BCLF Cocoa Pod

Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival
  • 5.0 (4)
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BCLF Cocoa Pod is a Caribbean storytelling experience in which writers of Caribbean heritage narrate their own stories. Each story is a seed, a nugget of an original work of fiction, rich with the rhythm, pitch and intonation of the one who wrote it. It is Caribbean storytelling told in the best way possible - in the voice of the place(s) that inspired it, imbued with the magic and accents of the region. BCLF Cocoa Pod is an original production of the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF)Follow the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival on IG and FB @bklyncbeanlitfestVisit www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com

Episodes

  1. Episode 49 | Traveling Freely Essays - Roberto Carlos-Garcia

    1D AGO

    Episode 49 | Traveling Freely Essays - Roberto Carlos-Garcia

    In Traveling Freely: Essays, Roberto Carlos Garcia explores intersecting topics such as race, identity, American socioeconomic inequality, police violence, our inability to partake in our culture as innocents, and our complicity as Americans in all that’s wrong with the United States from the author’s specific vantage point as a Black Dominican American man. The voice in these essays is both clear and nuanced, and as readers move through the collection, the various themes cohere into a multilayered investigation of institutional racism and the inherent exploitations of capitalism. In essays that are uniquely straightforward and accessible, Garcia insists that in order to resist state-sanctioned violence against marginalized bodies and populations, we must understand our shared history of oppression—so that we can rise against it effectively and find new paths forward. This episode of BCLF Cocoa Pod was made possible with the support of funds from the Brooklyn Arts Council Local Arts Support Grant.

    16 min
  2. Episode 48 | The Price of Two Pence - Jason Allen-Plaisant (Jamaica)

    SEP 25

    Episode 48 | The Price of Two Pence - Jason Allen-Plaisant (Jamaica)

    "What you’re about to hear is the opening of my novel-in-progress, The Price of Two Pence. It begins in Battersea, January 1975, on the Number 77 bus, where Ronald Jones — a Jamaican bus conductor — asks two young men for a two-pence fare for their dog. What happens next alters his life, and the life of his sister Nancy, forever. The novel traces the aftermath of that moment across London and rural Jamaica, exploring the grief and rage of a family, the silences of a city that tried to forget this death, and the persistence of memory across generations. At its heart, it’s about what it takes for a community to keep someone’s story alive — and the fire we must walk through to bring it into the light." Blessings, Jason Allen-Paisant You may follow Jason's journey and his award-winning work at www.jasonallenpaisant.com  This episode of BCLF Cocoa Pod was made possible with the support of funds from the Brooklyn Arts Council Local Arts Support Grant.

    19 min
  3. Episode 47 | Getting Through - New & Selected poems by Mervyn Taylor (Trinidad)

    SEP 12

    Episode 47 | Getting Through - New & Selected poems by Mervyn Taylor (Trinidad)

    We at the BCLF are proud to mark the release of “Getting Through: New and Selected Poems” by Mervyn Taylor, an extraordinary collection which gathers decades of lyrical mastery into one definitive volume, with this special episode of Cocoa Pod. Described as “a treasure trove… capturing the beauty and nuances of ordinary and extraordinary lives,” this poetry collection is a profound offering of Caribbean life, exploring themes of love, death, migration, aging, and grief with Taylor’s signature lyricism and care. A collection “worth relishing, celebrating, and revisiting.” Mervyn Taylor, a Trinidad-born poet, is the author of nine collections of poetry, including Country of Warm Snow (2020), a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, The Last Train (2023), and the chapbook, News of the Living, concerning the Covid pandemic. Getting Through: New & Selected Poems (2024), from Beltway Editions, was shortlisted for the Bocas Prize. A new collection, Unpainted Houses, is forthcoming from Broadstone Books. Taylor has taught at Bronx Community College, The New School University, and in the NYC public school system. He lives in Brooklyn, NY, and Belmont, Trinidad. This episode of BCLF Cocoa Pod was made possible with the support of funds from the Brooklyn Arts Council Local Arts Support Grant

    16 min
  4. Episode 46 | Ever Since We Small - Celeste Mohammed (Trinidad)

    SEP 1

    Episode 46 | Ever Since We Small - Celeste Mohammed (Trinidad)

