Nicholas Laughlin is the new festival and programme director for the NGC Bocas Lit Fest.
The writer and former editor of Caribbean Beat and The Caribbean Review of Books has been involved in the literary festival for over ten years and is now tasked with the overall creative and intellectual direction of the festival and our other projects.
Laughlin, who was at the helm of the literary festival at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and was responsible for some of the unique changes to its programme, recently spoke with the Express about how the festival was able to overcome the challenges of the last two years due to the pandemic, this year’s programme and his role as festival director.
Laughlin said the fundamental mission of the NGC Bocas Lit Fest remains the same —“to showcase Caribbean and Caribbean diaspora writers and books; seek out and help develop new talent; expand audiences for Caribbean words, stories, and ideas.”
“I was part of the original group of colleagues and advisers who Marina Salandy-Brown assembled in early 2010 to brainstorm the idea for a literary festival, and have worked closely with her since then to shape Bocas—not just the annual festival but the array of programmes and projects we run year-round.
“Back in 2011 when the time came to officially launch our inaugural festival, we had to invent formal titles for the team members, so I became the programme director as the programme of events was my primary area of focus. When Marina stepped back as festival director at the start of 2022, I moved into that role, with responsibility for the overall creative and intellectual direction of the festival and our other projects. It’s not a radical change from what I was doing all along—similar work, but certainly more of it, working closely with my other colleagues on the programming side of our operations,” Laughlin said.
Laughlin said over the last two years the festival has grown through some unique challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Laughlin said the literary festival’s programming has evolved over the past 12 years. “There will always be new writers, new voices, new questions or fresh approaches to age-old questions, and our programme will need to keep up. That also means coming up with news ways or mediums for reaching audiences. Covid-19 first hit this country about six weeks before our planned 2020 festival, which we had to make an overnight decision to postpone.
“Bocas was one of the first arts organisations in the Caribbean to pivot to virtual programming when the country was in lockdown. By the start of May 2020, we were doing online events, and we’ve never stopped. So the past two years have been a period of major change and learning for us. If all goes well, and Covid-19 has no more big surprises in store, our 2022 festival will be our last in a completely virtual format, and we hope to start doing in-person events again in the coming months,” he said.
“But whatever format or medium we’re working in, our fundamental mission remains the same: to showcase Caribbean and Caribbean-diaspora writers and books; seek out and help develop new talent; expand audiences for Caribbean words, stories, and ideas; and show that ‘literature’ is an art form not just for a few but for everyone of all ages, whether your preference is a 500-page novel, a spoken word performance, drama, clever or moving song lyrics, hard-hitting essays, illuminating memoirs or micro-stories you can read on your phone,” Laughlin said.
Adapt to survive
Laughlin said this year’s programme will see some changes. Change was very much on our minds as we sat down to plan our 2022 festival programme, and this year, we’ve done something different: for the first time ever, we’ve created a festival around a single, overarching theme.
“We’re excited to announce that for the 2022 NGC Bocas Lit Fest, we’re presenting our regional and international audience with Four Days to Change the World. Including 20 events and nearly 100 participants, this online programme runs across four evenings, from Thursday, April 28, to Sunday, May 1.
“Here in the Caribbean, like everywhere else in the world, we’re living through a time of extraordinary change, social and cultural, technological and environmental. Two years of the Covid-19 pandemic have forced us to change the way we work and play, even our simplest daily routines. Meanwhile, the threat of global climate change is looming, and recent events have compelled us to confront social inequalities in dire need of change. To survive, we need to adapt.
“Our writers have risen to these many challenges with a host of recent books that investigate ideas about change in every sphere and field, whether personal or collective, political or cultural. Through genres as diverse as fiction, poetry and life-writing, contemporary Caribbean writers are courageously exploring the changes we are all living through and the changes we need in order to create a more just society,” Laughlin said.
Laughlin is now focused on executing this year’s programme and planning for 2023. “Everyone misses the energy of our in-person festival, which was always known for its informal and lively atmosphere and the opportunity to meet and interact with writers’ face to face. That’s nearly impossible to recreate in an online space. And the phenomenon of “Zoom fatigue” is very real.
“On the other hand, doing online programming has made our events accessible in a different way, to viewers just about anywhere, who can watch in real time or catch up with events after they livestream. So as we go forward and brainstorm our programming for the rest of the year and 2023, we’ll very much be thinking about a hybrid model. Generally, the past two years have taught us the importance of being adaptable and quick to evolve as circumstances demand,” he said.
