Alison de la Bastide
Alison de la Bastide has been a passionate educator for 30 years. She has taught at the preschool and primary school level in T&T and abroad. Presently, besides her work with Let’s Read, Alison facilitates teacher education workshops and is a volunteer coordinator at a Servol Junior Life Centre where she works with students 12 to 16 years old, to strengthen their literacy skills.
Anup Ramsundar
Anup is a 27-year-old musician and lifelong student of Hindustani Shaastriya Sangeet. By profession, he is a Senior Business Analyst at ANSA Packaging, and he continues to balance a demanding corporate career with a deep commitment to music and performance. As a member of Tabla Sangam, he represents a new generation of Caribbean musicians dedicated to the preservation and elevation of Indian classical music.
C.S. Binnie
C.S. Binnie is a young and imaginative author ready to share her first two books with the world. She wrote the first draft of each book within two days. She finds inspiration in the most unique places. Her books, Emily and Bella and the Missing Puzzle: Book 1 and Emily and Bella Meet the Fairies: Book 2, were both written in 2025 and published in 2026. She believes many her age will appreciate seeing themselves in these characters. You can learn more about author C.S. Binnie, as she develops her characters, at crystalmariesealy.com/csb-creations
Crystal-Marie Sealy
Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, BSc Hons, is mom first, two-time bestselling author, keynote speaker and mindful strategy consultant, returning to life in Trinidad and Tobago, after two decades in Canada.
Author of multiple publications, including two international best-sellers, self-published children’s books and more, her first children’s book, “The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children”, has genuine rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. Crystal-Marie’s focus, in all of her offerings, and the name of her inspiring keynote, is “Authenticity for Gentle Resilience” through self-acceptance, intuition, individual sovereignty and, for women, the feminine. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie’s signature framework, “Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™”, empowers service and intuition-based professionals. Learn more about Crystal-Marie at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com
Dawsher Charles
Dawsher Charles also known as ‘The Resilient Warrior’ is the Founder and Managing Director of Survival Scholars. She is a Puppeteer, an author, an Educational Development Coach and Consultant, a Trauma and Crisis Management Specialist, a youth leader, change maker and advocate for students to have a balance between their mental health and wellbeing with their academic achievement. Her story is one of success through struggles where she was able to overcome every obstacle she encountered. Today Dawsher uses her experiences along with her education and creative skills to inspire and empower thousands of parents, teachers and students with resilience tools and skills. Dawsher enjoys incorporating the arts, especially puppetry into her engagements with students providing exceptional experience at her highly impactful location Puppet Palace offering Puppet Shows, Puppet Making and the Art of Puppetry to hundreds of schools across Trinidad and Tobago. She is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Trust 100 Young Leaders award, the Commonwealth youth award for excellence in development work, AFETT Youth Leader Award, National Youth Organizational Award for Arts and Culture along with several other awards for her dedication in education development and the arts. Dawsher continues to partner with several established local and international organizations such as UNESCO, Central Bank of TT, and many others to harness her expertise in education development so that more young people can benefit creating a multiplier effect.
Dragonzilla
Dragonzilla is the mascot of the Children’s Bocas Lit Fest. This smiling friendly dragon lives in the Bocas del Dragon (Dragon’s Mouths) in the Gulf of Paria, but comes out to visit children who take part in the Children’s Storytelling Caravan and other children’s activities helping them to develop a love for reading, writing and storytelling.
Eliana Teelucksingh
Eliana Teelucksingh is 6 years old and attends a primary school in Port-of-Spain. She has one sister. This is her first book. Her writing was inspired by Dr. Seuss. Eliana wanted children to be smiling and happy when reading the stories in her book. Eliana enjoys swimming in a pool, going to the zoo and Chuck E Cheese, watching television and playing in the park. She wants to be a doctor to help sick babies.
Emma Teelucksingh
Emma Teelucksingh is 11 years old. She attends Cunupia Presbyterian Church and lives in Chaguanas. Emma has one sister. Her writing was inspired by Roald Dahl and Charles Schulz. Her favourite book is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In 2024, Emma was a finalist for the National Youth Awards which was organized by the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service.
Georgia Popplewell
Georgia Popplewell is a writer/editor and media producer and managing director of the international citizen media project Global Voices. She has worked in independent media since 1989. She started her career at the pioneering Trinidad and Tobago television production company Banyan and has worked on productions such as the Nickelodeon TV series Gullah Gullah Island, in addition to having written extensively on culture, music, film and sport. In 2005, Georgia started Caribbean Free Radio, the Caribbean’s first podcast.
