One of the memorable readings at Trinidad's Bocas Lit Fest earlier this year was Barbara Jenkins's reading of her story "Monty and Marilyn." In well-paced and aptly inflected tones she gave us two unforgettable female characters. It was a special invitation into her well-crafted world of intrigue.
Bio: After a career as a teacher and textbook author, Trinidadian writer Barbara Jenkins began writing fiction, and is currently an MFA student at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Among other writing prizes, Jenkins has the distinctive honor of being a back-to-back winner (Caribbean region) of the coveted Commonwealth Short Story competition. She won with "Something for Nothing" in 2010, and "Head Not Made for Hat Alone" in 2011. Jenkins's work has been published in The Caribbean Review of Books, The Caribbean Writer, and in Moving Right Along, an anthology of short fiction by participants in the Cropper Foundation Writers' Workshop (2000-2008).
From "Monty and Marilyn":
Leo: Last night, I see Sandra watching Oprah, and she making sign for me to come and watch too. I get a beer from the fridge because, you know, I can’t watch them women show dry so. Well, I stretch out on the sofa, put my two foot on top of Sandra lap, and I watching too. [Read here].
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