Over 5000 people voted in our inaugural Caribbean Readers’ Awards, and we are excited to announce the winners!
The Caribbean Readers’ Award recognizes outstanding works in Caribbean Literature, as chosen by readers across the world. The prize is given to one fiction novel, YA novel, middle grade/tween novel, nonfiction works, short stories, and translated literature. Rebel Women Lit also recognized individuals who embody the spirit of Rebel Women Lit and have made recognizable contributions in their field and in the Caribbean Literature community. The selected awardees are highlighted as Rebel Women Lit Critics and Honorees.
Best Novel (Adult)
Winner: Tea by the Sea by Donna Hemans
Shortlist
A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie
Birthday Shot by Rilzy Adams
Black Rain Falling by Jacob Ross
Book of The Little Axe by Lauren Francis-Sharma
Daylight Come by Diana McCaulay
Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud
Polar Vortex by Shani Mootoo
Tea by the Sea by Donna Hemans
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
These Ghosts are Family by Maisy Card
Best Young Adult Novel
Winner: Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Shortlist
Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatle
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Facing The Sun by Janice Lynn Mather
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Off Track By Tamika Gibson
Best Middle Grade/Tween Novel
Winner: When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten
Shortlist
Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar
The Madre de Aguas of Cuba (The Unicorn Rescue Society #5) by Adam Gidwitz and Emma Otheguy, illustrated by Hatem Aly
When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten
Translated Works
Winner: The Sea Needs No Ornament / El Mar No Necesita Ornamento edited by Loretta Collins Klobah & Maria Grau Perejoan
Shortlist
The Belle Créole by Maryse Condé, translated by Nicole Simek
The Black Cathedral by Marcia Gala, translated by Anna Kushner
The Sea Needs No Ornament / El Mar No Necesita Ornamento edited by Loretta Collins Klobah & Maria Grau Perejoan
The Wondrous and Tragic Life of Ivan and Ivana by Maryse Condé, translated by Richard Philcox
Poetry
Winner: New Voices: Selected by Lorna Goodison, Poet Laureate of Jamaica, 2017-2020
Shortlist
Feels Like Home by Natalya Muncuff
Guabancex by Celia Sorhaindo
New Voices: Selected by Lorna Goodison, Poet Laureate of Jamaica, 2017-2020
Running with Daffodils by Samantha R.S.
The Dyzgraphxst by Canisia Lubrin
The Sea Needs No Ornament / El Mar No Necesita Ornamento edited by Loretta Collins Klobah & Maria Grau Perejoan
Best Non-Fiction (Book)
Winner: Wicked Flesh: Black Women, Intimacy, and Freedom in the Atlantic World by Jessica Marie Johnson
Shortlist
An Autobiography of the Autobiography of Reading by Dionne Brand
Beyond Homophobia: Centring LGBTQ Experiences in the Anglophone Caribbean edited by Moji Anderson and Erin C. MacLeod
Carnival Is Woman: Feminism and Performance in Caribbean Mas edited by Frances Henry and Dwaine Plaza
Musings, Mazes, Muses, Margins, by Gordon Rohlehr
Reimagining Liberation: How Black Women Transformed Citizenship in the French Empire by Annette Joseph-Gabriel
The Undiscovered Country by Andre Bagoo
The Millennial Mind by Daniel Francis
Wicked Flesh: Black Women, Intimacy, and Freedom in the Atlantic World by Jessica Marie Johnson
Non-Fiction (Individual Pieces)
Winner: Cross Words in Lockdown: #WhatIAmDoingWithMyTime by Olive Senior
Shortlist
After the Aftermath: Hurricane Dorian by Alexia Tolas
Cross Words in Lockdown: #WhatIAmDoingWithMyTime by Olive Senior
F is for …” by Joanne C. Hillhouse (from the Caribbean Literary Heritage Forgotten Caribbean Books Series)
Jewellery for Re-membering in the Afterlife of Slavery: A View From the Disappearing Beach by Maziki Thame
Life on Stilts by Carinya Sharples
Strategies to Escape the Eyes of the State” by Gervais Marsh
Short Story (Collection)
Winner: Stick No Bills by Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw
Shortlist
Dominoes at the Crossroads by Kaie Kellough
Stick No Bills by Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw
Short Story (Individual Pieces)
Winner: “A Bright Future for Tomorrow” by Andre J P Warner
Shortlist
A Bright Future for Tomorrow by Andre J P Warner
A Mermaid by Zaniah Pigott
Belonging to Barbuda by Barbara Arrindell
Cruising on Wrangler Avenue by Kaleb D’Aguilar
Fabled Truth by Aria-Rose Browne
Invisible Scars by Pietra Brown
Saffy’s Song by Sharma Taylor
Tom, the Ninja Crab by Cheyanne Darroux
The Beast of Barbados by William Henderson
Vizay by Hadassah K Williams
New Content Creators
Winner: @Ambi_reads on Instagram
Shortlist
ambi_reads
booksnbushtea
di_good_books_dem
oddgyalreads
rayningbooks
therosepetals_
Critics and Honorees
Kelly Josephs
Gabrielle Bellot
Shivanee Ramlochan
Joanne C. Hillhouse
The Inaugural Caribbean Readers’ Awards was live-streamed on Youtube on Sunday, January 3rd 2021 Thank you to everyone who voted and showed their support for their favourite author and works written in 2020. We look forward to making it even better in 2021, until then Stay Lit!
If you like the work Rebel Women Lit does for Caribbean Literature, become a sustaining member to support our projects.