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

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.

"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.