Barbados Beyond The Beach: A Showcase of Barbadian Authors.

Afrori Books is excited to be hosting Andie Davis, Shakirah Bourne, and Cherie Jones – authors of a Barbadian new wave, with work that celebrates, interrogates, challenges, and satirises Barbadian culture and the world beyond.

Shakirah Bourne is a Barbadian author. She is a recipient of the Governor General Award for Excellence in Literary Fiction for her adult short fiction collection, IN TIME OF NEED. Her debut children's book, JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA, received starred reviews in Kirkus and Booklist, was a SLJ Best Book of 2021. Her middle grade books, NIGHTMARE ISLAND, BEWARE THE HEARTMAN, HERE LIES A GHOST and BAJAN ANANSI are stories inspired by Caribbean folklore. She was also the co-editor of YA non-fiction anthology, ALLIES: Real Talk About Growing Up, Screwing Up and Trying Again (DK/PRH, 2021), which was a World Book Day Selection for 2023.

Andie Davies - Born in Montserrat, Andie Davis grew up in Barbados and later moved with her family to the United States. Her debut novel, LET ME LIBERATE YOU, was published in 2024 by Little A. Her short stories have been published in The Caribbean Writer, Delmarva Review, and other publications, while her essays have appeared in Ghana Web and Business Daily Africa. She has been awarded a 2026 Hedgebrook residency.

Cherie Jones - Cherie Jones is a Barbadian novelist and short story writer whose short fiction credits include Reflex Fiction, The Feminist Wire, PANK, Eclectica, and BBC Radio 4. She is a former fellowship awardee of the Vermont Studio Centre and the International Writers Programme of the University of Iowa. Her first novel HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2021, the OCM BOCAS Prize in 2022 and the Internationel Literaturpreis Prize in 2023 and was translated into French and German. The French translation of her novel won the Prix Carbet des lycéens 2023.