🧵1/2 ✨️Happy Holidays from the Bocas Lit Fest Team! ✨️ 🙌We've had an incredibly busy and equally amazing 2025, full of words, stories, and ideas. 🙏Thank you for being an integral part of our story. #bocas2025

🔔Two weeks left to submit!🔔 🏆The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature celebrates books of fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction by writers of Caribbean birth/citizenship. 📚Full submission guidelines at this link: bocaslitfest.com/awards/ocm/ #OCMBocasPrize2026

Trying to find the perfect gift for the aspiring writer in your life? How about a Bocas Academy offering: ✍Jumpstart January - a month of writing prompts 📝‘Write It for the Eye: an intro to visual poetry ✍‘The Funny Thing Is…’ - Writing humour and satire Info at academy.bocaslitfest.com #bocas2025

1/3 From encouraging parents to read to children and the correlation between reading for pleasure and performing well at school, understanding the world and their place in it, and becoming critical thinkers, better citizens, working professionals, and leaders, to the value of Caribbean stories.../2

1/5 In Nov, the Bocas Academy hosted two masterclasses for authors actively writing for the "tween" age group (9-12 years old). ‘Hooking & Holding on to Your Tween Audience’ and ‘Launching your Tween Novel’, facilitated by Danielle Y.C. McClean & Carol Mitchell respectively…/2

1/5 Strengthening Voices Through Creativity! We were honoured to partner with Chosen Hands, an art and wellness initiative founded by Anika Plowden-Corentin, for a powerful and deeply inspiring awareness session with the girls of St. Jude’s School for Girls. .../2

🔥Over 600 students from 13 secondary schools across Trinidad and Tobago were exposed to the power of reading, writing and sharing their stories through the We Lit School Tour 2025. .../2

🎄Do you have a Christmas story to tell? Sign up for Trini Christmas Tales, a festive open mic! 🎤Share real or fictional tales of Christmas past, present or future; tales of joy, sorrow or Trini Christmas commesse! 🗓 Sat 13 Dec, 4.30 pm ✍️Sign up/RSVP: bit.ly/TriniChristmas Free and open to all

Happening this month at #TheWritersCentre! 🎵Xmas Couch Jam with John Hussain, 07 Dec 11 am 📷Trini Christmas Tales Open Mic, 13 Dec 4.30 pm 📚 Sleepy Cat Book Club, 14 Dec 4-6 pm ☕Books & Brews with Jeannine A. Cook, 20 Dec 3-4pm 📍14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair #bocas2025 @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social

📣A month of daily writing prompts and exercises plus access to the BA Writers Room! Join us (from anywhere) for Jumpstart January and unlock your creativity! academy.bocaslitfest.com/event/jumpst... #bocasacademy #writingchallenge #writingprompts #BAwritersroom #CaribbeanWriters

1/4 We join the national and wider community in mourning the passing of television and film producer, director, and writer Danielle Dieffenthaller. In addition to an extensive career that included creating groundbreaking television series and music videos for Caribbean artists …/2

The Family Reading Circle at the St Joseph Rd Community Centre in East Dry River was one for the books! Featured children's book author Mary Cuffy read from her ladybug book series and had the children singing along to Lola’s adventures. More: www.facebook.com/share/p/1Bot...

📣Registration is open for ‘The Funny Thing Is…’ Caroline Mackenzie, author of One Year of Ugly, leads an interactive workshop for writers of prose fiction and nonfiction of any level, exploring the fundamentals of humour and satire. academy.bocaslitfest.com/event/the-fu... #bocasacademy

📣Registration is open for ‘Write It for the Eye: an intro to visual poetry - Writer Nicholas Laughlin leads this highly interactive, hands-on studio session, taking inspiration from classic and contemporary works of visual and concrete poetry. academy.bocaslitfest.com/event/write-... #bocasacademy

📣Registration is open for Bocas Academy's Jumpstart January: a month of daily writing prompts + exercises to unlock your creativity! Plus, access to the BA Writers Room! academy.bocaslitfest.com/event/jumpst... #bocasacademy

🎄It’s almost time!🎄'Not Another Christmas Market' happens this Sat 15 Nov, featuring 🎁unique gifts, crafts,📚books, food, drinks and live music 🎶 to get you in the festive spirit! There’s so much to choose from for your loved ones, or for yourself! 📍14 Alcazar St., St.Clair 🆓FREE ENTRY #bocas2025

1/8 In celebration of the 40th anniversary of @peepaltreepress.bsky.social, a leading publisher of Caribbean literature, @bocaslitfest.bsky.social marked the literary milestone with a special event featuring 5 Peepal Tree authors. Each read from a Peepal Tree title especially meaningful to them.../2

