First Citizens National Poetry Slam

Six writers from across the Caribbean have been longlisted for the inaugural Bocas Children’s Book Prize, with tales that bring magic, folklore, and real historical events to life for the region’s young readers. The prize, sponsored by the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC), is the first of its kind, recognising Caribbean books for young independent readers

Who has been the most influential young person in literary arts in T&T in the last year? With the help of a diverse panel of judges, we are embarking on a journey to find and celebrate young writers of talent in any corner of literature: including poetry, playwriting, fiction, creative non-fiction, journalism, scriptwriting, spoken word,

The top ten finalists have been revealed, who will go up against our two-time defending champion, Alexandra Stewart, for the $50,000 Grand Prize! The top-scoring poets were announced live on the NOW Morning show on TTT on Friday, 3 September. TTT is the 2021 broadcast partner of 2021 First Citizens National Poetry Slam (FCNPS) producer,

We want you to know that there’s no Bocas without YOU!  We are excited to invite you to our new subscription platform called Friends of the Bocas Lit Fest. Show your love for Caribbean Lit while supporting our work and helping us to continue thriving! Step 1: LOVE CARIBBEAN LIT Show your love for Caribbean literature and

We are looking for a visionary leader of our small, dedicated team of highly productive creatives with whom to continue the well-established path of success of the Bocas Lit Fest. Founder Marina Salandy-Brown will soon be relinquishing her role as managing director of the Bocas Lit Fest to concentrate on its strategic development, as Vice President of

Congratulations to David Ryan (8), and Josh Hansraj (9), the winners of Dragonzilla’s Short Story Writing Challenge 2021!  They emerged as the winners in the 5-8 and 9-12 categories respectively, out of over 100 entries submitted in the first stage of the writing challenge, telling us about their Covid-19 experiences in Trinidad and Tobago. Twenty-one

The twenty finalists in Dragonzilla’s Short Story Writing Challenge 2021 are amazing and creative storytellers! You can see for yourself – they’ve recorded themselves reading their original stories which they submitted in June, under the theme “My Covid Experience in Trinidad and Tobago”. All their videos are ready now for you to view, and will

Twenty poets have advanced to the semi-final round of the 2021 First Citizens National Poetry Slam (FCNPS) which will be broadcast on TTT in August. The selected poets, three of whom were finalists at the 2020 National Slam, will be keen to start preparing their pieces for the semi-final rounds of the most prominent spoken

🎉This year, we’ll bring to life our first youth festival, sponsored by The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago! 🎉 We want to celebrate the young writers and readers who’ve been showing up and showing out in their schools and communities, as well as support and encourage more of our young audience to love literature! 📚✨ Check

The 2021 First Citizens National Poetry Slam audition round was totally virtual. The Zoom platform became the new audition stage for poets across the country entering the largest spoken word challenge in the Caribbean. The Slam, now in its ninth year, is giving $50,000 to the winner. The prize is sponsored by First Citizens. Judges