Stephanie Castillo (
The Oprah Magazine) shares the “7 best Caribbean books for your 2021 reading list, according to Rebel Women Lit’s Readers’ Awards.” These are the 7 choices:
Best Fiction:
Best Non-Fiction:
Best Poetry:
Best Translation:
Best Short Story Collection:
Best YA:
Best Middle Grade:
Visit
Jherane Patmore doesn’t need a reason to celebrate Caribbean literature.
The 25-year-old founded Rebel Women Lit in 2017, a book club turned literary community in Jamaica and beyond, to help readers diversify their reading lists. Toward the end of 2020, Patmore, who lives in Jamaica, realized she didn’t have to wait for major book awards to recognize all the great work that was coming out of the Caribbean not when she could do it herself. So, without a fancy judge’s panel or prizes, she organized the first-ever Caribbean Readers’ Awards to highlight books written by Caribbean authors and/or set in the region.
[Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] Gareth Finighan (
The Royal Gazette) writes, “A book by a Bermudian author has been given the seal of approval by US media magnate Oprah Winfrey.”
Girlcott, by Florenz Maxwell, was listed as must-read book in a recent edition of Ms Winfrey’s
O Magazine.
The coming-of-age novel is set during the 1959 Theatre Boycott and seen through the eyes of Desma Johnson as she approaches her 16th birthday.
Ms Maxwell based her book partly on her own experiences. She was a member of the Progressive Group that organised the boycott in order to break down segregation on the island.
“She is in a vegetative, minimally conscious state,” Rosa said.
When she started to feel sick, Rosa says her sister began tracking her oxygen levels.
Courtesy
Courtesy of the Castillo family
“And one morning she woke up and realized it had gone significantly down,” Rosa said. “She was having trouble breathing so she went to the ER.”
At first, Stephanie seemed like she would be OK. But a couple of days later, Rosa says her sister’s condition worsened.
“She sent me a text message saying to pray for her, that they’re going to put her on a ventilator,” Rosa said.