I’ll be joining @bocaslitfest.bsky.social ‘s 40th anniversary celebration of @peepaltreepress.bsky.social this week, reading from a Peepal Tree title that is especially meaningful to me. Which book shall I read from? There’s only one way to find out. Come on down. #Bocas2025 #PeepalTreePress

Happening in November at #TheWritersCentre! 🗣Celebrating Peepal Tree Press for their 40th anniversary 🎁Not Another Christmas Market 📖Books & Brews: Sarah Beckett 🍽Spice Pals Cookbook Club 📚Sleepy Cat Book Club ☕Art of Coffee & Ink tattoo pop-up by Kim Kong 📍14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair #bocas2025

"Lauren Francis-Sharma’s fiction spans continents and centuries — from a small village on Trinidad’s North Coast to 18th-century Montana to post-apartheid South Africa — yet always circles back to questions of identity, justice, and forgiveness.” More: guardian.co.tt/article/insi... #bocas2025

📣November’s Bocas Book Bulletin is here! Featuring new Caribbean releases, upcoming events and workshops, awards & prizes, and October’s bestsellers at @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social! Enjoy: trinidadexpress.com/features/loc... #bocas2025

BYOBB is quickly shaping up to be a community favourite! Readers & writers came together at #TheWritersCentre to share what they’ve been reading & celebrate Calypso History Month with producer Judith Laird & soca artist, songwriter & bandleaderNadia Batson. facebook.com/share/p/14Lk... #bocas2025

In the best way, emotions ran high on Tuesday evening at The Writers Centre as Lauren Francis-Sharma read from Casualties of Truth, and discussed its themes (abuses of history & the costs of revenge) with Breanne Mc Ivor. More: www.facebook.com/media/set?va... #bocas2025 @groveatlantic.bsky.social

📣The pioneering publishing house @peepaltreepress.bsky.social turns 40 in 2025! Join us on Sat 8th Nov to celebrate with a special readings from five Peepal Tree authors: James Christopher Aboud, Andre Bagoo, Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné, J. Vijay Maharaj, and Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw. #bocas2025 .../2

Thanks to all who joined us for a memorable two-part evening celebrating International Creole Month: ‘Palé palé-ou: Why our Patois heritage matters’ — a Big Ideas conversation, & a screening of 'Aliker' at the Alliance Française of T&T. More photos: facebook.com/media/set/?s... #bocas2025 #aftt2025

Storybooks open worlds of imagination for our little ones. We had a 'full verandah' at The Writers Centre for October's Family Reading Circle featuring children’s book author Sonja Dumas, and hosted with Let's Read TT. More at: facebook.com/share/p/1LcQ... #bocas2025 @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social

Join us on 25 Oct for a 2-part evening celebrating International Creole Month! 🕠5.00 pm, The Writers Centre - Palé palé-ou: Why our Patois heritage matters 🕠6.30 pm, The Alliance Française - 📽Film screening: Aliker 📍14 & 17 Alcazar Street, St. Clair Free! RSVP bit.ly/BLF-ICM #bocas2025 #aftt2025

📣 Lauren Francis-Sharma is coming to The Writers Centre! Join us for readings from her novel, Casualties of Truth, and a conversation with Breanne Mc Ivor. 🗓️Tues 28 Oct 🕠5.30 pm 📍14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair 🆓 FREE; open to all #bocas2025 @groveatlantic.bsky.social @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social

Join us for the Family Reading Circle for a morning of fun & interactive reading with Sonja Dumas, author of Avocado & Zaboca! 📚Sat 25 Oct 🕙10 am - 12 noon 📍14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair 🆓Ideal for children, 7 years old & younger, with a parent or guardian #bocas2025 @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social

🔔Save the date! The Writer's Centre's 'Not Another Christmas Market' returns on Sat 15 Nov! 🛍We're doing Christmas shopping our way with🎁unique gifts, crafts,📚books, food, drinks & live music to get you in the festive spirit!🎶 📍14 Alcazar Street, St.Clair #bocas2025 @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social

1/2 Caribbean writers! We want to hear from you. Bocas Academy, the Bocas Lit Fest’s writer development programme, has been running for over a year! We’ve offered 10 virtual and in-person workshops, seminars and masterclasses on writing fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. .../2

🏆Publishers and authors! The first deadline approaches!🏆 📚Books published between 1 Jan and 31 Oct, 2025, must be delivered to the Bocas Lit Fest by 7 Nov, 2025. Submission guidelines for the 2026 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature at: bocaslitfest.com/awards/ocm/ #bocas2025 #OCMBocasPrize2026

📣 Join us for a BYOBB social! 🕠 5.30 pm on Thurs 30 Oct at The Writers Centre 📍14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair. 📽We’re celebrating Calypso History Month with a screening of the film "Women in Kaiso", a chat with producer Judith Laird, and a special guest appearance! .../2

