Some amazing debut Caribbean Authors will be hitting the shelves in 2022 and I am here to let you know about all of them! 2022 promises to be a big year for Read Caribbean releases, I for one am excited! I am really excited to hear more from debut Caribbean authors as they add their perspective and writing to an already establish diverse cannon.
While I love a great debut novel, I am super excited for the works of our favorite authors. Yes! 2021 is gonna be an amazing year for Caribbean Literature and you won’t want to miss out! Here are a few books to look forward to.
JANUARY
Olga Dies Dreaming Xóchitl González
Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream–all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.
One Day, One Day Congotay by Merle Hodge
This is the story of one woman’s life; that of Gwyneth Cuffie, a seemingly ordinary woman: teacher, lover of children and music, and pillar of her community. Beautifully written and deeply compassionate, the novel follows Gwynneth’s life as she charts her own path through the turbulent times of her island and struggle against colonialism.
Hurricane Watch by Olive Senior
The latest collection from Olive Senior, Jamaican Poet Laureate, collects her four books of poetry alongside new work written during the pandemic.
FEBRUARY
Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James
From Marlon James, author of the bestselling National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf, the second book in the Dark Star trilogy, his African Game of Thrones- Moon Witch, Spider King. 
People Person by Candice Carty-Williams
If you enjoyed Candice Carty-Williams Queenie… get ready for another addictive read!
Black Cake by Charmine Wilkerson
In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother’s death and her hidden past–a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake.
MARCH
When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
A mythic love story set in Trinidad and Tobago, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s radiant debut introduces two unforgettable outsiders brought together by their connection with the dead.
The St. Bernard women have lived in Morne Marie, the house on top of a hill outside Port Angeles, for generations. Built from the ashes of a plantation that enslaved their ancestors, it has come to shelter a lineage that is bonded by much more than blood. One woman in each generation of St. Bernards is responsible for the passage of the city’s souls into the afterlife. But Yejide’s relationship with her mother, Petronella, has always been contorted by anger and neglect, which Petronella stubbornly carries to her death bed, leaving Yejide unprepared to fulfill her destiny.
APRIL
The Island of Forgetting by Jasmine Sealy
Jasmine Sealy is a Bajan-Canadian writer based in Vancouver, BC. Her debut novel AN ISLAND OF FORGETTING won the UBC/HarperCollins Best New Fiction Prize in 2020 and will be published by HarperCollinsCA in 2022. The Island of Forgetting is an intimate saga spanning four generations of one family who run a beachfront hotel. Loosely inspired by Greek mythology, this is a novel about the echo of deep—and sometimes tragic—love and the ways a family’s past can haunt its future.
MAY
Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera
A beautifully layered portrait of family, friendship, and ambition, Neruda on the Park weaves a rich and vivid tapestry of community as well as the sacrifices we make to protect what we love most, announcing Cleyvis Natera as an electrifying new voice.
JUNE
Don’t Go Baking My Heart by N.G. Peltier
Romance lovers, you will not have to wait long to find out what happens next in Island Bites. If you loved Sweethand, get ready for Don’t Go Baking My Heart. “Devon King has a plan. An actual with bullet points and everything plan for his life. When he’s called out at work for never participating in any of the office activities he feels compelled to take part in the upcoming office bake off competition to prove he’s a team player, as making partner at his architectural design firm is top on his list of career goals. Only problem, he doesn’t know anything about baking. Reba’s been having fun texting the super serious Devon ridiculous cat pictures, for an entire month, but she’s surprised when he asks for her help with a potential baking crisis, since their conversations have been one sided until now. When her friends make a bet that even she can’t get the stoic Devon to fall for her charms, Reba sets out to prove them wrong and get Devon to have some fun.
JULY
What a Mother’s Love Don’t Teach You by Sharma Taylor
Blurbed by two of my favorite authors- Cherie Jones and Leone Ross, this debut novel is definitely one to pay attention to! ” At eighteen years old, Dinah gave away her baby son to the rich couple she worked for before they left Jamaica. They never returned. She never forgot him. Eighteen years later, a young man comes from the US to Kingston. From the moment she sees him, Dinah never doubts – this is her son. What happens next will make everyone question what they know and where they belong.”
AUGUST
The Dreaming: Stories by Andre Bagoo
Gay men search for sex, adventure, pleasure, self-realisation and love in Woodbrook, Trinidad. Look out for this collection of stories!
If You Read This by Kereen Getten
This is Getten’s second book and I am truly excited to see what she offers the world of middle grade children. If you enjoyed When Life Gives You Mangoes I would recommend going with this one.
SEPTEMBER
The Stranger Who Was Myself by Barbara Jenkins
In this memoir, Barbara Jenkins writes with wit, vividness and insight of growing up in colonial Trinidad, a migrant life in Wales, and her return to Trinidad with her husband and first child in the post-independence era.
Glimpse, Leone Ross (Editor)
This anthology creates a dichotomy between the comfortable and the mysterious, providing a glimpse into hidden worlds and human nature; tantalizing in its mystique and refreshing in its insight into the minds of these exceptional Black British writers. Secrets are uncovered; creatures are found; bodies buckle, whisper, float. In these stories we glimpse the dark and the light.
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