‘The pendulum has swung’: Why we female Trinidadian writers are having our moment

Monique Roffey, the Costa-winning author of The Mermaid of Black Conch, on the lit-boom that’s happening on the Caribbean islandLast week, Trinidadian writer Lisa Allen-Agostini’s novel The Bread the Devil Knead landed a coveted spot on the Women’s prize shortlist. As a fellow Trinidadian writer, this is both exciting and unsurprising. These days Trinidad is producing world-class female writers hand over fist. Allen-Agostini’s shortlisting comes on the heels of the announcement, two weeks ago, that Trinidadian writer Amanda Smyth had made the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction shortlist, the only woman on the list, and the first Caribbean writer ever to be chosen. Meanwhile, Celeste Mohammed has become the fifth woman (and third Trinidadian woman) to win Trinidad’s regional OCM Bocas prize.Something has happened in Trinidad, in our small but dense hothouse of a literary world. Perhaps it’s 12 years of the Bocas literary festival, or five waves of feminism, or maybe it’s to do with the internet opening up opportunities for those from developing countries, but in the last decade Trinidad has produced a host of outstanding female writers. It’s a trend that anyone in Caribbean literary circles knows about. Myself, Smyth, Allen-Agostini, Mohammed and others are part of a “lit-boom”, and most of this boom is female. We are finding ourselves on the global stage, on prestigious shortlists in North America and the UK. This huge generational and gender shift would have been... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2022-05-03 13:03:34 UTC ]
News tagged with: #black conch #coveted spot #prize shortlist #literary world #developing countries #global stage #historical fiction

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iBooks Bestsellers: Michael Connelly’s Female Detective Soars

Michael Connelly’s ‘The Late Show’ starring a new character, Renee Ballard, debuted at #1 on the iBooks bestsellers list this week after a surge of coverage in the ‘Washington Post,’ 'Time', and other outlets. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Momentous Summer for Brazilian-Born Journalist Fernanda Santos

In June, the paperback edition of The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a book about the 2013 Yarnell Fire in Arizona and death of 19 specialty firefighters, arrived on the wings of a Spur prize from the Western Writers of America for Best First Non-Fiction Book. Author... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's Book Writers society launches BAME scholarship

The Society of Children’s Book Writers (SCBWI) and Illustrators will launch a BAME scholarship sponsored by the Bent Agency. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eight award-winning writers pen eerie tales for English Heritage

Stories from award-winning writers including Jeanette Winterson, Max Porter and Sarah Perry are to feature in a new collection of ghost stories from English Heritage and September Publishing. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Peers made Writers Guild general secretary

Ellie Peers has been appointed the new general secretary of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), a trade union representing professional writers in TV, film, theatre, radio, books, poetry, animation and videogames. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Polarising right-wing writer sues over cancelled Simon and Shuster book deal

Polarising right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos filed a $10 million lawsuit against a New York publishing company on Friday over a cancelled book deal. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2017-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rights Update: Swedish Crime Writer’s Debut Book Sells to 10 Territories

Lina Bengtsdotter's crime novel Annabelle is a hit with rights buyers. The book also has its own song by the author's sister and pop singer, Petra Brohäll. The post Rights Update: Swedish Crime Writer’s Debut Book Sells to 10 Territories appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Crime writer Helen Cadbury dies

Crime writer Helen Cadbury has passed away aged 52 following a battle with cancer. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Persaud wins the Commonwealth Writers' Short Story Prize

Ingrid Persaud from Trinidad and Tobago has won 2017's Commonwealth Writers' Short Story Prize for "Sweet Sop". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BuzzFeed writer pens 100 'Nasty Women' for Hodder

Hodder & Stoughton has commissioned BuzzFeed writer Hannah Jewell to author 100 Nasty Women of History, a book profiling women united by the fact they were all "too scandalous, too difficult, and too unladylike for their time". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ALA 2017: Why The Future of Tech Will Be Female

Reshma Saujani, founder of the national nonprofit Girls Who Code, told librarians that getting young girls interested in technology is the key to better future—and urged them to help her “change the culture” that is pushing girls away from coding, and computers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SoA and PA join English PEN in fight to free imprisoned writers worldwide

The Society of Authors, the Publishers Association and English PEN are launching a joint campaign in aid of imprisoned writers worldwide, called Speak Out. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kiwi writer Anthony McCarten on Queen, the Popes, John Lennon and Weed

It's been a whirlwind of a time following the success of The Theory of Everything, but Anthony McCarten certainly hasn't been resting on his laurels. The New Zealand-born writer, based in London, has just finished screenwriting a film based on Winston Churchill's life, polished off Bohemian... Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2017-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Memoirs, Religious Writers Tell of Faith Lost and Found

New and forthcoming memoirs in the religion and spirituality category tell stories of overcoming adversity, and of faith found, changed, or regained. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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K J Orr on all-female Edge Hill shortlist

Daisy Johnson’s East Anglian-inspired Fen (Cape) and Lucy Caldwell’s exploration of womanhood, Multitudes (Faber), are both on the all-female shortlist for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize up against 2016 BBC National Short Story Award winner K J Orr for Light Box (Daunt). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Podcast series explores Polygon writer's path to publication

A new podcast series exploring a debut crime author’s 14-year journey to publication will be released on 20th June. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookExpo 2017: ‘Empire’ Writer Returns to Her Texas Roots: Attica Locke

Attica Locke—writer and producer of the Fox hit show "Empire"—is also the author of four acclaimed novels. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From social media star to bestselling writer, the young ‘Instapoet’

Rupi Kaur’s first book, Milk and Honey, sold 1.4 million copieSOrdinarily, the illustration adorning the cover of a new book is not a big story, but such is the hype around the young Canadian poet Rupi Kaur that her plan to release the picture to her 1.3 million Instagram followers on 1 June is... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Leading writers to take up residencies in London libraries

Leading writers Irenosen Okojie, Courttia Newland, Bidisha, and Alex Wheatle MBE are to take up residencies in London libraries as part of a new literary initiative. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Creative Future: bringing new writers from the margins to the mainstream

Dominique De-Light blogs about why Creative Future is determined to help underrepresented writers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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