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Jamaican poet named on 2013 OCM Bocas Longlist

Published:Sunday | March 10, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Ann-Margaret Lim presents her first anthology 'The Festival Of Wild Orchid and A Lime Jewel', an anthology of poetry and short stories in aid of Haiti, to former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson at his office. The book was nominated for the UK Guardian First Book Prize in July 2012, just two months after its publication.

KINGSTON:

Jamaican poet Ann-Margaret Lim is among 10 writers from six Caribbean countries on the longlist for the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, sponsored by One Caribbean Media.

The prize longlist, which was announced by judges on February 28, covers poetry, fiction and literary non-fiction. The winners in the three genre categories will be announced on March 17, and the prize will be presented on April 27 during the third annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest in Port-of-Spain. The overall winner of the prize will receive a US$10,000 award.

Lim scored the nod in the poetry category, where the judges singled out one additional book for special mention, The Festival of Wild Orchid by Ann-Margaret Lim. Other works in the category include Vahni Capildeo's Dark and Unaccustomed Words, Fault Lines by St Lucian poet Kendel Hippolyte, and South Eastern Stages by Barbadian Anthony Kellman.

According to an enthusiastic Lim, "I'm honoured to be in a group with Hippolyte and to be the only Jamaican and only female in the category. Hyppolyte is someone I read while in school and he has been writing from the '70s, so I feel really good that my very first book is in this company."

She further mentioned, "The Bocas prize will be three years old this year, and the first winner (poetry) was Walcott for White Egrets, and last year's winner was Loretta Collins Koblah for The Twelve Foot Neon Woman. So I'm really happy and honoured to be in this list."