A monthly roundup of news about Caribbean books and writers, presented by the Bocas Lit Fest
New Releases
The Proper Care of Knives (Argotiers Press) is Anu Lakhan’s full-length poetry debut, in which an animist compulsion for the natural world illuminates human preoccupations with wild forms. Characterised by their brevity and the force of their impact, the poems in The Proper Care of Knives do not shy away from the complexity of interpersonal relationships, either, revealing the often fraught truths at the heart of domesticities that may seem benign. Even when the circumstances depicted in these verses feel otherworldly, the roots of the poems are as reassuring, and sometimes as disturbing, as reality itself.
Lost and Found: An A-Z of Neglected Writers of the Anglophone Caribbean (Papillote Press), written and edited by Alison Donnell, excavates and reclaims the work of numerous Caribbean women writers, whose creative legacies were often overshadowed — or given no recognition at all — in comparison with their famous male colleagues. This book of prodigious research shines light on mid-20th-century writers from Antigua, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad, all of whom made impressive contributions to the creative arts. A meticulously compiled bibliography of source material accompanies the text, to springboard further reading by researchers and scholars.
Other Worlds (Penguin Random House Canada) by André Alexis takes its reader on a narrative and stylistic saga, introducing them to a Trinidadian Obeah man, a writer saddled with an unusual caretaker’s position, and a host of inventive characters. The short stories that comprise Other Worlds are by turns playful and transgressive, using both Western and non-Western modes of storytelling to make their propositions come alive. Though global in their reach, Trinidadianness remains central to the workings of many of Alexis’s short stories in the collection, as the island’s people move across space and time.
The Devil’s Horsewhip (Barbican Press) by Damion Spencer is a visceral debut novel-in-stories, an exploration of death and darkness in the lives of characters who have evaded that ultimate fate once before. Bringing Jamaican folklore and ritual to bear on its protagonists’ fates with a chilling immediacy, The Devil’s Horsewhip keeps one foot in the subgenre of literary suspense: duppies, walking death, and other spectral visitations are never far from Spencer’s prose. Other themes addressed in the novel are an expatriate configuration of home, cultural alienation, and rituals of remembrance in the throes of grief.
Heirloom (Carcanet Press) by Catherine-Esther Cowie maps generations of St. Lucian women’s stories in poems, across the colonial and postcolonial history of that island. Employing Kwéyòl and nation language, Cowie examines the persistence of violence, fear, and faith in mother-daughter relationships, using evocative language to illustrate their spiritual connections. Through each woman’s quest for autonomous love and identity, the poet shows how inextricably these journeys are bound to St. Lucia’s own self-determination. Heirloom delves deep into the past, revealing secrets that often feel too potent to be shared, asking whose responsibility it is to bear them.
Awards and Prizes
The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh (Faber & Faber) by Ingrid Persaud was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award, worth £15,000, which recognises an outstanding second novel. Persaud’s book earned a shortlist spot alongside four other titles, selected by judging panel Malika Booker, Fergal Keane, and Maura Dooley.
The 2025 Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF) Short Fiction Story Contest is open for entries in two categories: the BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize, judged by Kei Miller, Jacob Ross, and Patricia Powell, and the BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean, judged by Alscess Lewis-Brown, Kellie Magnus, and Annie Paul. The competition this year specifically seeks stories that “prescribe survival, illuminate resilience, and offer prayers for what endures.” Each prize category confers a US$1,750 award to its winner. Entries close on Tuesday 1 July.
An Evening of Tea and Readings at Paper Based
Paper Based Bookshop presents its first Evening of Tea and Readings of 2025, to be held on Saturday 14 June, at 5.30 pm, at The Hotel Normandie. The event brings together recently published and award-winning authors: Celeste Mohammed (Ever Since We Small), Anu Lakhan (The Proper Care of Knives), Richard Charan (The Village of One), Ryan Bachoo (An Unending Search), and R.S.A. Garcia (The Nightward). All five writers will read from their new books, and will be available to autograph copies of their works following the event.
Tickets are $160 and can be purchased from Paper Based Bookshop (628-3197 / info@paperbasedbookshop.com).
Shani Mootoo at The Writers Centre
Canadian-Trinidadian writer Shani Mootoo will read from her new and critically acclaimed collection of poetry Oh Witness Dey! (Book*hug Press) at The Writers Centre, 14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair, on Tuesday 24 June, at 5.30 pm. Oh Witness Dey!, recently shortlisted for the 2025 Pat Lowther Memorial Award and named a finalist for the 2024 Big Other Book Award for Poetry, is Mootoo’s second poetry collection. The author will read poems and be in conversation with scholar, poet, and director of CAISO Angelique V. Nixon. Copies of Oh Witness Dey! and Mootoo’s other works will be available for purchase. The event is free and open to all.
Caribbean Bestsellers
Independent bookshop Paper Based (Instagram: @paperbasedbookshop) shares its top-selling Caribbean titles for the past month:
1. Ever Since We Small, by Celeste Mohammed
2. Writing For Our Lives, edited by Diana McCaulay and Shivanee Ramlochan
3. Village Weavers, by Myriam J.A. Chancy
4. The Beginning of a Journey, by Earl Lovelace
5. The Possibility of Tenderness, by Jason Allen-Paisant
