The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature is now open for entries. It is one of the region’s most coveted literary awards.
Sponsored by One Caribbean Media (OCM) in Trinidad and Tobago and administered by the Bocas Lit Fest, the prize is now in its 14th year. It comes with a cash award of US$10,000 for the overall winner and US$3,000 each for two other genre category winners.
The OCM Bocas Prize recognises the best books published each year by writers of Caribbean birth or citizenship.
The cross-genre prize is judged in the categories of poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction. The 2024 Prize is open to books published in the calendar year 2023.
The overall winner will be selected from the three genre category winners and announced and featured at the 2024 NGC Bocas Lit Fest, the Anglophone Caribbean’s biggest annual literary festival.
Past winners have included luminaries such as Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, Jamaican Poet Laureate Olive Senior, and beloved novelist Earl Lovelace, as well as debut authors such as the 2023 winner, novelist Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.
The deadline is also approaching for submission of entries for the 2023 Bocas Lit Fest Children’s Book Prize.
Now in its third consecutive year, The Bocas Children’s Book Prize is open to Caribbean-born authors of English-language books, including self-published writers, living anywhere in the world.
The prize beckons aspiring writers to captivate the imagination of children aged 7-12 with enchanting tales that resonate with their cultural roots.
For full information about the 2024 OCM Bocas Prize and , including deadline dates and eligibility and submission guidelines, visit www.bocaslitfest.com/awards/ocm.
For the Bocas Children’s Book Prize visit www.bocaslitfest.com/product/childrens-book-prize/. (Modified Press Release from Bocas Lit Fest)