THE 2025 Bocas Lit Fest, held from May 1 - 4 at the National Library, Port of Spain, featured a weekend packed with activities and entertainment designed for children.

On May 3, at the all-day family reading circle, children sat in rapt fascination and delight as a series of children’s writers read to them from their latest books, a news release from the Bocas Lit Fest on May 9 said.

It added, “Presented in partnership with literacy advocacy NGO Let’s Read, the festival edition of the monthly Family Reading Circle welcomed a steady stream of parents, grannies, grandpas, aunties and uncles and their little ones. The result was a cozy, family friendly atmosphere at the Children’s Library.”

[caption id="attachment_1154516" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Melvina Hazard, Bocas Lit Fest children’s programme manager during the 20205 festival. - Photo courtesy Jordan Briggs[/caption]

Suzette Cadiz and Alison De la Bastide of Let’s Read welcomed the children and their families with a diverse selection of books, “designed to stimulate the imagination and inspire.”

Children’s writers Jeunanne Alkins, Lisa-Marie Foster, Rubadiri Victor, Marsha Gomes-Mckie, Mary Cuffy, Philip Simon and Sonja Dumas, among others, were joined by newcomers Stacy Julien and Crystal-Marie Sealey and Charise J Broome, with the latter two launching their new books at the event.

Twelve-year-old Mishal Rahaman-Ali, the youngest of the writers, introduced her second book – The Enchanting Stories of Pothounds from Trinidad and Tobago.

The day also celebrated young writers in the First Words Young Writers’ Showcase. Four promising young writers – Caiden Francis, Isabel Mc Collin, Andre Lucio, and Jorel Ferguson – shared excerpts from the books they’re currently writing under the mentorship of author Alake Pilgrim.

The First Words Young Writers’ Programme is an ongoing project of the Bocas Lit Fest’s Children’s Programme. According to the children’s programme manager, Melvina Hazard, “First Words is intended to be a life-long creative experiment, with the hopeful outcome of these children being nurtured throughout their life – from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood as fully fledged, published, award winning writers.”

The children’s programme also provided resources for published and aspiring writers of children’s books.

On May 4, the last day of the festival, the Storytelling Room at the Children’s Library was transformed into a warm cosy child-care zone. The room was set up with ongoing videos from Bocas Storytime – where professional storytellers such as Cecilia Salazar, Penelope Spencer and Dara Healey, among others, dramatised stories written by children over the years at the Children’s Storytelling Caravan.

[caption id="attachment_1154514" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Isabel Mc Collin takes part in the First Words Young Writers’ Showcase at the Bocas Lit Fest. - Photo courtesy Bocas Lit Fest[/caption]

In addition to these videos, the children also had access to toys and materials to draw and colour. “We wan