The Bocas Lit Fest is the premier literary festival of Trinidad and Tobago. It was launched in 2011 and has established itself as one of the Caribbean’s top literary events, attracting award-winning writers from the wider Caribbean and the Caribbean diaspora. It grants the GCCA+ (Global Climate Change Alliance+) Project, which is funded by the EU, implemented by UNDP and sponsored by the Ministry of Planning and Development, access to an audience demographic that is very different from the target audiences of the other events.

The GCCA+ Bocas Ways of Sunlight Youth Writing Competition was launched on April 30th at the annual Bocas Lit-Fest Event as NALIS, with the competition closing on October 31st.

Administered by the Bocas Lit Fest in partnership with the EU-funded Global Climate Change Alliance+, the writing competition “Ways of Sunlight” for young authors aged 12 to 18 celebrates the centenary of iconic T&T writer Sam Selvon, taking its name from one of the late T&T author’s best-loved books. He was a Caribbean novelist and short-story writer, known for his vivid evocation of the life living in the West Indies and elsewhere.

It is intended to simultaneously raise awareness of the GCCA+ Project goals and offer a creative outlet for young writers. Seventeen-year-old Samara Dolabaille is the first-place winner of the GCCA+ Bocas Ways of Sunlight Youth Writing Competition. On February 6th, 2024, the prize-giving ceremony was held at the UN House, inviting the winners and their parents where the EU Ambassador, Resident Representative and the CEO of Bocas Lit Fest presented prizes, inclusive of a commemorative plaque and token items from the GCCA+ Project were presented to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. 

We congratulate our young winners; their compelling stories inspire hope and drive toward a brighter, sustainable future. 

Samara Dolabaille 1st Place Trinidad (Who are you?) 

Jada-Marie Giles 2nd Place Trinidad. (Trinbagonian Culture) 

Rebekkah Murray 3rd Place Tobago. (Next Flight Out Of Trinidad And Tobago)