News from Authors

A number of Peepal Tree authors make the list of LitHub's '10 Female Caribbean Authors You Should Know'. Check the list out.

2018 is already proving to be another winning year for Leeds-based independent publisher Peepal Tree Press. The judges of the highly coveted Casa de las Américas in Havana. Cuba have awarded the 2018 Casa de la Américas Literary Award in the Category of Anglophone Caribbean Literature to Anthony Kellman for his novel Tracing JaJa. Honorable mentions were given to Sharon Milagro Marshall for Tell My Mother I Gone to Cuba and Philip Nanton for Canouan Suite & Other Pieces.

In an exciting development, Leone Ross was today longlisted for the Jhalak Prize for Writers of Colour. You may remember that last year's winner (for the inaugural prize) was our very own Jacob Ross!

Speaking of the news, Leone says, 'I'm delighted to be among so many amazing writers of colour, delighted to be representing short stories, and hardworking UK indie press. Everyone should go out and buy this longlist. That would be revolutionary.'

The full 2018 longlist follows:

The Summer 2018 Selection for the Poetry Book Society include:

Poetry Book Society Choice
Vahni Capildeo, Venus as a Bear (Carcanet)

Creative Writing Workshop: Prose Fiction (Adv.)

in Association with Friends of Mr. Biswas
February to May 2018

Publishers Weekly visited Bocas and discovered Marcia Douglas' magical novel The Marvellous Equations of the Dread.

New Directions has recently bought the rights and published a North American edition to complement the UK and Caribbean edition published by Peepal Tree Press.

Read the article in full at Publishers Weekly.

Raman Mundair has written an incisive essay about life in Shetland when you're Black. Torn between the beauty of the landscape and the 'little Britain' attitudes of some of the locals, she writes:

Peepal Tree Press author Rommi Smith has developed a new opera with composer Emily Levy, featuring baritone Roderick Williams OBE and pianist Susie Allan.

The Rain is Coming is a response from a female perspective to Schubert’s classic opera Die schöne Mullerin (itself based on the poems of Wilhelm Müller), which premiered at Stratford on Avon Music Festival on 27 September.

Khadijah Ibrahiim

When we think about the Windrush generation, it’s often of those who came as factory workers, nurses, bus drivers and so on. We often forget about those who arrived in England as artists and contributors to the traditional musical genres of the Caribbean people. So, let’s take a moment to imagine a dream.

John Robert Lee is a Saint Lucian writer who has published several collections of poetry along with short stories and reviews, and is currently co-editing a book on St Lucian culture.

Yello spoke to John about his life, how being from St Lucia influences his work and what advice he has for budding Caribbean writers.

Read the interview in full.