Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival Literary Awards 2024 longlists announced

The longlists for the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival Literary Awards 2024 were announced on Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

The Brooklyn Caribbean Literature Festival (BCLF) is a celebration of culture as expressed through the pen of the storyteller and the voice of the poet, executed as a series of readings of classic and contemporary stories, workshops, talks, and book sales. Set in Brooklyn, New York it shines the spotlight on the output of the Caribbean artiste since its first edition in 2019.

One of BCLF’s most popular features is the writing competitions geared towards unearthing and encouraging the distinctive voice and story of the Caribbean-descended writer and expanding the creative writing landscape of Caribbean literature. The two are the BCLF Caribbean-American Writers’ Prize and BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean. Patrice Grell Yursik and Akhim Alexis won the awards in 2021 while Yveka Pierre and Alexia Tolas took the honours in 2022. The 2023 winners were Jade Leatham and Ethan Knowles.

The longlists for 2024 announced by the organisers on Wednesday are;

BCLF Caribbean-American Writers’ Prize 2024

Jury:  Lauren F Sharma, Desmond Hall, Wandeka Gayle

A prize exclusively for emergent writers in the Caribbean diaspora in North America.

• Sunflower Seeds, Erica Frederick (Haiti)
• Yellow Butterflies Will Always Bring You Home, Anjuliet Woodruffe (TT)
• Back to Where We Came From, Shanice J. Douglas- Samuels (Jamaica)
• Night Riding, Savannah Bowen (Haiti, Barbados)
• Ibree Streams, One River, Xiomara N. Jean-Louis (Haiti)
• Medicine Man, Ray Anthony Stoute (TT)
• The Trouble with the Dog, Stefan Bindley-Taylor (TT)
• Rolling Calf Retires Keisha, Gaye Anderson (Jamaica)
• In Order to Tell You Anything, I Have to Tell You Everything, SK Rancy (Haiti)
• Meet Me at the Flag Tree, Lisa J Latouche-Jones (Dominica)
• Remittance, Zeus Sumra (St. Lucia)
• Weighted Steps, Val Quize (Haiti)
• No One Noticed, Ann Marie Beddoe (TT)

BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean 2024

Jury: Cleyvis Natera, Jeanne Mara, Richard Georges

An award open exclusively to Caribbean writers of all levels who reside and work in the Caribbean.

• A Grandmother’s Guide to Burning Sugar, Yakima Cuffy (St. Kitts/Nevis)
• Leap Year, Heather Nicolette Barker (Barbados)
• Bazil’s Women, Rayne Affonso (T&T)
• Better, Aya Taliba Ayodike (TEST)
• Picking Crabs in Negril, Diana MoCaulay (Jamaica)
• The Black Madonna, Ruth Osman (TET)
• The View from Belle Eau Road, Judy Raymond (TET)
• The Water Beneath My Feet, June Aming (TET)
• The Uber Llorona, Yzahira R. Valle Garcia (PR)
• Whatever Will Be, Brandon Mc Ivor (TST)

The winners will be announced at the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival from September 5 – 8, 2024.

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