OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

Last updated

OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature
Awarded forBooks by Caribbean writers
Sponsored by One Caribbean Media
Location Trinidad and Tobago
Presented by NGC Bocas Lit Fest
First award2011;14 years ago (2011)
Website bocaslitfest.com/awards/ocm

OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, inaugurated in 2011 by the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, [1] is an annual literary award for books by Caribbean writers published in the previous year. [2] It is the only prize in the region that is open to works of different literary genres by writers of Caribbean birth or citizenship. [3]

Contents

The prize is sponsored by One Caribbean Media Ltd (OCM) and the overall winner is awarded US$10,000. [2] The shortlisted nominees are awarded $3,000 each. Books may be entered in three categories: poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction. [2]

For each of these categories, there is a panel of three judges to select the best book in that genre. These three books form the shortlist for the prize, from which the overall winner is then chosen by a panel of four consisting of the chairs of the category panels and the prize chief judge.

The overall winner of the prize is announced at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Winners and longlisted nominees

YearWinnerWorkLonglisted nomineesRef(s)
2011 Derek Walcott White Egrets (poetry) [4] [5] [6] [7]
2012 Earl Lovelace Is Just a Movie (fiction) [8] [9] [10]
2013 Monique Roffey Archipelago (fiction) [11] [12] [13] [14]
2014 Robert Antoni As Flies to Whatless Boys (fiction) [15] [16]
2015 Vladimir Lucien Sounding Ground (poetry) [17] [18]
2016 Olive Senior The Pain Tree (fiction) [19] [20] [21]
2017 Kei Miller Augustown (fiction) [22] [23] [24] [25]
2018 Jennifer Rahim Curfew Chronicles (fiction) [26] [27] [28]
2019 Kevin Adonis Browne High Mas (non-fiction) [29] [30] [31] [32]
2020 Richard Georges Epiphaneia (poetry) [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]
2021 Canisia Lubrin The Dyzgraphxst (poetry) [38] [39] [40]
2022 Celeste Mohammed Pleasantview (fiction) [41] [42]
2023 Ayanna Lloyd Banwo When We Were Birds (fiction) [43]
2024 Safiya Sinclair How to Say Babylon (non-fiction) [44] [45] [46]
2025 Myriam J. A. Chancy Village Weavers
  • Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Polkadot Wounds (poetry, winner)
  • Linzey Corridon, West of West Indian (poetry)
  • Yashika Graham, Some of Us Can Go Back Home (poetry)
  • Mervyn Taylor, Getting Through: New and Selected Poems (poetry)
  • Christine Roseeta Walker, Coco Island (poetry)
  • Myriam J. A. Chancy, Village Weavers (fiction, winner)
  • David Dabydeen, Sweet Li Jie (fiction)
  • Anne Hawk, Pages of the Sea (fiction)
  • A. K. Herman, The Believers: Stories (fiction)
  • Ishi Robinson, Sweetness in the Skin (fiction)
  • Dionne Brand, Salvage: Readings from the Wreck (non-fiction, winner)
  • Erika Morillo, Mother Archive: A Dominican Family Memoir (non-fiction)
  • Edwidge Danticat, We're Alone (non-fiction)
  • Lennox Honychurch, Resistance Refuge Revival: The Indigenous Kalinagos of Dominica (non-fiction)
  • Oneka LaBennett, Global Guyana: Shaping Race, Gender, and Environment in the Caribbean and Beyond (non-fiction)
 [47] [48]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Literary festival to award prize for best book of the year". Trinidad and Tobago Guardian . 15 September 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature Archived 30 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "OCM Bocas Prize enters sixth year", Daily Express (Trinidad), 6 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Three Caribbean writers on 2011 OCM Bocas Prize shortlist". bocaslitfest.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "Derek Walcott wins OCM Bocas Prize". Repeating Islands. 2 May 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Government Congratulates Hon. Derek Walcott for Winning Inaugural Literature Award." Targeted News Service [TNS], 9 May 2011. Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 30 September 2012. Gale Document Number: GALE|A255881541
  7. ↑ "Walcott wins Caribbean prize" (2011), Caribbean Today, p. 13. Database: Ethnic NewsWatch. ProQuest document ID: 870629941
  8. ↑ "The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2012", NGC Bocas Lit Fest, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Lovelace cops US$10,000 Bocas prize", Trinidad Express Newspapers, 27 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "Lovelace savours Lit Fest victory". Trinidad Express . 29 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  11. ↑ Julien Neaves, "T&T writer takes top Bocas prize", Trinidad Express Newspapers, 28 April 2013.
