These guidelines have been updated for the 2025 OCM Bocas Prize. Please read carefully.
The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, first presented in 2011, is an annual award for literary books by Caribbean writers. 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).
Note: textbooks, technical books, pictorial coffee-table books, specialist publications, and reference works are not eligible.
There will be a panel of three judges for each category, who will determine category shortlists and winners. The three category winners will then be judged by a panel of four judges — consisting of the chairs of the category panels and the prize chief judge — who will determine the overall winner.
The author of the book judged the overall winner will receive an award of US$10,000. The other category winners will each receive US$3,000.
To be eligible for entry for the 2025 prize, a book must:
1. Have been first published in the calendar year 2024 (1 January to 31 December);
2. Have been written by a single author who either holds Caribbean citizenship or was born in the Caribbean (this must be verified by the publisher), regardless of current place of residence;
3. Have been written by an author who is living on 31 December, 2024;
4. Have been written and first published in English originally (i.e. translations are not eligible);
5. Be a new work, previously unpublished in book form (though collections including poems, stories, essays, or other short pieces that have individually appeared in print in periodicals or anthologies are eligible).
See Appendix 1 for a list of territories which constitute the Caribbean for the purposes of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature.
- Books must be entered by their publishers (though judges may call in further books at their discretion).
- 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.
- Books must be available for purchase in printed form, 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. See below for details of where and how to ship books.
- Publishers must agree to provide a further six copies of titles that are named category winners by the judges.
- 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, nonfiction), 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$45 (TT$300) 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 or Paypal. Please select your payment option in the online form.
- Note: Publishers or self-published authors based in Trinidad and Tobago can pay in TT dollars.
- Each entry should be accompanied by a short biographical note on the author. Publishers must also provide digital photos of winning authors.
- Books will be accepted for entry at the discretion of the Bocas Lit Fest. Decisions on eligibility are final.
- Books published before or on 31 October, 2024, must be delivered to the Bocas Lit Fest (or directly to judges, where applicable) by 8 November, 2024. ONLY books published between 1 November and 31 December, 2024, will be accepted for entry by the second deadline, 3 January, 2025. 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 guarantee timely arrival.
Where to send books entered for the prize:
Publishers based in Trinidad and Tobago should send all copies to the Bocas Lit Fest at this address:
The Writers Centre
14 Alcazar Street
St Clair, Port of Spain
Trinidad and Tobago
Telephone: 1 (868) 62-BOCAS or 1 (868) 222-7099
Publishers based outside Trinidad and Tobago should send one copy each directly to the relevant three category judges. The prize administrators at [email protected] will provide you with the names and locations of relevant judges.
A further two copies should be sent to the Bocas Lit Fest at the above stated address.
Publishers must use a reliable international courier (not regular air mail) to send entries to T&T, to ensure prompt delivery.
The air waybill and commercial invoice should be clearly labeled “for educational purposes / no commercial value, not for resale.”
- The three 2025 category winners will be announced in March 2025. The overall winner will be announced at the Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad and Tobago’s annual literary festival, in Port of Spain in May 2025.
- Publishers must agree that extracts from winning books may be published in the Trinidad and Tobago Express and any other print or digital prize publications for purposes of promoting the winning titles and the OCM Bocas Prize.
- 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/or 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 events if invited to do so. Please confirm that the writer whose work is being submitted would be prepared to accept this condition of entry.
- For any queries about eligibility requirements or the submission process, please contact the prize administrators at: [email protected]
Appendix 1
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.