Bocas Lit Fest

What Bocas Lit Fest does

Bocas Lit Fest is a registered non-profit company incorporated in Trinidad and Tobago, founded in 2011 by Marina Salandy-Brown, that operates as both a year-round literary arts development organization and the name of Trinidad and Tobago's premier annual literary festival. The organization is headquartered at The Writers Centre, 14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair, Port of Spain, and is governed by a Board of Directors under Managing Director Georgia Popplewell. Its programmes span an annual festival held late April/early May featuring 150+ writers and performers, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature (the region's most prestigious literary award, with US$10,000 for the overall winner), the National Poetry Slam (celebrating its 15th year in 2026), youth initiatives including We Lit and Write Away!, children's programming through the Storytelling Caravan and Bocas Storytime YouTube channel, and digital reading series such as Bios & Bookmarks.

The organization operates a portfolio of digital and physical infrastructure, including the main bocaslitfest.com website (committed to WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility), the Bocas Academy online learning platform, the Bocas Library digital archive, the Bocas Storytime YouTube channel, and streaming of festival events via YouTube and Facebook Live. Operational sub-brands include The Writers Centre (physical hub with the Paper Based Bookshop and café), Bocas Academy (workshops, masterclasses, and bootcamps launched June 2026), and Peekash Press (publishing house for Caribbean literary works). Distribution leverages the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Education's School Learning Management System for the Write Away! project, regional community festival locations across Couva, Arima, Siparia, and Tobago, and a multi-channel marketing presence across Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and TikTok.

The revenue model is sponsorship-and-grant-dependent, with major underwriters including Methanex Trinidad (community festivals), One Caribbean Media (OCM Bocas Prize), Scotiabank Foundation (Write Away!), British Council (Project Fusion Junction), JB Fernandes Memorial Trust (We Lit), and NGC (NGC Bocas Youth Writer Award). Secondary revenue streams include Pay-Per-View streaming of the National Poetry Slam Grand Slam (US$7.99/TT$55 via Caribbean Cyber Stream, PayPal, WiPay, or bank transfer), donations via pay.bocaslitfest.com, and bookshop/merchandise sales through Paper Based Bookshop. Most festival events remain free and open to the public; the consumer base is diversified across readers, secondary school students, children, and Caribbean writers, while financial risk concentrates in corporate sponsorship dependencies.

Name

Bocas Lit Fest

Legal name

Bocas Lit Fest

Website

https://bocaslitfest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bocas Lit Fest is a Trinidad and Tobago non-profit literary arts organization, founded in 2011, operating the Caribbean's premier annual literary festival alongside year-round programmes in writer development, youth literacy, children's storytelling, and literary prizes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary Festival and Cultural Events

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Theatre & Storytelling Festivals (MPAGAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Literary Arts & Writing Organizations (BPAGAHAK), Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

Keywords

• Literary festival
• Caribbean literature
• Literary awards
• Writing workshops
• Youth literacy programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Port of Spain

HQ country

Trinidad & Tobago

HQ region

Latin America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship and Grants: The organization is a non-profit funded primarily by private and public sector sponsorship. Major sponsors include Methanex Trinidad (presenting sponsor of community festivals), One Caribbean Media (sponsor of the OCM Bocas Prize), Scotiabank Foundation (sponsor of Write Away! project), British Council (sponsor of Project Fusion Junction), JB Fernandes Memorial Trust (sponsor of We Lit programme), and NGC (sponsor of NGC Bocas Youth Writer Award).
2. Event Revenue: Revenue generated from paid content including Pay-Per-View streaming of National Poetry Slam Grand Slam finals (US$7.99/TT$55), and ticket sales for select events.
3. Donations: Accepts donations through pay.bocaslitfest.com for supporting year-round programmes supporting writers and readers of all ages.
4. Bookshop and Merchandise: The Writers Centre operates a bookshop (Paper Based Bookshop) and café, generating retail revenue from book sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Bocas Lit Fest is a non-profit literary arts organization operating as both an annual literary festival (held late April/early May in Port of Spain, Trinidad) and a year-round literary arts development organization. It delivers an annual festival with 150+ writers, community festivals across Trinidad and Tobago, literary prizes including the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature (US$10,000), youth and children's programming, a physical Writers Centre hub with bookshop and café, online reading series, and the National Poetry Slam championship.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OCM Bocas Prize: Major award for Caribbean literature with categories in poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction, sponsored by One Caribbean Media.
• National Poetry Slam
• Bios & Bookmarks
• We Lit
• Write Away!
• Bocas Storytime
• Bocas Book Bulletin

