Announcing the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize shortlist
The judges for the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature have announced the winners in the three genre categories, which now form the shortlist for the overall prize. They are:
POETRY
The Dyzgraphxst, by Canisia Lubrin (McClelland & Stewart)
FICTION
These Ghosts Are Family, by Maisy Card (Simon & Schuster)
NON-FICTION
The Undiscovered Country, by Andre Bagoo (Peepal Tree Press)
The overall winner will be announced on Saturday 24 April during the 2021 NGC Bocas Lit Fest.

The longlist for the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize included nine books in three genre categories:
POETRY
The Dyzgraphxst, by Canisia Lubrin (McClelland & Stewart)
Guabancex, by Celia Sorhaindo (Papillote Press)
Country of Warm Snow, by Mervyn Taylor (Shearsman)
FICTION
These Ghosts Are Family, by Maisy Card (Simon & Schuster)
Love After Love, by Ingrid Persaud (Faber UK/One World US)
The Mermaid of Black Conch, by Monique Roffey (Peepal Tree Press)
NON-FICTION
of colour, by Katherine Agyemaa Agard (Essay Press)
The Undiscovered Country, by Andre Bagoo (Peepal Tree Press)
Musings, Mazes, Muses, Margins, by Gordon Rohlehr (Peepal Tree Press)

The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature is an annual award for literary books by Caribbean writers, first presented in 2011. Books are judged in three categories: poetry; fiction — both novels and collections of short stories; and literary non-fiction — including books of essays, biography and autobiography, history, current affairs, travel, and other genres, which demonstrate literary qualities and use literary techniques, regardless of subject matter.
There is a panel of three judges for each genre category, who determine category shortlists and winners.
The three category winners are then judged by a panel of four judges — consisting of the chairs of the category panels and the prize chair — who determine the overall winner.
The author of the book judged overall winner will receive an award of US$10,000. The other category winners will receive US$3,000.
The 2021 winner will be announced during the virtual NGC Bocas Lit Fest, 23 to 25 April, 2021.
Judges for the 2021 Prize
Overall Judge
- Vahni Capildeo, Trinidad and Tobago/ United Kingdom
Poetry
- Opal Palmer Adisa, Jamaica
- Kaie Kellough, Canada
- Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné, Trinidad and Tobago
Fiction
- Malachi McIntosh, United Kingdom
- Tiphanie Yanique, US Virgin Islands/USA
- Roland Gulliver, United Kingdom
Non-fiction
- Rosamond S. King, Trinidad and Tobago/USA
- Blake Morrison, United Kingdom
- Gaiutra Bahadur, Guyana/USA
Past Winners
Epiphaneia
By Richard Georges
Published By Out Spoken Press
2020 Overall Winner (Poetry)
Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging
By Tessa McWatt
Published By Scribe Publications
2020 Non-Fiction Winner
Everything Inside
By Edwidge Danticat
Published By Alfred A. Knopf
2020 Fiction Winner
Doe Songs
By Danielle Boodoo-Fortune
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2019 Poetry Winner
High Mas: Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture
By Kevin Adonis Browne
Published By University Press of Mississippi
2019 Overall Winner (Non-Fiction)
Theory
By Dionne Brand
Published By Alfred A. Knopf
2019 Fiction Winner
Madwoman
By Shara McCallum
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2018 Poetry Winner
Curfew Chronicles
By Jennifer Rahim
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2018 Overall Winner (Fiction)
Cannibal
By Safiya Sinclair
Published By University of Nebraska Press
2017 Poetry Winner
Augustown
By Kei Miller
Published By Weidenfeld & Nicolson
2017 Overall Winner (Fiction)
A Walk Back in Time: Snapshots of the History of Trinidad and Tobago
By Angelo Bissessarsingh
Published By Queen Bishop Publishing
2017 Non-Fiction Winner
Wife
By Tiphanie Yanique
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2016 Poetry Winner
The Pain Tree
By Olive Senior
Published By Cormorant Books
2016 Overall Winner (Fiction)
The Gymnast and Other Positions
By Jacqueline Bishop
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2016 Non-Fiction Winner
Sounding Ground
By Vladimir Lucien
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2015 Overall Winner (Poetry)
Dying to Better Themselves: West Indians and the Building of the Panama Canal
By Olive Senior
Published By UWI Press
2015 Non-Fiction Winner
A Brief History of Seven Killings
By Marlon James
Published By Riverhead Books
2015 Fiction Winner
Oracabessa
By Lorna Goodison
Published By Carcanet Press
2014 Poetry Winner
As Flies to Whatless Boys
By Robert Antoni
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2014 Overall Winner (Fiction)
Writing Down the Vision: Essays and Prophecies
By Kei Miller
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2014 Non-Fiction Winner
Fault Lines
By Kendel Hippolyte
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2013 Poetry Winner
Archipelago
By Monique Roffey
Published By Simon & Schuster
2013 Overall Winner (Fiction)
The Sky’s Wild Noise: Selected Essays
By Rupert Roopnaraine
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2013 Non-Fiction Winner
The Twelve-Foot Neon Woman
Published By Peepal Tree Press
2012 Poetry Winner
Is Just a Movie
By Earl Lovelace
Published By Faber & Faber
2012 Overall Winner (Fiction)
George Price: A Life Revealed
By Godfrey P. Smith
Published By Ian Randle Publishers
2012 Non-Fiction Winner
White Egrets
By Derek Walcott
Published By Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2011 Overall Winner (Poetry)
Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work
By Edwidge Danticat
Published By Vintage Books
2011 Non-Fiction Winner
How to Escape from a Leper Colony
By Tiphanie Yanique
Published By Graywolf Press
2011 Fiction Winner
Download and review the OCM Bocas Prize 2021 eligibility and entry guidelines for more information.
