Nicholas Laughlin (born 6 May 1975)[1] is a writer and editor from Trinidad and Tobago. He has been editor of The Caribbean Review of Books since 2004, and also edits the arts and travel magazine Caribbean Beat. He is the festival and programme director of the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, having worked alongside founder and managing director Marina Salandy-Brown since 2011.

Nicholas Laughlin
Born (1975-05-06) 6 May 1975 (age 49)
Port of Spain, Trinidad
OccupationWriter and editor
Festival and programme director of the NGC Bocas Lit Fest
Alma materUniversity of the West Indies, St Augustine
Notable worksEditor of The Caribbean Review of Books, and Caribbean Beat
Website
nicholaslaughlin.net

Biography

edit

Nicholas Laughlin was born and brought up in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where he is still based. He studied English at the University of the West Indies at St Augustine, and after graduating briefly worked as a sub-editor at the Trinidad Guardian. He was later employed by Caribbean Beat, becoming the magazine's editor in 2003. He also worked on reviving The Caribbean Review of Books (CRB), and the first issue of the reincarnated journal, of which he is editor, was published in May 2004.[1] He also co-edits Town, "a modest literary magazine".[2][3]

He edited a volume of early essays by C. L. R. James entitled Letters from London (2003, Prospect Press), and in 2009 a revised and expanded edition of V. S. Naipaul's family correspondence, entitled Letters between a Father and Son (published by Picador).[4]

Laughlin served as programme director of Trinidad's annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest since its founding in 2011 by Marina Salandy-Brown.[5] He is also a co-director, with Sean Leonard and Christopher Cozier, of the non-profit contemporary art space Alice Yard, in Port of Spain.[6][7]

Laughlin has written book reviews, essays, profiles of writers and reportage for a range of outlets, including the Trinidad Guardian, the Trinidad and Tobago Review, Caribbean Beat, the Stabroek News, and the CRB.[1] Also a poet, he is the author of the collection The Strange Years of My Life (Peepal Tree Press, 2015).[8][9]

He co-edited (with Nailah Folami Imoja) the anthology So Many Islands: Stories from the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Indian and Pacific Oceans (Peekash Press, 2018).[10]

As of January 2022, Laughlin has been the festival and programme director of the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, with founder Salandy-Brown remaining as the festival's president.[11][12][13][5]

Bibliography

edit
  • The Strange Years of My Life (Peepal Tree Press, 2015), ISBN 9781845232924
  • As editor (with Nailah Folami Imoja), So Many Islands: Stories from the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Indian and Pacific Oceans (Peekash Press, 2018), ISBN 978-976-96106-0-6

Selected shorter writings

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "In brief", Nicholas Laughlin's website.
  2. ^ Nicholas Laughlin's blog etc.
  3. ^ "About Town", Town website.
  4. ^ Kelly Baker Josephs, "The Democracy of Ideas", SX Salon 3, February 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Our Team", NGC Bocas Lit Fest.
  6. ^ Nicholas Laughlin, "How to be here", Alice Yard, 5 July 2015.
  7. ^ Marsha Pearce, "Playing in the Yard", Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, 20 November 2012.
  8. ^ "The Strange Years of My Life" at nicholaslaughlin.net.
  9. ^ "The Strange Years of My Life", Peepal Tree Press, 2015.
  10. ^ "So Many Islands: Stories from the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Indian and Pacific Oceans", Peekash Press, 2018.
  11. ^ "Nicholas Laughlin", International Literature Showcase.
  12. ^ "Bocas prepares for decade two". Bocas Lit Fest. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  13. ^ Michael Mondezie (8 January 2022). "Turning to a new chapter". Trinidad Express.
edit