Caribbean Myth, Mythology, and Science Fiction

Ann Dávila Cardinal is a novelist and Director of Recruitment for Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) where she also earned her MFA in Writing. She is author of Five Midnights (Tor Teen), a novel based on the el Cuco myth set against the backdrop of modern-day Puerto Rico. Five friends cursed. Five deadly fates. Five nights of retribución. If Lupe Dávila and Javier Utierre can survive each other’s company, together they can solve a series of grisly murders sweeping though Puerto Rico. But the clues lead them out of the real world and into the realm of myths and legends. And if they want to catch the killer, they'll have to step into the shadows to see what's lurking there―murderer, or monster? Juliana Baggott calls Five Midnights, “A frightening, fast-paced thriller.”

Breanne McIvor studied English at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh. She has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the Glimmer Train Fiction Open, the Fish One-Page Prize and the Derek Walcott Writing Prize. In 2015, she won The Caribbean Writer’s David Hough Literary Prize. Where There Are Monsters (Peepal Tree Press Ltd) is her first short story collection. The Trinidad of these stories is utterly contemporary, but also a place defined by its folk mythologies and its cultural creations, its traditions of masking and disguises. These stories confront the increasing economic and cultural divisions between rich and poor, the alarming rise in crime, murders and an alternative economy based on drug trafficking. The figure of the loup-garou, the violent rhetoric of the Midnight Robber – or even cannibalism lurking far off the beaten track – have become almost comic tropes of a dusty folklore. In McIvor’s stories they become real and terrifying daylight presences, monsters who pass among us. In these carefully crafted stories, with room for humor, though of a distinctly gothic kind, Breanne McIvor reaches deep into the roots of Trinidad folk narratives to present us with very modern versions of our troubled selves.

Imam Baksh is a writer from Guyana. His novel Children of the Spider won first place in the 2015 CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature. His latest novel, The Dark of the Sea (Blue Banyan Books) is the winner of the 2018 Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature. Obsessed with girls, devoid of muscles and faced with hostile teachers and a reading disability, 15-year-old Danesh has been struggling to survive life in the lower bowls of the Essequibo high school system. In a community wracked by alcoholism, suicide and corruption, he sees no purposeful path for himself. Then, Medusa, a creature of savage beauty and determination, crashes into his life and reveals a whole new world beneath the muddy waves -- a world full of wonder, adventure and the possibility of becoming a better person. But Danesh soon learns that the path before him is not an easy one and to get there he just may have to redefine what it means to be a hero.   With clear Lovecraftian and mythical influences, Imam Baksh weaves a compelling tale that creates something completely new. The Dark of the Sea is a fantastical adventure that is buoyed by dark humor.

Karen Lord has been a physics teacher, diplomat, part-time soldier, and academic. She is now a writer and research consultant, BSc, MSc, MPhil, PhD. Her novella Redemption in Indigo won the Frank Collymore Literary Award and the William L. Crawford Award, among others. Her novel The Best of All Possible Worlds was published internationally, and won the Frank Collymore Literary Award, RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and Locus Awards Best Science Fiction Novel. She has been nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. She is the author of Unraveling (DAW). In this standalone fantasy novel, the dark truth behind a string of unusual murders leads to an otherworldly exploration of spirits, myth, and memory, steeped in Caribbean storytelling. Dr. Miranda Ecouvo, forensic therapist of the City, just helped put a serial killer behind bars. But she soon discovers that her investigation into seven unusual murders is not yet complete. A near-death experience throws her out of time and into a realm of labyrinths and spirits. There, she encounters brothers Chance and the Trickster, who have an otherworldly interest in the seemingly mundane crimes from her files. It appears the true mastermind behind the murders is still on the loose, chasing a myth to achieve immortality. Together, Miranda, Chance, and the Trickster must travel through conjured mazes, following threads of memory to locate the shadowy killer. As they journey deeper, they discover even more questions that will take pain and patience to answer.