The NGC Bocas List Fest will stream its first ever Youth Fest on August 19 on Facebook and YouTube. The event contains content created by and for younger audiences aged 13-30.
In a release, the Lit Fest said it was adding a new sister to its festival suite that’s all about youth, as it has ten years of adult and children’s events under its belt.
“With pandemic restrictions already driving students and young adults to their screens for education and entertainment for the past 18 months, the Bocas team wants to harness this online opportunity and create a space just for youth in the Caribbean literary community.”
It said that NGC, title sponsor of the main annual festival, the largest literary event in the Caribbean, is also responsible for the new Youth Fest, and is quite keen to see it grow into a developmental and creative hub for young readers and writers.
NGC president Mark Loquan said the Youth Fest represents a novel approach to engaging young people in the literary arts.
[caption id="attachment_905885" align="alignnone" width="678"] Book cover of Sarah Dass' debut novel Where The Rhythm Takes You. -[/caption]
“Not only does this first-of-its-kind festival seek to bridge the divide between the curriculum and real-world applications of the literary arts, but it aims to strengthen creative and linguistic capacity among our students, especially those in under-served communities.”
The event will begin with the Stand and Deliver open mic session, featuring participants of a free spoken-word masterclass led by Derron Sandy. One of the participants is not yet 12 years old.
It continues with author interviews, readings, and debates. A special author access pass event will allow CSEC literature students to interact with Jamaica’s poet laureate, prize-winning novelist, poet and short-story writer Olive Senior.
Young Caribbean readers and writers will also get to know Sarah Dass, whose recently published YA romance Where the Rhythm Takes You is set in Tobago and has an accompanying playlist of soca music.
[caption id="attachment_905886" align="alignnone" width="768"] Sarah Dass, young Tobagonian author, is featured in the NGC Bocas Youth Fest. -[/caption]
Concluding the literary line up are two Instagram bloggers, or “bookstagrammers,” Apphia Barton and Saajid Hosein, who are combining social media and literary reviews to reach a wider circle of young book enthusiasts.
Speakers from different interest groups and sectors will also face off in a debate to look at issues surrounding the future of TT, moderated by journalist Ardene Sirjoo.
The evening will end with the launch of the NGC Bocas Youth Writer of the Year Award, the first inter-genre writing award celebrating young people who are making an impact with their writing across multiple media – social media, blogs, printed press and short stories.
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