    Ever Since We Small – A Reading by Celeste Mohammed In this episode of BCLF Cocoa Pod, award-winning writer Celeste Mohammed reads from her second novel-in-stories, Ever Since We Small. Spanning generations of an Indo-Trinidadian family, the book follows the Gopauls from Jayanti’s journey as a girmitiya to the struggles of her descendants in modern Trinidad. Along the journey of these ten interconnected stories, the alchemy necessary to turn the Gopauls' inheritance of pain into a "generation of gold" requires intervention by the living and dead, the "real" and the mythical, the mundane and the magical, the secular and the sacred. This episode of BCLF Cocoa Pod was made possible with the support of funds from the Brooklyn Arts Council Local Arts Support Grant

    20 min
  5. Episode 45 | Let Me Liberate You - Andie Davis (Barbados)

    AUG 20

    Episode 45 | Let Me Liberate You - Andie Davis (Barbados)

    This episode of BCLF Cocoa Pod was made possible with the support of funds from the Brooklyn Arts Council Local Arts Support Grant In Let Me Liberate You, a restless New York artist searching for purpose returns to Barbados and stumbles into the role of activist in this scathingly funny and brilliantly observed satire about privilege, family discord, and performative do-gooding. Let Me Liberate You was written by Andie Davis whose curiosity about other people’s lives inspired her love for languages and her travels around the world. Born in Montserrat, Davis grew up in Barbados before moving with her family to the US, where she attended Howard University and Harvard Law School. She works as a global development advisor focused on sustainability. She lives in New York City.

    21 min
  6. Episode 44 | An Unending Search by Ryan Bachoo (Trinidad)

    MAY 30

    Episode 44 | An Unending Search by Ryan Bachoo (Trinidad)

    "An Unending Search", by Ryan Bachoo is a novel set in South Trinidad in the late 1970s. It follows the story of Tar, a young man who dreams of escaping poverty and systemic racism. Inspired by Uncle Sundar, Tar's journey is one of hope and ambition, ultimately leading him to New York or London. The novel explores themes of identity, racism, and classism, painting a vivid picture of life in Trinidad during that era. To commemorate Indian Arrival celebrations in the month of May, this episode includes a Q&A between Ryan and Stephanie Ramlogan, the 2020 winner of the BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer's Prize.

    47 min
  7. Episode 43 | Trouble With The Dog - Stefan Bindley-Taylor (Trinidad)

    APR 10

    Episode 43 | Trouble With The Dog - Stefan Bindley-Taylor (Trinidad)

    “The Trouble with the Dog” by Stefan Bindley-Taylor was awarded the 2024 BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize. This category was judged by Lauren Francis-Sharma, Desmond Hall and Wandeka Gayle. From the judges: ‘It is, at first, an exploration of a twisting familial relationship that embodies the hopes and expectations that live between perception and actuality. But with a sure hand, “The Trouble with the Dog” takes us through the perspectives of an uncle and his niece grappling with loss in different ways. The story, not just a psychological study, also presents their struggles with a directness, a wry humor, and without overt sentimentality yet still offers an emotional resonance and tenderness that guides the reader through the silences between generations, the silence that threatens to stifle intimacy between people committed to loving one another. This short tale shows us another way.’

    21 min
  8. Episode 42 | Ibis by Justin Haynes (Trinidad)

    MAR 11

    Episode 42 | Ibis by Justin Haynes (Trinidad)

    There is bad luck in New Felicity. The people of the small coastal village have taken in Milagros, an 11-year-old Venezuelan refugee, just as Trinidad’s government has begun cracking down on undocumented migrants—and now an American journalist has come to town asking questions. New Felicity’s superstitious fishermen fear the worst, certain they’ve brought bad luck on the village by killing a local witch who had herself murdered two villagers the year before. The town has been plagued since her death by alarming visits from her supernatural mother, as well as by a mysterious profusion of scarlet ibis birds. Skittish that the reporter’s story will bring down the wrath of the ministry of national security, the fishermen take things into their own hands. From there, we go backward and forward in time—from the town’s early days, when it was the site of a sugar plantation, to Milagros’s adulthood as she searches for her mother across the Americas. In between, through the voices of a chorus of narrators, we glimpse moments from various villagers’ lives, each one setting into motion events that will reverberate outwards across the novel and shape Milagros’s fate. With kinetic, absorbing language and a powerful sense of voice, Ibis meditates on the bond between mothers and daughters, both highlighting the migrant crisis that troubles the contemporary world and offering a moving exploration of how to square where we come from with who we become. Justin Haynes is a novelist and short story writer who was born in Port of Spain and raised just outside of it. He later moved to Brooklyn, NY. He holds degrees from St. Francis College, the University of Notre Dame, and Vanderbilt University.

