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NGC Bocas Lit Fest
28 - 30 April 2023
Booker Prize-winning novelist and literary activist Bernardine Evaristo talks to Ayesha Harruna Attah about her groundbreaking novel Girl, Woman, Other, the value of persistence, and the role of mentorship in building a literary career. With special thanks to the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
Archival interview footage in three films offers a deep portrait of the late literary scholar and calypso expert. Introduced by Anu Lakhan From Apocalypse to Awakenings, produced by Paula Morgan (2010, 19:00) Gordon Rohlehr interviewed by Paula Morgan Rivers of Sound, dir. Jean Antoine-Dunne (2009, 34:00) Tracing the life and work of Rohlehr, from his […]
Making the leap from short fiction to a book-length manuscript isn’t just about the number of words and pages — it requires a different understanding of the trajectories of plot, character, and theme, and a different kind of narrative pacing.
Lauren Francis-Sharma (Book of the Little Axe) and Michael Magee (Close to Home) tackle the never-simple tricky bonds of family and friendship in their recent novels.
Help A dramatised reading of an excerpt from a play by Kaithlyn De Gazon, from Playwrights Workshop Trinbago’s (PWT) Monthly Readers Theatre Series. In Help, a young girl is haunted by the ghosts of her past, the feelings they bring, and how they affect her relationships with the people around her Directed by Syntyche Bishop; […]
Towering overhead on their elongated stilts, Moko Jumbies are a breathtaking sight every Carnival, and a link to ancestral traditions. Writers elisha efua bartels, Caroline Mackenzie, Amílcar Sanatan, and Portia Subran read newly commissioned stories inspired by the Moko Jumbie, plus an adrenaline-raising performance by Shynel Brizan and Stephanie Kanhai. In partnership with #1000mokos
A powerful presence in UK culture, Jamaica-born Linton Kwesi Johnson is celebrated for his poetry and music. Now a new book of his prose writing, Time Come, collects his essays, speeches, and reviews in a wide-ranging exploration of Caribbean and Black British culture of the past five decades. In conversation with Ronald Cummings.
It’s a two-part, laid-back, high energy celebration of T&T’s emerging writing talent! Our New Talent Showcase spotlights up and coming authors Hadassah K. Williams and Deneka Thomas, followed by our signature open mic event, with featured author Deborah Matthews, shortlisted for the 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Want to share your work in our Stand […]
A lineup of short films investigates the connections between Moko Jumbie mas, Carnival creativity, and community, curated by Kriston Chen: The Dying Swan, dir. Christopher Laird (10:00) Fantastic Friday, dir. Shari Petti (10:30) High on Mas, dir. Shaun Rambaran (4:14) Pay D Devil (trailer), dir. Drew Howell (1:36) Stick Is Life, dir. Miquel Galofré (9:50) […]
Love and desire in all their forms are age-old literary subjects and themes. How can you transform your own experiences of intimacy into compelling poems that celebrate the diversity of love through unforgettable images and seductive rhythms? Adam Lowe, author of Patterflash and the UK’s LGBT+ History Month Poet Laureate, guides you through the process.
Poets Jason Allen-Paisant (Self-Portrait as Othello) and Celia Sorhaindo (Radical Normalisation) write about multiplicities of selves and personas. Hosted by L. Renée, Assistant Director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center at James Madison University.
Elizabeth “Lady” Montano talks to Keron “Sheriff” Thompson about King of Soca, her long-awaited illustrated biography of her son Machel, T&T’s soca star.
The short story has a special place in Caribbean literature — and today’s writers are keeping the tradition of short fiction alive, with vivid characters and themes reflecting our past and present. Featuring Kirk Budhooram, Cecil Browne, Camille Hernandez-Ramdwar, and Ken Jaikaransingh, in conversation with Celeste Mohammed. In partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation
Internationally, there’s growing awareness that the problem of climate change and its impact on vulnerable societies — like ours in the Caribbean — is also a question of climate justice, tied to long histories of inequality and exploitation.
A showcase of readings on the theme “The Return: by members of the Writers Union of T&T — plus a feature appearance by Jamaican writer Sharma Taylor, talking about how to build a literary career at home in the Caribbean.
Ideas meet costumes and performance in T&T’s traditional protest masquerade, with a theme inspired by our preceding Big Ideas debate: the looming climate crisis and the Caribbean. In partnership with the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts With the continued support of the Port of Spain City Corporation and the National Carnival Commission
A showcase of cultural treasures from the Banyan film archive: Caribbean Eye: Talk and More Talk (1992, 30:00) Much of Caribbean culture is oral if not aural. This programme features many of the Caribbean’s best oral performers and “composers”: Louise Bennett, Paul Keens-Douglas, Kamau Brathwaite, Michael Smith, Mutabaruka, Jeannette Layne-Clarke, Bruce St. John, and […]
The festival’s centrepiece awards ceremony recognises the past year’s best books of poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction, and the winner of this year’s award for distinguished service to Caribbean letters. With a guest reading by the winner of the NGC Youth Writer Award for 2022. By invitation.