2015 Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize

Calling all emerging Caribbean poets!

The 2015 Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize, administered by  The Bocas Lit Fest

will be awarded to an emerging writer of poetry. Submissions close September 30th.

The prize, which is worth US$15,000, will allow the Caribbean-based writer time to complete a poetry collection; it will also include one year's mentoring by an established poet, and the opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom to attend a one-week creative writing course of their choice at Arvon.

Writers must have Caribbean citizenship, be over 18 years, live in the Caribbean and have not yet published a full poetry collection.

For more details, check: http://www.bocaslitfest.com/hollick-arvon-prize/. Entries should be emailed to hap@bocaslitfest.com. 

Soccer (Football) Poems

Dear readers,

I have been caught up in the 2014 World Cup Football frenzy, so my posting has been sparse. Unfortunately, it was heartbreaking to watch my team, Brazil, exit in such a humiliating manner.

With the final matches scheduled for this weekend, I thought I would share some soccer (football) poems which I came across on the Poetry Soup website. You can check out the poems here.

If you know of any Caribbean poems about football, please share, since I couldn't find any. Better still, why not write one, if you can, for me to read. :)

Hope your team is still in the competition, and enjoy the matches over the weekend.

Poetry and those Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer

Dear Readers,

Thanks to those of you who joined the site recently. Welcome to Poets of the Caribbean!

Hope you are enjoying these lazy, hazy days of summer. I have to apologize. I have not posted as frequently as I would have liked, but I thank you for still checking in on the blog. Thanks especially to Rachael, who checked out the list of Caribbean poets and left a comment. Just a reminder that if you know of poets who are not on my list, please send me a comment and I will make updates. I really rely on readers to let me know of Caribbean poets I may be overlooking.

I want to share with you my success story regarding my entry in the 2014 Gotham Writers Short Short Story competition. (No, the repeat of short is not a typo. I had to write a very short story in only 10 words!) While I did not win the contest, my entry was one of the finalists, out of over 1,200 entries received. So, it felt good to know my entry impressed the judges. You can check out the winning story and those of the finalists here. Of course, my short short story had to include something about poetry. You can tell that I am mad about poetry. :)

I look forward to sharing more beautiful Caribbean poetry with you over the summer.

The Uncivil War

My poem, The Uncivil War, was published recently in The Potomac Journal. Anyone familiar with the Jamaican political and social climate in the 1970s will identify with this poem.

I would love to read your comments.

Jamaica's Poet Laureate to be Chosen Next Week

April is poetry month, and it is fitting that Jamaica's next Poet Laureate is expected to be chosen by next week.

Here is a link to the story in The Daily Gleaner today.

James Berry's A New Woman

A New Woman


I see her arouse the wind
with her coos and whistling


She comes out of deep woods
a hill stream follows her to the sea


She says hello to flat sea
it rolls high waves to her feet


She beckons clouds away
from dazzle of the sun


She sits out under a tree and strange
animals come and sit around her


Scorpions cover her naked body
protecting her from sunstroke


She talks to stones and they dance
with vultures with doves


I see her whistle winds up
and all trees wave her goodbye.


Copyright James Berry 1987
From Our Yard: Jamaican Poetry Since Independence. Edited by Pamela Mordecai. Institute of Jamaica Publications.

James Berry

James Berry was born in rural Jamaica in 1924. In 1948, he moved to the United Kingdom. James Berry won the Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition in 1981. His many other awards include the Coretta Scott King Book Award (1989), the Cholmondeley Award (1991), and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award (1993). Berry's collections include:


Fractured Circles - 1979
Lucy's Letters and Loving - 1982
Chain of Days - 1985
Hot Earth, Cold Earth -1995
Windrush Songs - 2007






James Berry also edited the anthologies Bluefoot Traveller (1976) and News for Babylon (1984). His most recent collection is A Story I Am In - Selected Poems (2011).

Mi Cyaan Believe It

Michael Smith's Mi Cyaan Believe It:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8sj5gxW2xg




Such a powerful poem!

Micheal Smith

Happy New Year!

Thanks for your readership and support last year, and I wish you all the very best for 2014. I hope that your love of poetry will grow and that you will find the inspiration to pen your own.

This month, I would like to turn the spotlight on Jamaican poet, Michael (Mikey) Smith. Michael Smith was born in Kingston in 1954. He graduated from Kingston College and the Jamaica School of Drama in 1980. Michael loved dub poetry and performed on tours in Barbados, the Netherlands, France, United Kingdom and Italy. Mi Cyaan Believe It, is perhaps his most well-known dub poem.

Sadly, Michael Smith passed away in 1983 under tragic circumstances. His collection, It a Come, which was edited by Mervyn Morris, was published in 1986.