Join us for the Family Reading Circle for a morning of fun & interactive reading with Sonja Dumas, author of Avocado & Zaboca! 📚 Sat 25 Oct 🕙 10 am to 12 noon 📍14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair 🆓Ideal for children, 7 yrs and younger, with a parent or guardian #bocas2025 @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social

Join us on 25 Oct for a two-part evening celebrating International Creole Month! 🕠5.00 pm, The Writers Centre - Palé palé-ou: Why our Patois heritage matters (discussion) 🕠6.30 pm, The Alliance Française - 📽A special film screening Free to attend! Register at bit.ly/BLF-ICM #bocas2025 #aftt2025

📣October’s Bocas Book Bulletin is here! Featuring new Caribbean releases, news of awards/prizes and workshops, and September’s bestsellers at @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social! Read the Bulletin at: trinidadexpress.com/features/loc... #bocas2025

1/3 How do you stand before an expectant audience, meet their collective gaze, and deliver all the passion and certainty of your short stories, poems, and essays, if your voice is shaking and your knees are, too? .../2

Save the date! Hosted by @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social and happening at The Writers Centre!

1/4 Two prizewinning authors from TT recently claimed the spotlight at international literary festivals in Colombia & Kenya. “Looking at the programmes for FILSAI & Macondo this year, I’m struck by a common concern with the role of writers & books in making connections across... /2

Congratulations to all ten poets shortlisted for the 2025 @tseliotprize.bsky.social, with a special shout out to St. Lucian author Catherine-Esther Cowie for her debut collection, Heirloom published by @carcanet.bsky.social! Read more about this prestigious award at: tseliot.com/prize/t-s-el...

1/2 Congratulations to June Aming, one of our five 2024 Bocas Breakthrough Fellows, on being longlisted for the biennial @drfwritersaward.bsky.social Deborah Rogers Award for emerging writers!Aming is the only longlistee from the Caribbean 🔥 .../2

Open to emerging Caribbean poets who have not yet published a full-length book of poetry, the Neville Dawes First Book Prize celebrates the work with a $1,000 USD cash prize and publication of a full-length manuscript. Details at: sites.brown.edu/caribbeanpoe... @kwamedawes.bsky.social

October at #TheWritersCentre! 🎵John Hussain 🖼Vision Board Workshop 🍽Spice Pals Cookbook Club 👪Family Reading Circle ☕Scarlett Ibis James 🗣Big Ideas: Int'l Creole Month 📚Sleepy Cat Book Club 🗣Lauren Francis-Sharma 📚BYOBB Social: National Calypso Month #bocas2025 @paperbasedbookshop.bsky.social

Odiyo, a Caribbean digital audiobook platform, has announced the acquisition of audio rights to five celebrated titles from @akashicbooks.bsky.social, and will bring to life works by compelling voices in Caribbean and diaspora literature. Full story at: jamaicaobserver.com/2025/10/02/c...

Reading together as a family is the first step towards developing a lifelong habit of reading. We had a “full verandah” at The Writers Centre for September's Family Reading Circle, with both little ones and grownups getting excited about books. More: www.facebook.com/media/set/?v... #bocas2025

All are welcome at The Writers Centre, a home for writers, readers, and book-lovers! Located at 14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair, Port of Spain, you’ll find not just the headquarters of the Bocas Lit Fest, but also the beloved Paper Based Bookshop, and the ever-popular coffeeshop Sleepy Cat Cafe, .../2

1/2 Calling all writers of science fiction & fantasy! Registration is open for a 2-part online masterclass with Poet Laureate Brandon O'Brien. Unlock your own capacity to examine our past, expose our present & explore our multiple futures through speculative fiction & poetry. .../2

1/2 Stories build worlds. On a sunny morning at San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina International Book Fair, Melvina Hazard, Bocas Lit Fest's Children’s Programme Manager, and Zelly had a fantastic conversation during their storytelling session Oralitura — Concierto de Cuentos with.../2

📣 Join us on Sat 4 Oct for the ‘First Words’ Young Writers Showcase! 🎉Let's celebrate the completed and in-progress original works of fiction by Jorel Ferguson, Caiden Francis, Andre Lucio, and Isabel McCollin. 📍The Writers Centre, 14 Alcazar Street, St Clair #bocas2025 #FirstWords #YoungWriters

The Centro Cultural San Andrés invited Melvina Hazard, Children’s Programme Manager at Bocas Lit Fest to bring the children’s storytelling caravan to San Andrés. Visiting the First Baptist Primary School and the Flowers Hill Bilingual School, earlier this week, along with... /2