  12. ↑ Tanya Batson-Savage, "Archipelago by Monique Roffey Cops Bocas Prize 2013", Susumba, 30 April 2012.
  13. ↑ "Trinis triumph at Bocas Lit Fest". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday . 2 May 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  14. ↑ Mark Fraser (14 July 2013). "Bocas winner's cover goes Underground". Trinidad Express . Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "Top three for OCM Bocas Prize named". T&T Guardian . 31 March 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  16. ↑ Anna Ramdass, "‘Whatless Boys’ wins it for writer Antoni", Trinidad Express Newspapers, 27 April 2014.
  17. ↑ "Top three books named for 2015 OCM Bocas Prize" Archived 5 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine , NGC Bocas Lit Fest, 31 March 2015.
  18. ↑ Wayne Bowman, "St Lucian poet wins OCM Bocas Prize", Trinidad Express Newspapers, 3 May 2015.
  19. ↑ "Announcing The 2016 OCM Bocas Prize Shortlist", Bocas News, 24 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "2016 OCM Bocas Prize Shortlist" Archived 30 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine , The OCM Bocas Prize For Caribbean Literature.
  21. ↑ "Olive Senior Wins The 2016 OCM Bocas Prize" Archived 9 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine , Bocas News — NGC Bocas Lit Fest, 2 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2017". bocaslitfest.com. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  23. ↑ "Bissessarsingh among 3 authors in Bocas final round". trinidadexpress.com. 25 March 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  24. ↑ "J’can Kei Miller wins OCM Bocas prize", Trinidad Sunday Express, 29 April 2017.
  25. ↑ "Jamaican Kei Miller wins OCM Bocas Prize" Archived 5 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine , Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, 30 April 2017.
  26. ↑ Michael Mondezie, "Bocas winner: It's an incomparable feeling", Daily Express, Trinidad, 29 April 2018.
  27. ↑ "T&T's Jennifer Rahim wins OCM Bocas Prize", NGC Bocas Lit Fest, 2 May 2018.
  28. ↑ Apphia Barton, "Who reallywon the OCM Bocas Prize?", ApphiaBartonWrites, 7 May 2018.
  29. ↑ "Kevin Browne makes history as the first-ever overall winner to earn the prize for non-fiction", NGC Bocas Lit Fest, 4 May 2019.
  30. ↑ "UWI Lecturer wins Overall 2019 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature", Campus News, UWI St Augustine, 5 May 2019.
  31. ↑ "Kevin Browne Wins OCM Bocas Prize", CCN TV6, 5 May 2019.
  32. ↑ Keino Swamber, "TT's Kevin Adonis Browne wins OCM Bocas Prize", Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 5 May 2019.
  33. ↑ "Richard Georges wins the 2020 OCM Bocas Prize", NGC Bocas Lit Fest, 2 May 2020.
  34. ↑ Paula Lindo, "Poet wins top OCM Bocas Prize", Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 3 May 2020.
  35. ↑ "‘Epiphaneia’ storms through to the top: Richard Georges wins OCM Bocas Prize", Trinidad Express, 3 May 2020.
  36. ↑ Kamal Haynes, "Local author wins top Caribbean literary award", BVI News, 5 May 2020.
  37. ↑ Zarrin Tasnim Ahmed, "In a Virgin Islands first, Georges wins Bocas prize, BVI Beacon, 6 May 2020.
  38. ↑ "OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature", Bocas Lit Fest.
  39. ↑ "St Lucian-born poet wins OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature". Loop. 26 April 2021.
  40. ↑ "Saint Lucian Wins OCM Bocas Prize". St Lucia Times. 26 April 2021.
  41. ↑ "OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2022". OCM Bocas Lit Fest. 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  42. ↑ Loutoo, Jada (1 May 2022). "Celeste Mohammed wins OCM Bocas prize for Caribbean Literature". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
  43. ↑ Murua, James (1 May 2023). "Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is OCM Bocas Prize 2023 winner". Writing Africa. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  44. ↑ Murua, James (29 April 2024). "Safiya Sinclair wins OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2024". Writing Africa. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  45. ↑ Murua, James (8 April 2024). "OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2024 shortlists announced". Writing Africa. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  46. ↑ Murua, James (11 March 2024). "OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2024 longlists announced". Writing Africa. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  47. ↑ "Fifteen authors compete for Caribbean's biggest book prize". Bocas Lit Fest. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  48. ↑ "Haitian Myriam J.A. Chancy wins 2025 OCM Bocas Prize" (Press release). Bocas Lit Fest. 3 May 2025. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
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