    21 min
  9. Episode 41 | A House for Miss Pauline by Diana McCaulay (Jamaica)

    FEB 19

    Episode 41 | A House for Miss Pauline by Diana McCaulay (Jamaica)

    Set in the heart of rural Jamaica, A HOUSE FOR MISS PAULINE (Algonquin Books), from award-winning author Diana McCaulay, tells the captivating, tender tale of Pauline Sinclair—a fiercely independent 99-year-old Jamaican woman who built her own home from the ruins of a plantation. As she faces her 100 th birthday, the old stones of her house begin to rattle and shift and call out mysterious messages, prompting her to reckon with long-buried secrets from her past. Lyrical, funny, eerie, and urgent, infused with the patois and natural beauty of Jamaica, A HOUSE FOR MISS PAULINE asks profound questions about ancestry, colonialism, and ownership of the places where our identities are forged. Join Diana on the occasion of BCLF-directed US book launch on Tuesday 25 February. Get tickets here! https://events.humanitix.com/a-house-for-miss-pauline-book-launch

    15 min
  10. Episode 40 | Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma

    FEB 12

    Episode 40 | Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma

    Casualties of Truth, inspired by Francis-Sharma’s time at South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation’s Amnesty Hearings, is a gripping tale that explores themes of justice, revenge, race, parenting, and of course, the complications of friendship. It is a riveting literary novel with the sharp edges of a thriller about the abuses of history and the costs of revenge, set between Washington, D.C., and Johannesburg, South Africa. Her third offering, Casualties of Truth is published by Grove Atlantic and will be celebrated by Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival on Feb 18, 2025 at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn. Get tickets here https://events.humanitix.com/casualties-of-truth Ticket link About Lauren Francis-Sharma Lauren Francis-Sharma is the author of Book of the Little Axe, a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the critically acclaimed novel ’Til the Well Runs Dry. She was a MacDowell fellow and is the Assistant Director of Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference at Middlebury College. She resides near Washington, DC, with her family.

    16 min
  11. Episode 39 | A Christmas Origin Story: Anancy & Sorrel Told by Velma Pollard (Jamaica)

    12/19/2024

    Episode 39 | A Christmas Origin Story: Anancy & Sorrel Told by Velma Pollard (Jamaica)

    Love sorrel at Christmas? Thank Anancy, that trickster spider, for the drink all West Indians eagerly enjoy during the festive Yuletide season! In this episode, Ms. Velma Pollard, revered Jamaican author and oral storyteller, shares the backstory of sorrel’s infamous association with Christmas in a folktale that originated in Jamaica.  This telling is adapted from a story by Ms. Louise Bennet, Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, educator whose pioneering work in performing her poems in Jamaican Creole earned her many distinctions including the Order of Jamaica and an MBE. Award-winning Velma Pollard’s career is filled with acclaim for establishing the validity of Jamaican patwa as a form of literary expression. This Cocoa Pod episode is an important addition to the wider movement to preserve the practice of presenting poetry, folk songs and stories in Nation Language. Pour yourself a tall glass of sorrel on the rocks, press play and have yourself a very Merry Christmas! Love, Marsha and Mellany

    7 min
  • 11 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

BCLF Cocoa Pod is a Caribbean storytelling experience in which writers of Caribbean heritage narrate their own stories. Each story is a seed, a nugget of an original work of fiction, rich with the rhythm, pitch and intonation of the one who wrote it. It is Caribbean storytelling told in the best way possible - in the voice of the place(s) that inspired it, imbued with the magic and accents of the region. BCLF Cocoa Pod is an original production of the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF)Follow the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival on IG and FB @bklyncbeanlitfestVisit www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com

Information

  • Creator
    Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 BCLF Cocoa Pod
  • Show Website
    BCLF Cocoa Pod

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