 Alexandra Stewart, Rehannah Khan and Otancia Noel, three creative writing students in the Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA) programme at UWI St Augustine’s Faculty of Humanities and Educationhave shown the power of their pens (or key boards) in one of the Caribbean’s most prestigiousliterary spaces, the NGC Bocas Lit Fest 2019.
Alexandra Stewart was crowned the first place champion of the biggest night in poetry, the First Citizens National Poetry Slam Final. She was also part of the “Inspired by the Archives” panel discussion. Rehannah Khan was shortlisted for the 6th and final edition of the CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature. Otancia Noel was long-listed for the Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize.
The students join UWI St Augustine Lecturer in Literatures in English, Dr Kevin Browne, who made history as the first overall winner of the 2019 Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature with a work of non-fiction with his book – High Mas: Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture.
The NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad and Tobago’s annual literary festival, hosts several events and activities, as well as prizes in prose, poetry, non-fiction and spoken word in partnership with other organisations and individuals.
Speaking on her nomination, Otancia Noel noted that she wouldn’t have entered the Writers Prize competition if it wasn’t for her supervisor, Dr Muli Amaye’s (lecturer in the Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies and coordinator of the MFA in Creative Writing programme)encouragement. “She pushed my limits to tell a story that needed to be told.”
Rehannah Khan noted that being shortlisted for the CODE Burt Award gave her a great sense of validation, but “it’s just the beginning for me and my writing career. There is a long way to go, and I look forward to seeing where my writing takes me next. UWI has given me more confidence, allowing me to explore things from multiple perspectives.”
Being an MFA student at UWI St Augustine, says Alexandra Stewart, gave her the opportunity to have her first reading at the “Inspired by the Archives” event during Bocas. “I applied to submit a pitch about a story based on the research I conducted about the women in the Michael Goldberg Collection and my story was selected to be read at Bocas. This would not have been possible without the unrelenting support from my professors and my family.”
Dr Amaye was overjoyed at the success of her students: “Our MFA students come to us with their talent and we are able to help them to shape what they do and push them to find their best work. However, it has to be recognised that the talent is theirs alone and we are both proud and humbled to have the chance to work with all our students.”
Applications are open for UWI’s Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA) programme and other postgraduate programmes. For more information, please visit: https://sta.uwi.edu/apply/.
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