00:00one caribbean media has been sponsoring the bogus lit fest for 15 years and has underscored what it
00:06refers to as an unwavering commitment to continue supporting culture the arts and media speaking at
00:13the 2025 bogus lit fest prize giving ceremony ocm ceo dawn thomas said the literary landscape
00:20is changing through artificial intelligence according to thomas ai has expanded the realm
00:26of possibilities including in crafting narratives research translation etc in an era she called
00:33exciting helping voices that might have previously been marginalized to find the audience however
00:41as we embrace these technological advances it is crucial that we remain mindful of the importance
00:49of authenticity human creativity and cultural integrity ai should serve us as an aid not a
00:57replacement for the unique voices that define our caribbean identity our stories are rooted in lived
01:06experiences cultural nuances and emotional truths that no machine can replicate thomas said the heart
01:14and soul of literature and storytelling must not be compromised because our stories have the power to
01:22inspire change to foster empathy and to elevate our culture globally so let us continue to support our
01:31writers in sharing these narratives far and wide the winner of the poetry category was anthony vani
01:39capilde with her book polka dot wounds the fiction category was won by miriam j a chancy with her novel village weavers
01:47and the non-fiction category was copped by dion brand with salvage readings from the wreck the award was
01:54collected by the author's sister marcia romaine the winners received a three thousand u.s dollar cash prize
02:00walking away as the overall winner of the ten thousand u.s dollar ocm cash prize was miriam j a chancy
02:08she said it is now 200 years since haiti was forced to pay indemnity to the french government
02:13for the haitian revolution causing their economy to fall to ruins and spawning a humanitarian crisis
02:20chancy stated that without market women which village weavers is in part inspired by
02:26haiti would fall deeper into despair her grandparents migrated from haiti and then as the haiti that
02:33they knew in the 40s devolved with the devalued dictatorship haiti began to be forgotten by so
02:39many people and yet that generation even as they were forced to flee haiti remembered it the henry swansey
02:47award for distinguished service to caribbean letters went to the journal of west indian literature
02:53meanwhile festival director of the bogus lit fest nicholas lachlan says the aim is to continue to make a
02:59space for everyone including writers and readers the continued vitality of caribbean literature depends
03:06on nurturing the youngest writers and readers as we do through our programs for children and youth
03:12we look forward to launching an augmented children's bogus lit fest later this year
03:17including the return of our highly popular storytelling caravan traversing the length and breadth of trinidad and
03:23and tobago alicia boucher tv6 news
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