A collection of nine writers, ranging from those who recently made their debut to already celebrated prizewinners, have been longlisted for the 2023 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature.
Now in its 13th year, it is considered among the most coveted award dedicated to Caribbean writing.
In a release, Bocas said the prize recognises books in three genre categories – poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction –published by authors of Caribbean birth or citizenship in the preceding year.
The authors have roots in five different Caribbean countries, which contribute to diversity of styles and voices characterising the longlisted books.
In the next stage of judging the Bocas Lit Fest said the judges will announce the winners in the three genre categories on April 2.
These authors will go on to compete for the overall prize of US$10,000, to be announced on April 29 during the 13th annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest – which returns to a fully in-person format.
The 2023 judging panels for the OCM Bocas Prize bring together Caribbean and international writers, critics, and literary organisers.
Poet and academic from the British Virgin Islands and the 2020 winner of the overall OCM Bocas Prize Richard Georges chairs the poetry panel, joined by Trinidad-born poet Desiree C Bailey and Caymanian academic Emily Greenwood.
The fiction panel is chaired by Canada-based Jamaican academic Ronald Cummings who is joined by Trinidadian-American writer Lauren Francis-Sharma and Barbadian writer Cherie Jones.
The non-fiction panel is chaired by Guyana-born editor-in-chief of the Journal of West Indian Literature Lisa Outar. The others are chair of English PEN Ruth Borthwick –English PEN is one of the first non-goverment organisations advocating for human rights – and Barbados-based Vincentian writer Philip Nanton.
[caption id="attachment_1004525" align="alignnone" width="757"] Bernadine Evaristo - Photo by Jennie Scott[/caption]
The overall chair of the 2023 cross-genre judging panel is the British writer and past winner of the Booker Prize, Bernardine Evaristo.
Talking about the longlisted books, Bocas in a release said judges described The Day-Breakers by Grenada-born, Canada-based Michael Fraser as “breathtakingly assured.” This collection explores the lives and legacies of black Canadian soldiers during the US Civil War.
Trinidad-born, UK-based Anthony Joseph’s Sonnets for Albert – recently named the 2022 winner of the TS Eliot Prize – was described as “a tender and beautifully rendered eulogy for the poet’s father, and a triumph of technical formality.”
[caption id="attachment_1004526" align="alignnone" width="680"] Anthony Joseph - Image courtesy Anthony Joseph[/caption]
The third collection of poems on the shortlist is de book of Joseph by Jamaica-born, Canada-based Pamela Mordecai. It is the third volume in a poetic trilogy that retells the biblical story of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Judges said, “This book-length poem illustrates the continual modernist project of the Caribbean to take and make the old wor
