THE last night of the 2025 Bocas Lit Fest belonged to the patrons at the finals of the First Citizens National Poetry Slam.
Voices “from the ground” rose to meet the high stage at National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Frederick Street, Port of Spain, and what followed was less a show and more a necessary reckoning, as competitors interpreted the theme, Bring It Home.
Shaquille Warren, a first-time finalist from Aranjuez, walked into the ring wearing a half-red, half-yellow boxing robe. What he delivered was an untitled poem shaped by the noise of an election season and the fatigue of a country still stuck in a cycle of fighting itself, a media release said.
He wasn’t meant to perform that piece. But as he explained in the release, “The atmosphere leading up to the finals . . . the division, the back-and-forth, it didn’t sit right. I had to change it. This one felt necessary.”
That instinct proved right. Warren’s performance – raw, deliberate, and heavy with symbolism – earned him the $50,000 first prize. He dethroned last year's winner Shakira Burton. He became the first poet in the slam's history to win from performing at number one, and only the fourth to win on their slam debut. He is also the seventh male champion in the 14 years of the competition.
This year familiar faces returned. So did heavy truths. Six former slam champions were in the line-up. Two poets were making their debut in the final. Every performer brought something potent, but three triumphed.
[caption id="attachment_1153496" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Derron Sandy who placed second, left, with winner Shaquille Warren, Alicia Psyche Haynes, third, and Jason Julien, group deputy CEO, business generation First Citizens at the finals of the First Citizens National Poetry Slam. - Photo courtesy Curtis Henry[/caption]
Taking second place was Derron Sandy, the 2021 champion and a finalist for the ninth time. His piece, Prime Monster, charted the metamorphosis of a well-meaning citizen into a corrupted political figure, consumed by the hunger for votes and power. He ended, holding an imaginary baby – a symbol of future generations – before throwing it skyward to the chilling echo of David Rudder’s “Vote for we, and we will set you free.” Sandy, for the third time, placed second.
In third place was Alicia Psyche Haynes, back for her second final. Her poem, Mr A, was more than a performance – it was a confession, a catharsis, and a call.
“It’s for every woman who gave too much to a man who gave too little,” she said. It was Friday-night backyard truth-telling energy, delivered with restraint and clarity.
The judging panel was made up of experienced voices – poet Arielle John as head judge, joined by Nickolai Salcedo, Paul Keens-Douglas, Dr Sylvia Rose-Ann Walker, and guest judge Yomi Ṣode, a Nigerian British poet and playwright whose presence deepened the slam’s international credibility, the release said.
Reflecting on the performances, John said, “The poems on the Bring It Home stage offered several calls to acti
