How The Contest Came to Be

The BCLF Short Fiction Story Contest is an annual writing competition geared towards unearthing and encouraging the distinctive voice and story of the Caribbean-descended writer and expanding the creative writing landscape of Caribbean literature. 

Writing contests are essential for writers. Writing contests offer more than bragging rights to those courageous enough to enter. It offers invaluable visibility, opportunities for publishing deals and access to an industry that often feels like its ranks are closed to the not-yet initiated. Writing prizes open doors, boost confidence and are the chance for underrepresented demographics to make it.

The BCLF is committed to improving the Caribbean literary canon’s mettle in this world. That objective, for us, can be achieved through craft improvement, access to resources and widened public impressions. The contest was started to create greater visibility for Caribbean writers and as a means of opening the door to better opportunities in the writing world. It aims to provide a conduit through which writers of Caribbean descent find encouragement and empowerment to weave and share their stories.

Both of the contest's prizes are directed to the two distinct voices and perspectives which comprise the Caribbean identity - writers who were born and live in the Caribbean and those who reside in the diaspora. The awards are issued in the name of our patron and the Trinidad and Tobago born writing giant, Dr. Elizabeth Nunez:

  • BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize is open to unpublished writers of Caribbean heritage. Self-published writers may apply. This prize seeks to unearth hidden storytellers in the United States and Canada.

  • BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean is open exclusively to Caribbean writers of all levels who reside and work in the Caribbean or are on temporary assignment overseas. 

With these two awards, the BCLF ensures that it does not pit the variegated perspective of the ever-expanding definition of the Caribbean writer against itself. Overall, the contest and its prizes work to increase exposure for Caribbean writers to wider audiences. Both prizes are meant to enhance writers' visibility and consequently grow their access to larger literary networks and resources for writers of Caribbean descent. This devotion to narrowing the gaps between the fertile resources of the literary industry and historically under-recognised groups like Caribbean writers remains the BCLF's primary mission while simultaneously guiding the contest's rules and eligibility criteria.

Testimonials

Ahkim Alexis (Winner - BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award For Writers In The Caribbean)

“Winning the BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award has been thrilling and rewarding in myriad ways. It has opened doors to opportunities to hone my craft through workshops, meet other emerging writers, get my work read more widely, and made me a better and more intentional writer. The insightful feedback from the judges and generous support from fellow writers motivates you to keep putting pen to paper, despite all the challenges that come with writing.”

Patrice Grell Yursik (Winner - 2021 BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writers’ Prize)

“Winning the BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award was an incredible experience for me, and it changed the game for me in terms of my fiction writing. To be awarded a prize named for and funded by THE Elizabeth Nunez, to know it was blindly judged by authors I respect and admire so much gave me a certainty and confirmation in my direction that felt so incredibly validating. I have had some lovely conversations with agents after this award, and I’m working on a cohesive collection that feels right. And I continue to seek avenues to publish my short stories. ”