The Bocas Breakthrough Fellowships, a new programme for early-career Caribbean writers administered by the Bocas Lit Fest, are now open for applications.
Running from December 2023 to May 2024, the Bocas Breakthrough Fellowships will support five early-career Caribbean writers based at home in the region in advancing or completing a book manuscript or other body of work, and developing their professional skills and networks in the regional and international literary world. The application deadline is 31 October, 2023.
Each of the five fellowships will consist of:
• Participation in a series of monthly virtual seminars with international literary professionals
• Six months’ mentorship from an established author
• Participation in the 2024 NGC Bocas Lit Fest in Port of Spain in April 2024 (travel and accommodation costs will be covered for fellows based outside Trinidad)
• Guidance in preparing a “pitch package” suitable for approaching publishers and literary agents
• Publication of a chapbook with an excerpt from the writer’s work in progress
• A stipend of US$300
The fellowships are funded by Creative Caribbean, a joint project implemented by UNESCO, the CARICOM Secretariat, and The University of the West Indies (UWI), with funding from the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, under the ACP-EU 11th EDF Culture Programme.
Eligibility and entry guidelines
To be eligible for entry, a writer must:
• Be of Caribbean birth or citizenship, living and working in the Anglophone Caribbean and writing in English
• Be over the age of 18 by 31 October, 2023
• Not have previously published a book-length work in any literary genre
• Not be a recipient of another past or current award or fellowship administered by the Bocas Lit Fest (specifically, the Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize, Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize, or 2022 Bocas Emerging Writers Fellowships).
