Bocas UK Tour 2022
What to Expect...
Save the date and book your tickets as the Bocas Lit Fest goes to the United Kingdom for the Bocas UK Tour 2022!
Date: Wednesday 26 October | 6 pm
Event: A conversation with Celeste Mohammed and Amanda Smyth | Bocas UK Tour 2022 in Leicester
Venue: Leicester Central Library, Bishop Street
Celeste Mohammed, winner of the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, joins Peepal Tree Press author and fellow Trinidadian writer Amanda Smyth for a conversation about contemporary writing from Trinidad and Tobago
In partnership with Jacaranda Books
Date: Thursday 27 October
Event: An evening of new Caribbean writing | Bocas UK Tour 2022 in Norwich
Venue: National Centre for Writing, Dragon Hall
Featuring Celeste Mohammed, Canisia Lubrin, Barbara Jenkins, Karen Lord, and Celia Sorhaindo
A literary showcase featuring five of the Caribbean’s most exciting contemporary voices. With Celeste Mohammed, Canisia Lubrin, Barbara Jenkins, Karen Lord, and Celia Sorhaindo. Chaired by Nicholas Laughlin, Bocas Lit Fest Festival Director. Presented in partnership with the National Centre for Writing, Norwich.
Writing across genres from novels to short stories, memoirs to poetry, these five writers from four Caribbean countries represent a diversity of voices, ideas, and linguistic backgrounds. The Caribbean they explore in their books may be partly familiar and partly strange, and their stories and themes tackle universal questions: family and history, identity and love, boundary crossings of all kinds, and the purpose of writing itself.
Join us for a lively evening of stories, poetry, ideas, conversation — and food!
Note: Only accessible to an in-person audience.
Date: Saturday 29 October | 10.30 am – 8.30 pm
Event: Bocas UK Tour 2022 at the British Library
Venue: British Library, 96 Euston Road, London
One day, two dozen writers from across the Caribbean! Fiction, poetry and memoir, readings, and conversation, plus a musical excerpt from The Playboy of the West Indies and a lively London Literary Lime to end the day, co-hosted by Renaissance One.
Session 1 – Ways In The World | 11.00 – 12.00
Session 2 – The Trouble With History | 12.30 – 13.30
Session 3 – An Island Is A World | 14.00 – 15.00
Session 4 – Don’t Call It Magic | 15.30 – 16.30
Session 5 – Mothers, Fathers, Daughters, Sons | 17.00 – 18.00.
Session 6 – Beyond Every Boundary | 18.30 – 19.45
Session 7 – The Playboy of the West Indies | 20.00 – 20.30
Date: Monday 31 October
Event: Bocas UK Tour 2022 in Leeds
Venue: University of Leeds Poetry Centre
Jason Allen-Paisant, winner the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Poetry, joins Shivanee Ramlochan, Malaika Booker and Adam Lowe in conversation with Emily Zobel-Marshall
Date: Thursday 3 November | 6 pm
Event: Bocas UK Tour 2022 at the Belfast International Arts Festival
Venue: No Alibis Bookstore, 83 Botanic Avenue
Prize-winning fiction writers Celeste Mohammed and Jacob Ross at the Belfast International Arts Belfast explore the complexities of the contemporary Caribbean.
Co-hosted by the John Hewitt Society
Frequently Asked Questions
The Bocas Lit Fest is held every year during the last week of April/ first week of May in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
The Bocas Lit Fest takes place at the National Library and the adjoining Old Fire Station in downtown Port of Spain.
Entrance to the Festival Village is free (unless otherwise stated), and almost all of our events – including readings, panel discussions, film screenings, performances and children’s events – are free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come basis and everyone is welcome.
There are two notable exceptions:
1) The First Citizens National Poetry Slam semi-finals and finals are ticketed events. We recommend purchasing tickets early to avoid disappointment! Note: While in-person performance restrictions remain in place, the FCNPS will be broadcast on national TV in Trinidad and Tobago so everyone can enjoy.
2) You must register in advance to reserve your spot in our writing workshops. You can register online, by phone or by email. We do have free workshops, but most have a small fee.
Our Festival programme is developed around specific annual themes and generally features recently published Caribbean authors. We showcase the writers longlisted and shortlisted for the major literary awards administered by Bocas Lit Fest, as well as the independent panels of experts and writers who judge them. We also review nominations from publishers and our programme partners to determine the most exciting new voices to showcase each year.
We welcome submissions from authors wishing to participate in the Festival, but we have limited openings for writers who don’t fall into one of the above categories. We follow up on submissions/ queries from authors that fit with our programme plans and themes for upcoming Festivals.
If you’re interested in participating in the Bocas Lit Fest, send us an email at [email protected] with an author bio, book synopsis and any critical reviews/ endorsements for consideration. All writers are welcome to participate in our Stand & Deliver series.
We have several events during the Festival, and year round, that seek out and support promising new talent:
- Writing workshops for all levels (advance registration required)
- Stand and Deliver is our main platform for new writers who want to read their work for peers and a festival audience. This is an open-mic event for writers of all genres. While the Festival remains virtual, we’ll put out an online open call for submissions from writers, and the Stand & Deliver will be a pre-recorded virtual event within the Festival programme (and throughout the year if interest from writers is high!).
- Writers First is our series of free seminars for budding and self-published writers on key areas of the book business, led by publishing experts. You can access the recordings full of advice from industry professional in the content library.
- Our New Talent Showcase and New Writing events shine a spotlight on promising new writers, many of whom have gone on to be published after appearing on our stage.
- The Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize (formerly the Hollick Arvon) supports an emerging Caribbean writer in completing a work in progress.
The Bocas Lit Fest does not sell or distribute books, so books by authors appearing at the Festival (and many other titles) are sold by independent booksellers who set up booths in our Festival Village. Make sure to purchase early so you’re first in line for book signing!
Beyond books, the Festival Village has an array of exciting local products, crafts and services from specialist vendors — everything from artisan chocolate to handmade clothing, jewellery and crafts. If you’re interested in having your own booth at the Festival, contact us at [email protected] for a copy of our vendor registration form and to get more information on renting a booth space at the Bocas Lit Fest.
Since 2017 we’ve been livestreaming the events at the Old Fire Station, and those videos are available on our YouTube channel here. We have audio recordings of Festival events from before 2017, and those are available via Soundcloud here. If you are interested in using or sharing a recording from the festival, please contact us for permission at [email protected].
Yes! We recruit a large team of volunteers to help at the annual Bocas Lit Fest.