Festival Programmes
Making a space for Caribbean stories and voices — here at home and in the world at large — is at the very core of our mission, our ethos, our passion, and our everyday work at the Bocas Lit Fest. It’s what we do at the festival, and it’s why from the beginning we’ve worked so assiduously to seek out and develop new writing talent, and instigate opportunities for our writers.
We are a year-round writing and literary arts development organisation, with numerous initiatives forging links and opportunities between writers, readers, publishers and others.
Sponsored by NGC, the yearly NGC Bocas Lit Fest is Trinidad and Tobago’s premier annual literary festival: a lively celebration of books, writers, writing, and ideas, with a Caribbean focus and international scope.
Featured Events
Awards and prizes
Who will win this year's awards?
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 and literary non-fiction which demonstrate literary qualities and use literary techniques, regardless of subject matter.
The Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters honours and celebrates the contributions of the editors, broadcasters, publishers, critics, and others who have shaped the evolution of Caribbean literature behind the scenes.
Featured Participants
new and noteworthy
Workshops
Click on photo to reveal workshop details. Please note some festival workshops are $100 TT.
PRESERVATION FOR BEGINNERS, WITH DANIELLE FRASER
The National Library’s conservator leads a hands-on session on the long-term preservation of paper-based artefacts, from prized books to photographs to family documents.
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
NALIS
FANTASTIC FRIDAY: WORLD-BUILDING 101, WITH PREMEE MOHAMED
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
1st Floor Seminar Room, NALIS
POSTCARD POEMS, WITH KAYO CHINGONYI
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
1st Floor Seminar Room, NALIS
START SHORT, WITH ZALIKA REID-BENTA
For most budding fiction writers, the short story is where their journey begins. What are the fundamentals of good short fiction, and what lessons do shorter forms teach a writer about moving on to the novel?
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
1st Floor Seminar Room, NALIS
INNER LANDSCAPES, WITH MARCHELLE FARRELL
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
1st Floor Seminar Room, NALIS
READING FOR MENTAL HEALTH, WITH ELLA BERTHOUD
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
1st Floor Seminar Room, NALIS
The Bocas Book Bulletin
Welcome to the latest installment of the Bocas Book Bulletin, a monthly roundup of Caribbean literary news, curated by the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad and Tobago’s annual literary festival, and published in the Sunday Express.
Youth Projects
The Scotiabank Write Away! Young Adult Literature Project funded by the Scotiabank Foundation continued with this year’s project edition in collaboration with the College of Science, Technology, and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT). The aim was to equip young writers and communication enthusiasts with the skills needed to succeed in their future careers.
The Non-Fiction Workshop Series includes Business Writing, Multi-Media Journalism, PR & Marketing, Social Media Communication, Feature Writing, Copywriting, Broadcast News Writing, News Report Writing and Scriptwriting.
Children's Projects
The festival season starts with a series of storytelling sessions with the NGC Children’s Bocas Lit Fest Storytelling Caravan at venues all around the country from 7 March to 27 April 2024. This year is the 14th children’s festival taking the Caravan to ten locations throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
Bocas Storytime is a dedicated home for children’s videos showcasing Caribbean words, stories and ideas, including book read-alouds, local storytelling, author interviews and more — growing new readers in our region with every fun video.