Javaughn Forde
Javaughn Forde is a contemporary multidisciplinary artist based in Trinidad and Tobago. His work is centred around magical realism and the human experience. Javaughn has published bodies of poetry, hosted and participated in multiple visual art galleries as well as put out his own, at home, recorded musical mixtape by the title “Thoughts of The Unconscious”. Javaughn is the Artistic Director of The 2 Cents Movement and a Counselling Psychologist, finding joy in understanding the underpinnings of human interactions and motivations.
Justin Haynes
Justin Haynes was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and later moved to Brooklyn, New York. Having earned his MFA from Notre Dame, he continued his graduate studies at Vanderbilt University. He has been awarded various fiction residencies and fellowships, including from the Fine Arts Work Center, the Vermont Studio Center, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and the Tin House Summer Workshop. His writing has been published in a variety of literary magazines and journals, including Caribbean Quarterly, SX Salon Small Axe Project, and PREE. Justin lives in Atlanta and teaches English at Oglethorpe University. Ibis, his debut novel, is the winner of the 2026 OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction.
Katrina Khan-Roberts
Katrina Khan-Roberts took on the role of Mertrina the Trinidad and Tobago Mermaid after her 15 years in the youth space towards ocean literacy. As a young woman from a small island developing state, she spent her childhood at the beach and in the coastal zone, so she witnessed the changes due to human activities. Using her B.Sc. Environmental and Natural Resource Management, minors in Marine Biology and Zoology and M.Sc. Tourism Development and Management and vast experience, she published books and resources related to educating about the ocean and how to protect it.
Kevin Jared Hosein
Kevin Jared Hosein is the author, most recently, of Hungry Ghosts, fiction winner of the 2024 OCM Bocas Prize and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. It had also been longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. He is a two-time winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, regionally in 2015 and overall in 2018. His previous novels include The Repenters, which was shortlisted for the Fiction OCM Bocas Prize, and The Beast of Kukuyo, which received a Burt Award for Young Adult Caribbean Literature. Both were also longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. He has been published in numerous anthologies and outlets, including Esquire, Wasafiri, Lightspeed, Granta, BBC Radio 4 and Perspective. He lives in Trinidad and Tobago.
Let’s Read TT
Suzette Cadiz has been an educator for 39 years. She opened and operated a Montessori school in the 1970s after graduating from the Association Montessori Internationale London, and then went on to teach for over two decades at a primary school. In 2010, she co-founded Let’s Read, and continues to advocate for increased literacy throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
Alison de la Bastide has been a passionate educator for 31 years. She has taught at the preschool and primary school level in T&T and abroad. Presently, besides her work with Let’s Read, Alison facilitates teacher education workshops and is a volunteer coordinator at a Servol Junior Life Centre where she works with students 12 to 16 years old, to strengthen their literacy skills.
Michelle Govia
Michelle Govia has over twenty (20) years’ experience working with children from ages one to teenage years. She has worked at Disney Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises and Beaches Resort in their Children’s Camps, a private school in Ontario, Canada and was the owner of a children’s playgroup in Trinidad. At both Disney Cruise Lines and Beaches, she trained new crew and staff. Safety is a very important aspect of any job. Michelle’s work experience with children has helped her incorporate her knowledge into this Safety Awareness for Children book. Her aim is to keep this safety book simple and hands-on for children to understand and remain engaged.
Milan Romany
Milan Romany started up her business Zo-Mi Crafts TT at the age of 7 with 5 years old co-writer Zola Clarke. They’re all about fun and funds! From handmade jewellery and colourful accessories to their exciting children’s book series The Mermaidiorn Adventures – they’re turning their active imaginations into business sense. They have expanded their initiative to support and include a growing community of young creators – via Kidpreneur Island – a platform for children to explore entrepreneurship and launch their own ventures. With their Kids Business Club, they empower the next generation of mini-CEOs — creating community, connections, and confidence with can-do Caribbean charm.
Miranda Dookran
Miranda Dookran is the holder of a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and Human Resource Management (Hons) from the University of the West Indies and a Master of Arts Degree in Educational Psychology from Andrews University, Michigan. She has been writing since the age of eight when she used to jot down short verses of poetry. She continues to write poetry and short stories on various themes. She is the author of the poetry collection, ‘Breeze of Hope’, ‘Bobby and the Beehive,’ ‘Bobby and the Beehive Colouring and Activity Book’ and ‘Tommy the Shark.’
