A monthly roundup of news about Caribbean books and writers, presented by the Bocas Lit Fest.
New releases
Dante’s Inferno: A New Translation (Carcanet Press), by former Poet Laureate of Jamaica Lorna Goodison reconstitutes the 14th century narrative, so it is told in both Jamaican Patois and Jamaican English. Goodison’s Dante proceeds through the caverns of the underworld, guided by none other than the iconic Louise Bennett, “Miss Lou”. Other inspiring and well-known figures line the pathways of this Dante’s travels, too: Derek Walcott himself makes a striking appearance, alongside an assembly of raconteurs, politicians, and storytellers. This new translation, a work 25 years in the making, radically reframes an Anglophone literary classic in an undaunted Caribbean construction.
Honeysuckle and Bone, by Trisha Tobias (Sweet July Books) unfolds on the Jamaican estate of the wealthy and prestigious Hall clan. Fleeing her own family, 18-year-old Carina Marshall accepts a position as an au pair for the Halls at their imposing residence, Blackbead Estate. Carina hopes that a relocation to her mother’s island of Jamaica will signal a fresh start in life, but she is soon swept up in the secrets of the grand home and its inhabitants. Bringing Jamaican folklore to an American-Jamaican protagonist’s perspective, Honeysuckle and Bone offers both cultural context and worldbuilding to a young adult audience.
Quiet Dawn (Duke University Press) by Jean-Claude Fignolé, translated from French by Kaiama L Glover and Laurent Dubois, now appears for the first time in English since its original 1990 publication. Charting Haiti’s unprecedented history-making journey from French colony to independent black republic, Fignolé’s expansive storyline encompasses Haitian life at the turn of the 18th century to the late 20th century. A Spiralist novel, i.e. one that eschews linear storytelling in order to challenge conventional notions of plot, Quiet Dawn directly addresses the Haitian Revolution, through the eyes of both the plantocracy, and the enslaved peoples under their control.
A Different Hurricane (Dundurn Press) by H Nigel Thomas presents the realities of LGBTQI+ discrimination, seen through the experiences of two young men who must flee their homophobic circumstances in St Vincent, to seek better but separate lives. When they return, Gordon and Allan do not emerge into society as themselves; they elect to rejoin the secrecy under which they first fell in love. A Different Hurricane confronts the harms caused, not only to the ill-fated lovers, but to those in their immediate lives, through these damaging silences and mechanisms of shame-mongering. This is a sobering but inarguably timely read.
Caribbean Herbalism: Traditional Wisdom and Modern Herbal Healing (Ulysses Press) by land steward and ethnobotanist Aleya Fraser is a rich and immersive guide into the medicinal realities of our own Caribbean plants, many of which remain unknown to most contemporary urban-dwelling citizens. Drawing on Trinidad and Tobago’s numerous flora resources, Fraser showcases over 40 herbs with healing and supplementary properties, providing an indispensable toolkit for preparing recipes at home. Written in a combination of ancestral knowledge, history, and ethnobotanical research, Caribbean Herbalism seeks to directly impact the holistic well-being of each of its readers, one healing plant at a time.
Claire Adam makes 2025 Booker Prize longlist
Trinidadian-Irish novelist Claire Adam’s second book, Love Forms (Faber) has earned a spot on the 2025 Booker Prize longlist. Love Forms hinges on the decision of its protagonist Dawn Bishop, who surrendered her child for adoption in Trinidad’s 1980s. In their official citation for Love Forms, the judging panel, chaired by Roddy Doyle, said, “Dawn’s voice haunts us still, with its beautiful and quiet urgency. Love Forms is a rare and low-pitched achievement. It reads like a hushed conversation overheard in the next room.” Adam joins a longlist of 13, which includes former Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai. The 2025 Booker Prize shortlist of six books will be announced on September 23, and the overall winner will be announced on November 10. The overall prize confers £50,000 to its recipient, with each shortlisted writer set to receive £2,500.
Kevin Jared Hosein teaches storytelling for Bocas Academy
Hosein, author of Hungry Ghosts, will lead a masterclass on crafting compelling narratives. Participants working in all genres of writing are welcome to attend Hosein’s masterclass, as the skills and craft lessons taught will be applicable to a variety of projects.
Hosein, winner of the 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the 2024 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, and the 2024 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature (Fiction), described the techniques to be covered in his masterclass. “No matter your undertaking, we’ll examine structure not as a rigid scaffold, but as a breathing organism. I’ll show you how to create narrative momentum by withholding, by circling back, by rupturing chronology when necessary. We’ll look at how form mirrors function, and how to craft your own compelling narrative,” Hosein said.
Further information is available at academy.bocaslitfest.com.
Submissons open for Project Fusion Junction
Project Fusion Junction, a multinational storytelling project for teens, spanning Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Northern Ireland, is open for submissions. The project will be conducted in-person and virtually through workshops and story creation sessions over a six-month period, giving teens the opportunity to work with experts in animation, graphic design, artists, musicians, and writers. The final product, a three-chapter graphic novel in both print and multimedia formats, will be widely broadcast and distributed. For further information and to apply, visit https://www.bocaslitfest.com/project-fusion-junction/.
Caribbean bestsellers
1. Look At You, by Amanda Smyth
2. Ever Since We Small, by Celeste Mohammed
3. The Beginning of a Journey, by Earl Lovelace
4. The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh, by Ingrid Persaud
5. Love Forms, by Claire Adam
