Lit: LA Times snags Booker winner Marlon James as Critic-at-Large

The Los Angeles Times welcomes the new critics-at-large and one of them is Jamaican

novelist Marlon James (top left in photo strip), author of A Brief History of Seven Killings, and whose debut novel "John Crow's Devil" wasa finalist in the LA Times Book Award . Congratulation! [The other critics are Laila Lalami, Susan Straight, Viet Thanh Nguyen, David Kipen of Libros Schmibros: Lending Library, Alexander Chee, John Scalzi, Rigoberto González, Rebecca Carroll, and Adriana E. Ramirez.] Here is an excerpt from the article:

Meet the new Critics-at-Large for our books pages. These 10 writers have beautiful voices, brilliant minds, critical insights and strong opinions. We are delighted that they will share them with us.

We see books as being more than something that sits on a shelf (although they are that, enduringly). Books are the keystone in how we define and understand our contemporary moment, our world.

With these 10 writers, we will investigate our culture through the conversations that books anchor, in deep dives and in real time. We will explore the mysteries of reading and writing; consider the achievements, acknowledged and under-acknowledged, of the writers who have come before; question the roles of race, heritage, class and gender in what we read; take on the vagaries of the publishing industry, and more.

These writers have won dozens of prizes, from a lifetime achievement award to a prize for an unpublished first book. They hail from four different nations and have lived all over the world. [. . .]

Marlon James: James won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for his novel “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” a fictionalized account of the 1976 assassination attempt on Bob Marley. He received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for his prior novel, “The Book of Night Women,” a story of 19th century Jamaican slaves. Born in Jamaica in 1970, James now teaches at Macalester College and lives in Minneapolis

Poetry: "Trees" set to Talk again

The Department of Literatures in English of The University of the West Indies-Mona in Jamaica, the Gloria Lyn Memorial Fund (GLMF), and the Two Seasons Guest House in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, are partnering to host the fourth staging of the Two Seasons Talking Trees Literary Fiesta on Saturday, May 23, 2015, on the grounds of Two Seasons Guest House.

Lovers of literature will be treated to a relaxing and uplifting day listening to readings by established and emerging writers. The invited featured reader is world renowned writer and poet, Lorna Goodison, CD. Other confirmed readers are Jamaica’s third Poet Laureate, UWI Professor Emeritus Mervyn Morris; UWI Professor Emeritus of English and poet, Eddie Baugh; retired UWI lecturer, writer and editing professional (Journal of West Indian Literature; Pathways, a journal of creative writing), Victor Chang; story-tellerAmina Blackwood-Meeks; poet Tanya Shirley; coordinator of the Jamaica Observer’sliterary publication, Bookends, and short-story writer Sharon Leach; performance poetCherry Natural; writers for young adults Gwyneth Harold-Davidson (Young Heroes of the Caribbean), who is also one of the Fiesta’s organizers and Carol Dunn (Mountain of Inheritance). Young authors, Mandisa Parnell, author of the romance fiction, The Boy Next Door, twin sisters Jhada and Jonadee Martin who co-wrote and self-published the mythical fantasy book, The Fallen Empire), and performance poet, Peta-Gaye Williams, provide evidence that Jamaica’s literary prowess is assured.

The GLMF was launched in October 2014, under the theme, “raising the visibility of literature at The UWI.” It celebrates the contribution of Gloria Lyn, daughter of a Chinese shopkeeper from Springfield, St. Elizabeth, who lectured in 17th century English renaissance poetry at The UWI, Mona. The GLMF gives an annual award of US$500 to the student with the highest grade in any of the second year courses in West Indian literature offered at the Mona Campus.

For the full line-up and more information, visit http://www.2seasonsguesthouse.com/blog.

Also see http://www.2seasonsguesthouse.com/

Literary Arts: Commonwealth shortlist revealed

The 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize has just announced its shortlist. This year it attracted nearly 4000 entries – a record number. The judging panel, comprised of six acclaimed writers–Leila Aboulela, Fred D’Aguiar, Marina Endicott, Witi Ihimaera, Bina Shah and chair Romesh Guneseker–chose twenty-two stories (from eleven countries) that reflect the breadth and quality of writing in the Commonwealth today. The judges will announce the five regional winners drawn from the shortlist on April 28. The shortlist includes four Caribbean writers: Alecia McKenzie, K Jared Hosein, Toodesh Ramesar, and Darren Doyle.

Here are the four writers with a passage from their work:

Alecia McKenzie is a Jamaican writer, artist and journalist. Her books include the short story collections Satellite City and Stories from Yard, and the novel Sweetheart. Alecia has participated in art exhibitions in New York, London and other cities, and, as a journalist, has reported on human rights, gender, development, culture and the environment. She is the founder and editor of Southern World Arts News (SWAN), an online site that provides information about the arts.

Toodesh Ramesar is a writer and literature teacher from Trinidad and Tobago. He has won several prizes including the 2005 Derek Walcott and University of West Indies Prize for Poetry. His work has been featured in the collection Six Trinidadian Poets and the literary journal The Caribbean Writer.

Darren Doyle was born in Trinidad and Tobago. He has a Journalism BA from the University of Sheffield, and feels most at home writing, and maintaining the blog,Worksp_ce, at www.workspce.com. He is currently working on getting his first novel published.

Kevin Jared Hosein is a poet, writer and science teacher in Trinidad and Tobago and a graduate of the University of the West Indies. He illustrated and published a book for younger audiences, Littletown Secrets, in 2013. His short stories have been featured in Caribbean anthologies such as Pepperpot and Jewels of the Caribbean.

For full description and list of writes, see http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/2015-commonwealth-short-story-prize-shortlist/

Books: Nine from Five for Bocas Long list

Authors from five territories have made the longlist for the 2015 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, sponsored by One Caribbean Media.

The Prize longlist includes three genre categories: poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction. The winners in each category will be announced on 1 April, and the Prize will be presented on Saturday 2 May, during the fifth annual NGC Bocas Lit fest in Port of Spain. The overall winner will receive a US$10,000 award with smaller awards for the other winners.

The 2015 OCM Bocas Prize Longlist:

POETRY

Sounding Ground, by Vladimir Lucien (Peepal Tree Press)
The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion, by Kei Miller (Carcanet)
The Merchant of Feathers, by Tanya Shirley (Peepal Tree Press)

FICTION

A Brief History of Seven Killings, by Marlon James (Riverhead)
House of Ashes, by Monique Roffey (Simon and Schuster)
Land of Love and Drowning, by Tiphanie Yanique (Riverhead)

NON-FICTION

Not for Everyday Use, by Elizabeth Nunez (Akashic)
King Short Shirt: Nobody Go Run Me, by Dorbrene E. O’Marde (Hansib)
Dying to Better Themselves: West Indians and the Building of the Panama Canal, by Olive Senior (UWI Press)