The OCM Bocas Prize requested both digital and print copies of each entry for 2021: a PDF file of the book uploaded with the online entry form, and five copies of the book mailed via reliable courier to The Bocas Lit Fest.
Deadline for books published before 31 October, 2020, was 9 November, 2020. Books published between 31 October and 31 December, 2020, were accepted for entry by the second deadline, 8 January, 2021.
2021 PRIZE SUBMISSIONS CLOSED ON 8 JANUARY 2021.
ELIGIBILITY & ENTRY GUIDELINES
- Books must be entered by their publishers (though judges may call in further books at their discretion).
- Books much be available for purchase in hardcopy, i.e. books that are only available as e-books are not eligible.
- Publishers must complete the online entry form for each title, and upload a PDF of the final book file.
- Publishers must also provide five physical copies of each title entered sent by reliable courier to The Bocas Lit Fest.
- Publishers must agree to provide a further eight copies of shortlisted titles.
- Self-published books may be submitted by their authors, following the same procedure outlined for publishers. Self-published authors should provide their own contact information on the entry form.
- There is no requirement for publishers of eligible books to be located in the Caribbean.
- Each publisher may enter a maximum of five books per category (poetry, fiction, non-fiction), for a maximum of fifteen titles per publisher. A book may be entered in only one category. Publishers must get authors’ consent for entry.
- There is an entry fee of US$35 (TT$240) per title. We can accept US dollar bank drafts (drawn on American banks only) made payable to The Bocas Lit Fest or credit card payments made online through WiPay Caribbean (link to pay sent once the entry form is received). Please select your payment option in the online form. Note: Trinidad and Tobago authors or publishers can pay in local currency.
- Each entry should be accompanied by a short biographical note on the author. Publishers must also provide digital photos of shortlisted authors.
- Books will be accepted for entry at the discretion of The Bocas Lit Fest. Decisions on eligibility are final.
- Books published before 31 October, 2020, must be delivered to the Bocas Lit Fest (or directly to judges, where applicable) by 9 November, 2020. ONLY books published between 31 October and 31 December, 2020, will be accepted for entry by the second deadline, 8 January, 2021. Eligible books that arrive after each deadline date will not be considered and entry fees will not be returned. There will be no exceptions to this rule.
- Publishers must send the books by courier to the Bocas Lit Fest office to guarantee timely arrival and onward dispatch to judges:
Bocas Lit Fest
Attn: OCM Bocas Prize
14 Alcazar Street
St. Clair
Trinidad and Tobago
Tel: 1 868 222-7099
- However, if a publisher is located in the same country as one of the category judge(s), one copy of the relevant title should be sent directly to that judge. Other copies should be sent to the Bocas Lit Fest at the above stated address. Please contact the prize administrators at info@bocaslitfest.com for the names and locations of relevant judges.
- The 2021 prize longlist will be announced in March 2021. The shortlist will be announced in April 2021. The overall winner will be announced at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad and Tobago’s annual literary festival in Port of Spain, 23 – 25 April 2021.
- Publishers must agree that extracts from shortlisted books may be published in the Trinidad and Tobago Daily and Sunday Express, for purposes of promoting the winning titles.
- Publishers should notify authors of titles entered for the prize that the three category winners may be invited to attend and participate in the Festival and the award ceremony in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and are expected to record a filmed interview.
- Category winners and the overall winner of the OCM Bocas Prize are expected to be willing to represent the Prize at international festivals and other fora if invited to do so. Please confirm that the writer whose work is being submitted would be prepared to accept this condition of entry.
- Publishers must use a reliable international courier (not regular air mail) to send entries, to ensure prompt delivery. The word “gift” must be marked on the air waybill and commercial invoice, and the description must clearly state that the books are “for review purposes only”.
For any queries about eligibility requirements or the submission process, please contact the prize administrators at info@bocaslitfest.com
Definition of the Caribbean
For the purposes of the OCM Bocas Prize, the Caribbean is defined as including the following countries and territories:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- Bonaire
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Cuba
- Curaçao
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- French Guiana
- Grenada
- Guadeloupe
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Martinique
- Montserrat
- Puerto Rico
- Saba
- St Barthélemy
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Martin/Sint Maarten
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sint Eustatius
- Suriname
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos
- US Virgin Islands
NB: books entered for the OCM Bocas Prize must be originally written and published in English.