Lambert at The Writers Centre
On Saturday 7 March, at 5.30 pm, Trinidadian-Irish author David Lambert will read from and discuss his debut novel The House in Bacolet (Peepal Tree Press) at The Writers Centre, 14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair. Billed as a “tense psychological drama” by the publisher, The House in Bacolet centres a British expatriate couple who purchase an old church for domestic refurbishment in idyllic Tobago — little do they know that their dream property comes with more secrets than serene vistas. Lambert will be in conversation with author and journalist Ira Mathur, winner of the 2023 OCM Bocas Prize for Nonfiction for her memoir Love the Dark Days. Copies of The House in Bacolet will be available for sale at Paper Based Bookshop, and audience members will have the opportunity to have their titles autographed. Attendance is free and open to all.
Caribbean Bestsellers
Paper Based Bookshop (Instagram: @paperbasedbookshop) shares its top-selling Caribbean titles for the past month:
1. Make the World New, by Lillian Allen
2. Ever Since We Small, by Celeste Mohammed
3. Ibis, by Justin Haynes
4. Starry Starry Night, by Shani Mootoo
5. MASMAN, by Peter Minshall
