Taking poetry forward

For this incredible work, she has won the Forward Prize, one of the most coveted awards in the English- speaking poetry world. We congratulate her on this achievement, which is not only one for Trinidad and Tobago, but a victory for the wider Caribbean with its rich history of literature.

Capildeo was born and educated in Trinidad and holds a DPhil in Old Norse from Christ Church, Oxford. She has published seven works and was the 2014 Judith E Wilson Visiting Fellow in Poetry at the University of Cambridge. She was long-listed for the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for her collection Dark and Unaccustomed Words.

The poet’s achievement is all the more sweeter as a second Caribbean poet, Tiphanie Yanique, was also honoured for the best first collection for Wife (Peepal Tree Press).

It is the third year in a row that a Caribbean poet has won the overall prize, assuring the region’s place in world literature. Our youngsters should be encouraged to write and read as widely as possible and to continue this tradition of excellence demonstrated by these poets.

We also acknowledge that in recent years there have been stellar efforts by a range of key stakeholders who have sought, tirelessly, to advance the cause of the written word in a world now seemingly dominated by social media videos.

The Bocas Lit Fest is the pre-eminent literary event on the calendar and through it talent has been identified and nurtured. Writers and readers from all over the diaspora have come together and young writers in particular – including spoken-word poets – have been engaged.

Both Capildeo and Yanique have featured prominently at Bocas (Yanique won the 2016 OCM Bocas Prize for Poetry and was longlisted for the 2015 OCM Bocas Prize for her debut novel Land of Love and Drowning). A third Forward Prize winner, Jamaican Kei Miller, has also been honoured. The festival and the prizes enhance our writers and provide crucial support in a number of untold ways.

Therefore, the private sector should be encouraged to support these initiatives. Already, some do. In addition to the sponsors of the prize, the overall NGC Bocas Lit Fest is supported by that State enterprise and a range of commercial partners, including FCB. It is crucial that this continues to nurture talent and to help audiences connect with writers who, while having Trinidad roots, do not live in this country given the realities of our creative industries.

Our local publishing industry is still developing, even if strides have been made. In this regard, it is notable specific publishers, including Peepal Tree Press, have devoted their operations to Caribbean literature.

Local booksellers also continue to press on, with many holding events aimed at getting people to engage with books. An example is the regular series of weekend readings over tea put on by the Paper Based Bookshop at Hotel Normandie.

The line “this was not the work of one night” from Capildeo’s poem is fitting in more ways than one.

What an achievement for her, coming from a family that exposed her from an early age to literature (she has detailed how her father Devendranath Capildeo was a poet, while her mother Leila recited poetry in English, French and Spanish by heart). Seeds were planted, foreshadowing her formidable achievements of style and form.

While today’s world is dominated by the Internet, language and expression seem to be going out the window. It is good that as a nation we can show the world that we have talent and are poised to take the English language and poetry forward.