Products and services

• Annual Bocas Lit Fest (Literary Festival) Trinidad and Tobago's premier annual literary festival celebrating books, writers, and ideas with Caribbean focus and international scope, featuring readings, performances, workshops, discussions, and film screenings.
• National Poetry Slam Pay-Per-View Streaming Pay-Per-View replay stream of the National Poetry Slam Grand Slam finals (US$7.99 / TT$55), distributed via Caribbean Cyber Stream with payment via PayPal, WiPay (Credit/Debit Card, Mastercard), or bank transfer.
• Bocas Academy Online and in-person learning resource and author development arm offering workshops, masterclasses, and bootcamps for writers at multiple skill levels, including Page to Performance and We Lit lessons via Zoom.
• OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature Major annual literary award for Caribbean writers in three categories (poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction) with US$10,000 grand prize and US$3,000 per category winner, sponsored by One Caribbean Media.
• National Poetry Slam Caribbean's premier spoken word poetry championship and platform for poets, held annually as the closing event of the Bocas Lit Fest. Free live events plus paid Pay-Per-View stream.
• Community Festivals Series of one-day community literary and cultural festivals across Trinidad and Tobago (Couva, Arima, Siparia, Tobago) bringing programming to local communities outside Port of Spain. Free and open to the public.
• The Writers Centre Physical space at 14 Alcazar Street, St. Clair, Port of Spain dedicated to writers and literary programmes, housing a literary hub, bookshop (Paper Based Bookshop), and café. Open weekdays and Saturdays.
• Peekash Press Publishing house operated by Bocas Lit Fest for Caribbean literary works, selling published books.
• Bios & Bookmarks Online reading series featuring Caribbean authors with readings and discussions, available on Facebook and YouTube. Free online content with eight seasons produced.
• Bocas Storytime YouTube Channel Dedicated YouTube channel for children featuring read-alouds, animations, storytelling videos, and workshops inspired by Caribbean writing and culture.
• Children's Storytelling Caravan Month-long storytelling programme around Trinidad and Tobago on Saturdays throughout April, reaching over 5,000 children from remote areas over fifteen years.
• We Lit Youth-centred programme using reading, writing, and performance to empower secondary school students, combining creative expression with academic support in English Language and Literature. Reached 2,300+ students across 10 schools in 2022 and 1,600+ students across 11 schools in 2024.
• Write Away! Digital content supporting online English classes available to secondary schools via the Ministry of Education's School Learning Management System, covering fiction, poetry, and non-fiction writing.
• Bocas Library Online resource archive of Bocas Lit Fest project archives, featuring past seasons of Bios & Bookmarks, author directories, podcasts, and free downloads.
• Family Reading Circle Read-aloud interactive series for children 12 and under featuring children's writers, presented in partnership with Let's Read since 2022.
• First Words Young Writer Development Programme Programme discovering and mentoring five young writers from childhood through youth with original works for publication.
• Project Fusion Junction Transnational multimedia creative project bringing teens from Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, and Northern Ireland together to create digital graphic novels exploring themes including AI. Executed in partnership with Fighting Words NI and the Jamaica Book Festival, sponsored by British Council.
• Stand and Deliver Open mic series offering writers of all genres, ages, and skill levels the opportunity to share their work before a live audience.
• Bocas Book Bulletin Monthly roundup of Caribbean literary news curated by Bocas Lit Fest and published in the Sunday Express newspaper, with content available on the website.
• Bocas Henry Swanzy Award Annual lifetime achievement award recognizing service to Caribbean literature by editors, publishers, critics, broadcasters, and others. Named for BBC World Service producer Henry Swanzy.
• CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature Award for young adult literature (ages 12-18) written by Caribbean authors, administered by Bocas Lit Fest 2013-2019 with over 40,000 books donated across 11 Caribbean territories.
• Bocas Children's Book Prize Annual prize for outstanding English-language children's book for young independent readers by Caribbean author, with US$1,000 cash award, sponsored by the Wainwright family.
• NGC Bocas Youth Writer Award Pioneering inter-genre award for young people in Trinidad and Tobago recognizing talent in poetry, playwriting, fiction, creative nonfiction, journalism, scriptwriting, spoken word, blog writing, and song lyrics, sponsored by NGC.
• Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize Literary development prize for emerging Caribbean writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry with cash award and year of mentoring (2019-2021).

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Singapore Writers Festival: Multilingual literary festival in Asia combining international authors with regional programming. Comparable as a national-level festival with strong government and corporate sponsorship support.

Direct peers

• Hay Festival: UK-rooted international literary festival network operating multi-country events with a comparable model of bringing together authors and readers for readings, workshops, and discussions. Highly analogous programming structure and brand-led positioning as a premier literary festival.
• Miami Book Fair: One of the largest literary festivals in the Americas, presenting author readings, workshops, and youth programming. Comparable scale and event-driven model serving English-language readers with a regional Caribbean/Latin American focus.
• Hurston/Wright Foundation: US nonprofit supporting Black writers through workshops, awards, and community programming. Analogous nonprofit literary arts development model with workshops and awards for emerging authors.
• Brooklyn Book Festival: Free, large-scale literary festival featuring diverse authors and a dedicated children's day. Comparable free-event model and community-driven programming philosophy.
• Edinburgh International Book Festival: Established annual book festival featuring author events, children's programming, and educational outreach. Strong structural parallel as a long-running literary festival with year-round community engagement.
• Jamaica Book Festival: Caribbean literary festival promoted in partnership with Bocas Lit Fest through Project Fusion Junction. Operates a comparable community literary festival model in a neighboring Caribbean country.
• Jaipur Literature Festival: Massive annual literary festival attracting global authors and audiences, often cited alongside the world's best festivals. Relevant structural benchmark for scale of author programming and international reach.
• Calabash International Literary Festival: Biennial Caribbean literary festival held in Jamaica, focused on poetry and prose with a global author lineup. Most direct regional peer given shared Caribbean literary mandate and festival-driven GTM.

Others

• Caine Prize for African Writing: Regional literary award for African short fiction administered by a nonprofit trust. Comparable as a regional nonprofit administering a flagship literary prize that elevates regional authors internationally.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bocaslitfest
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/bocaslitfest
• Facebookfacebook.com/bocaslitfest
• Instagraminstagram.com/bocaslitfest
• TikToktiktok.com/@bocaslitfest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bocas-lit-fest

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bocas Lit Fest