Book Bulletin
Bocas Book Bulletin: July 2021
A monthly roundup of Caribbean literary news, curated by the NGC Bocas Lit Fest and published in the Sunday Express.
New Releases
Mother Muse (Carcanet), the latest book of poems by eminent Jamaican writer Lorna Goodison, orbits around two important “mother” figures in Jamaican music: Sister Mary Ignatius, the nun who ran Kingston’s Alpha Boys School, celebrated for nurturing musical talent; and Anita “Margarita” Mahfood, a celebrated dancer and lover of ill-fated musician Don Drummond — who was an Alpha Boys alumnus. Other poems contemplate, celebrate, and elegise woman ranging from the famous to the tragic to the unknown. “O mothers of Jamaica from henceforth we will be Queens,” says one poem.
Thinking with Trees (Carcanet), the debut book of poems by Jamaica-born, UK-based Jason Allen-Paisant, rethinks the genre of pastoral poetry, bringing ecological awareness and a sense of historical justice and injustice to the landscapes of his two home islands, Jamaica and Britain. “Here, trees represent an alternative space, a refuge from an ultra-consumerist culture,” he writes.
Fortune (Peepal Tree), the third novel by Irish-Trinidadian Amanda Smyth, is set in south Trinidad in the 1920s, during the island’s first oil rush. Based on actual events, the book “catches Trinidad at a moment of historical change whose consequences reverberate down to present concerns with climate change and environmental destruction,” writes the publisher. “As a story of love and ambition, its focus is on individuals so enmeshed in their desires that they blindly enter the territory of classic Greek tragedy where actions always have consequences.”
The Shape of That Hurt (Peepal Tree), a groundbreaking collection of essays by the eminent literary scholar Gordon Rohlehr, has been returned to print nearly three decades after its original publication, now part of the Peepal Tree Press Caribbean Modern Classics series. Taking its title from a poem by the late Jamaican writer Anthony McNeill, the book offers “deep questioning of the conjunction between politics and aesthetics,” examining writers ranging from Martin Carter and George Lamming to Kamau Brathwaite, alongside a crucial essay on how soca lyricists responded to T&T’s 1990 attempted coup.
Simone Breaks All the Rules (Scholastic), a new YA rom-com by bestselling Haitian-American writer Debbie Rigaud, follows teenager Simone as she tries to break free from the "boy-proof container" that her strict Haitian parents have set around her life. "Perfect for fans of Netflix's Never Have I Ever and You Should See Me in a Crown, this hilarious and heartfelt #ownvoices rom-com from rising star Debbie Rigaud is pure Black girl joy."
Also for the YA readers, Blood Like Magic (Margaret K. McElderry Books) is the debut book by Trinidadian-Canadian author Liselle Sambury. The main character Voya Thomas is a 16-year-old Black Canadian girl with Trinidadian roots—and a fledgling witch. Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, calling it a "breath of fresh air for the genre; readers will be spellbound. (Fantasy. 14-18)".
Awards & Prizes
For the third time this year, St. Lucia-born, Canada-based writer Canisia Lubrin has received a major literary award. On 23 June, her sophomore book The Dyzgraphxist was named the winner of the 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize, in the Canadian category. The book previously won the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, and Lubrin was also named a winner of a 2021 Windham Campbell Prize.
Nicole Sealey, a poet from St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, has been shortlisted for the 2021 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem, to be awarded by the UK’s Forward Arts Foundation. The winner will be announced at a ceremony later this year.
Another St. Thomian writer, Kacen Callender, was named the winner of the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Children’s Middle Grade books, for their novel King and the Dragonflies. Callender also won the same award in 2019 for their book Hurricane Child.
Jamaica-born writer Kei Miller was named the winner of a 2021 Cholmondeley Award, given annually by the UK Society of Authors. This is an honorary award recognising a body of poetry, typically presented to five poets each year. Other Caribbean-descended winners in past years have included Vahni Capildeo, Hannah Lowe, and Malika Booker.
Two Jamaican poets were recently named winners of Musgrave Medals, awarded annually by the Institute of Jamaica for achievements in arts and science. Founded in 1887, and named for a British colonial governor, Musgrave Medals are presented in three categories. For 2021, a Musgrave Gold Medal was awarded to poet Ishion Hutchinson and a Silver Medal to poet Shara McCallum.
The Bocas Children’s Book Prize is a new prize to be awarded annually to one English-language book for children written by a Caribbean author. The prize is administered by the Bocas Lit Fest, and supported by the Unit Trust Corporation. It will reward the most outstanding contribution to Caribbean literature for young independent readers, aged 7 to 12. The inaugural prize opened for entries on 1 May, and the submission period ends on 30 July, 2021. The winner, announced in November 2021, will receive a US$1,000 cash prize or the equivalent in TT currency.
Other News
Readers, writers, and book lovers across the region and the diaspora will celebrate “Caribbean Literature Day” on 12 July. This is the second year this date will be observed, after being proposed in 2020 by the organisers of the St. Martin Book Fair, who urge us to “Celebrate the day by reading the works of your favourite Caribbean authors; buying Caribbean books, published in the Caribbean and beyond, and by Caribbean authors; and presenting Caribbean books as gifts. Celebrate the day with books, recitals, and with discussions about books, of poetry, fiction, drama, art, music, and all the other genres by Caribbean writers.”
In Trinidad and Tobago, the Bocas Lit Fest will mark Caribbean Literature Day with a series of online events, accessible to all. These include the latest instalments of the popular Stand and Deliver virtual open mic, where writers at all levels can share their work; the premiere of a new Pavement Poets video, featuring talented young spoken word performers; and a special edition of the interactive BYOBB (Bring Your Own Book and Bottle) series, where readers can join in a wide-ranging and informal conversation via Zoom. You can view all events on 12 July via our Facebook and Youtube pages.
The Bocas Lit Fest also continues its monthly workshop series in July, with two online sessions presented by celebrated writers. On 30 July, novelist and linguist Barbara Lalla (author, most recently, of One Thousand Eyes), will present “Sentence by Sentence: The Language of Fiction”, a workshop combining close reading of classic texts with analysis of grammar and vocabulary, the most basic building blocks of prose. On 31 July “Images Are Poems: An Introduction to Visual Poetry”, is led by 2021 OCM Bocas Prizewinner Andre Bagoo, (author of The Undiscovered Country), exploring the genre of “vispo”, in which language is mined for its visual qualities. Registration details and a schedule of other workshops for 2021 are online at www.bocaslitfest.com/workshops.
The first NGC Bocas Youth Fest, a special virtual festival programme aimed at audiences aged 12 to 25, has been announced for August 2021. Featuring author interviews, a writing masterclass, and the launch of the first ever T&T Youth Writer of the Year award, the NGC Bocas Youth Fest will be presented via YouTube and Facebook, free to all. The detailed programme will be launched later in July, and information is available at www.bocaslitfest.com/youth/youth-festival.