My third novel manuscript is now a finalist for the 2018 Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Fiction.
Here’s the jury’s summary of The Dark of the Sea:
“A compelling page-turner, this fantastical adventure story follows the journey of a young man who is rebellious, unimpressed by education and religion, cynical about the future, and obsessed with girls. The humour is dark, the morality complicated, …and the victories bittersweet.”
While this book features mermaids, undersea cities, ancient gods, Lovecraftian monsters, giant sea creatures, magic weapons and epic fights, I’m happy the jury focused on the character aspects in their evaluation. While the adventure always comes first in anything I write, I tried to make the heart of the book about the way teens in Essequibo struggle with weaknesses in the social and educational fabric around them and with the prevalence of suicide in our small community.
The awards will be presented on Wednesday, April 25th during the opening ceremony of this year’s Bocas Lit Festival in Trinidad. More on the Burt Award and the other two finalists here. All three authors will take part in a discussion and Q&A session the day after the award ceremony.
