Episode 13 | BCLF Short Fiction Story Contest 2019 (Part 2) | Cashew Heist - Stephanie Ramlogan (Trinidad & Tobago)

BCLF Cocoa Pod

‘Cashew Heist’ by Stephanie Ramlogan edged its way to the front of the 2019 shortlist for the BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer's Prize. If there was a story that was flawless, Stephanie’s was as close to ideal as it comes. Witty and rife with the authenticity of a Trinidadian English creole voice, readers of all cultures, ages or backgrounds, could easily commiserate, if not empathise, with the inner-workings of her prepubescent protagonists’ minds. Cashew Heist is a mischievous story about two siblings' attempt to smuggle snacks during one of their seeming endless afternoons at their mother's workplace.
While Stephanie leverages all that is unique and colourful about her Caribbean/Indo-Trinidadian identity and culture to inform her writing, it is her broad worldview that makes her a writer of universal quality - something that is often difficult for writers of a particular distinction to achieve.

In an era that is rapidly embracing indigenous voices, identities and diversity as global currency, Stephanie is a prime example of what happens when all people, especially women (moreso women of colour) are given the opportunity to tell their stories.