Oprah Francis
Oprah Francis is the author and illustrator behind the children’s storybook and workbook titled The Adventures of Marvin the Mischievous Manicou. She is also a corporate communicator and the holder of a Master’s Degree in Media, Communications and Public Relations. Hailing from Trinidad and Tobago, this up-and-coming author is working to foster a greater sense of cultural pride and appreciation for local content through fun and creative learning. It is hoped that through this and future publications, Oprah will continue her efforts as an advocate for culturally-driven children’s literature.
Portia Subran
Portia Subran is a Trinidadian artist and writer. She is the winner of the 2019 Cecile de Jongh Literary Prize from The Caribbean Writer, and the 2016 Small Axe Literary Short Story Competition. She was a finalist for the 2022 BCLF Short Fiction Story Contest, and longlisted for the 2019 Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize (JAAWP) for prose fiction. Her publications include Pree Lit Magazine; Jewels of the Caribbean; Akashic Books’ Duppy Thursday Online Flash Fiction Series; Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism; New Worlds, Old Ways: Speculative Tales from the Caribbean, and The Caribbean Writer.
Salim Rampersad
Salim Rampersad is a young creative whose interests in storytelling and visual art developed from an early age. His artistic journey began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he used his free time to explore painting, eventually expanding into digital art. Since then, he has continued to refine his skills through online courses and consistent practice, building a growing portfolio that reflects both his technical development and creative exploration.
Shalon Kasha Joseph
Shalon Kasha Joseph, a mother of two, is a Trinidad and Tobago author who is passionate about helping children discover the power of imagination and creative storytelling. Inspired by her own children’s struggles with finding ideas for their school essays, she wrote The Adventures of Caribbean Girl, where the young protagonist Melina turns everyday experiences into exciting fantasy adventures through her journal. In addition to writing, Shalon serves as a Sunday School teacher and youth leader at her church. She has also hosted youth-focused events and initiatives that support children’s growth in areas such as educational study practices, career awareness, character development, and creativity.
Speed 49 Carolina Rhythm Section
The Speed 49 Carolina Rhythm Section is a dynamic live percussion band known for their live energetic and electrifying performances. Originating in Carolina/California, the band has been in existence for over 20 years. With Mr. Anthony Marchan as the arranger and Nicholas De Silva currently as the lead drummer, this group has performed across Trinidad and Tobago in various types of events including; weddings, cultural shows, sporting events and commercial openings just to name a few. The band prides itself on also having performed for the President her Excellency Christine Kangaloo in recent times and can boast of being the only rhythm section in Trinidad and Tobago to include vocals in their performances. This group is also community oriented and understands the importance of giving back as they have also performed at many charitable events.
Suzette Cadiz
Suzette Cadiz has been an educator for 38 years. She opened and operated a Montessori school in the 1970s after graduating from the Association Montessori Internationale London, and then went on to teach for over two decades at a primary school. In 2010, she co-founded Let’s Read, and continues to advocate for increased literacy throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
Tricia Chin
Tricia Chin is an attorney-at-law who started writing short stories during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Her writing is based on the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago, and she places her characters in local settings across Trinidad and during time periods that vary from the 1800s to present day. For the Dead is her third collection, released in 2022. She also released Tabanca and Other Stories and Parang the Wrong House in 2021.
Vashti Bowlah
Vashti Bowlah is a writer from Trinidad and Tobago. Her stories have been published in Caribbean and international journals and have also gained her literary awards and nominations. She is the author of Under The Peepal Tree and Sugarcane Valley.
Zelly
Dragonzelda (fondly known as Zelly) is one of the youngest members of the Bocas Lit Fest family.
In 2024, Zelly was found as an egg, along the Valencia riverbed, on the way back from the Storytelling Caravan visits to Toco and Matura. Dragonzilla, a beloved member of the Children’s Bocas Lit Fest team (and a dragon!), recognized the green egg right away as a dragon egg!
But, we all know dragons don’t look after their eggs, so the team brought the beautiful egg to The Writers Centre, home of Bocas Lit Fest. There, for many days, the Bocas team took care of and read stories to the egg until it hatched! And Zelly was born!
Zelly loved hearing stories so much she knew she had to learn to read too. Now, she travels across T&T, sharing her love of reading with children of all ages.
The next time you meet Zelly, ask her to read you a story.