Out Of The Caribbean: OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature Finalists Announced
The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature has announced its 2026 category winners … Spotlighting an exceptional trio of Caribbean and diaspora writers: Canisia Lubrin, Tessa McWatt, and Justin Haynes. St Lucian-born poet Canisia Lubrin, now based in Canada, claimed the Poetry Prize for The World After Rain: Anne’s Poem. A writer, editor, and educator, […]
Black News 
The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature has announced its 2026 category winners …
Spotlighting an exceptional trio of Caribbean and diaspora writers: Canisia Lubrin, Tessa McWatt, and Justin Haynes.
St Lucian-born poet Canisia Lubrin, now based in Canada, claimed the Poetry Prize for The World After Rain: Anne’s Poem. A writer, editor, and educator, Lubrin is widely recognised for her previous works Voodoo Hypothesis and The Dyzgraphxst, the latter earning multiple award nominations and major literary honours, including the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Derek Walcott Prize.
Her winning collection, a long-form elegy written for her mother, was described by judges as “a meditation on anticipated grief,” blending language that feels both futuristic and deeply rooted in memory. Notably, Lubrin originally conceived the work as a private act of writing produced in a single, intense burst; underscoring the deeply personal origins of a piece that now resonates widely across the diaspora.
Taking the Non-Fiction category is Guyanese-British writer Tessa McWatt with The Snag: A Mother, a Forest, and Wild Grief. Now a professor at the University of East Anglia, McWatt’s work explores the intersection of personal and ecological loss, written during her mother’s battle with dementia alongside a growing awareness of environmental crisis.
Drawing on the metaphor of forest “snags”, trees that appear lifeless yet sustain vital ecosystems, the book was praised by judges as “elegantly crafted,” offering a powerful reflection on how personal grief and planetary grief are deeply intertwined.
In Fiction, Trinidadian author Justin Haynes was recognised for his debut novel Ibis. A work of magical realism and historical fiction, the novel is set in a coastal Trinidadian village and explores migration, folklore, and motherhood. It follows a young Venezuelan refugee navigating displacement alongside a community shaped by myth, memory, and survival.
Now based in New York, Haynes is an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Oglethorpe University. Though Ibis marks his debut novel, his work has already appeared in leading publications, and he has received multiple fellowships and residencies.
Overseeing the 2026 prize is acclaimed publisher Margaret Busby, serving as Chief Judge alongside the category juries. The overall winner who will receive the US$10,000 grand prize will be announced at the 16th annual Bocas Lit Fest in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on 2 May.
Established in 2011, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature remains one of the most significant literary awards in the region, celebrating excellence across Poetry, Fiction, and Literary Non-Fiction.
