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The 2022 NGC Bocas Lit Fest is here! The annual festival is carded for April 28-May 1.
Festival and programme director Nicholas Laughlin said for the first time in its 12-year history, the event is centred on a central theme, Four Days to Change the World.
“Change” was very much on the organiser's minds, said a release, as they sat down to plan the 2022 festival programme. The 2022 festival line-up of readings, discussions, and performances "features writers and others whose work grapples with the immense changes we are living through, and the essential changes we urgently need in order to create a more just and more liveable world.”
[caption id="attachment_951149" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Celeste Mohammed -[/caption]
In the release, Laughlin said the season of change was launched in January with a special edition of the festival’s Pavement Poets video series. He said it continued with the seventh season of Bios and Bookmarks author interview series, which ran from March 17-April 21.
He said the Children’s Storytelling Caravan, a popular part of the event, is expected to resume later in the year. In addition, the entity is launching a new dedicated children’s YouTube channel, offering on-demand programming for young audiences, which goes live on April 30.
[caption id="attachment_951150" align="alignnone" width="450"] Merle Hodge -[/caption]
The NGC Bocas Youth Fest, launched last year, will return this year, running through the month of October, during the first term of the school year, with a range of lively sessions covering writing in all forms and genres, specially tailored to young adult audiences. The 2021 NGC Bocas Youth Fest included writing and spoken-word masterclasses, an energetic youth debate, and the launch of the NGC Bocas Youth Writer Award.
“The Youth Writer Award is just one of the prizes administered by the Bocas Lit Fest, intended not only to recognise and reward literary talent, but to create professional development opportunities for Caribbean writers. Our highest-profile award, of course, is the annual OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, sponsored by One Caribbean Media, now in its 12th year and widely considered the most coveted award for Caribbean authors.”
[caption id="attachment_951147" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Jason Allen-Paisant -[/caption]
Laughlin said two of the three people shortlisted for the prize this year – Jason Allen-Paisant, winner in the poetry category, and Celeste Mohammed, winner in the fiction category – are first-time authors, joined by non-fiction winner Kei Miller, a past OCM Bocas Prize winner, in contending for the overall prize of US$10,000. The results will be announced in a virtual ceremony on April 30.
He said the 2022 Bocas Emerging Writers Fellowships were set up to support two emerging Caribbean writers in advancing or completing their first full-length works. These fellowships will run for six months, and include a cash award, mentorship from an established author, publication of a chapbook, and participation in an intensive online workshop hosted by the UK organisation Arvon. The winners will appear at the festival.
Laughlin said the First Citizens National Poetry Slam, one of the festival’s most lively projects, celebrates its tenth year in 2022. The winner will take home a prize of $50,000, the largest spoken-word prize in the anglophone Caribbean. The finals will be televised to the nation and the world.
[caption id="attachment_951148" align="alignnone" width="600"] Olive Senior -[/caption]
Changes in the leadership of the organisation also took place in 2022, with founder Marina Salandy-Brown moving to a new role as president of the Bocas Lit Fest board, Laughlin taking on a broader role as festival director, and Jean-Claude Cornand becoming CEO.
Laughlin said Stand and Deliver, the event’s signature platform for new and upcoming writers of fiction, poetry, and spoken word, where they can share their work with the festival’s audience across the Caribbean, will take place on April 29 at 6 pm, April 30 at 4.30 pm and May 1 at 4.30 pm.
“Including 20 events and nearly 100 participants, our online programme runs across four evenings, from April 28-May 1, streamed simultaneously via our website, YouTube, and Facebook. All our festival events are free, requiring no tickets or registration."
This edition, he said, will be the third and probably last in a completely virtual online format.
[caption id="attachment_951146" align="alignnone" width="600"] Funso-Aiyejina -[/caption]
"All festival events are free and open to the online public. Tickets or registration are not required, and you don’t need a YouTube or Facebook account to view events on these platforms.”
Books and merchandise can be obtained from the festival’s booksellers, Paper Based Bookshop (625 3197; paperbasedbookshop@gmail.com) and Metropolitan Book Suppliers (623 3462; metropolitanbooksuppliersltd@gmail.com).
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Dates and times
Thursday 28 April: 6–9 pm
Friday 29 April: 6–9.30 pm
Saturday 30 April: 4.30–8.30 pm
Sunday 1 May: 4.30–9 pm
 
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