Kevin Jared Hosein
{{Short description|Novelist from Trinidad and Tobago (born 1986)}}
{{use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kevin Jared Hosein
| image = Kjhphoto.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1986}}
| birth_place = Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago
| nationality =
| education = University of the West Indies, St. Augustine
| occupation = Author
| awards = Commonwealth Short Story Prize (2018), OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction (2024), Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction (2024)
}}
Kevin Jared Hosein (born 1986) is a Caribbean writer from Trinidad and Tobago.{{Cite web|last=newsamericas|date=26 July 2018|title=This Caribbean National Wins The 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize |url=https://www.newsamericasnow.com/this-caribbean-national-wins-the-2018-commonwealth-short-story-prize/|access-date=3 February 2021|website=Caribbean and Latin America Daily News|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Anderson|first=Porter|date=25 July 2018|title=Cyprus: Kevin Jared Hosein Named Global Winner of Commonwealth Short Story Prize |url=https://publishingperspectives.com/2018/07/commonwealth-short-story-prize-2018-winner-kevin-jared-hosein/|access-date=3 February 2021|website=Publishing Perspectives|language=en-US}} He writes novels, books for children and young adults, and short stories. His writing has appeared in Granta,{{cite magazine |url=https://granta.com/hungry-ghosts/|title=Hungry Ghosts|first=Kevin Jared |last=Hosein|magazine=Granta|date=23 January 2023|access-date=5 February 2023}} Lightspeed magazine, Wasafiri, and on BBC Radio 4.{{cite web |url=https://www.bocaslitfest.com/participant/kevin-jared-hosein/|title=Kevin Jared Hosein|website=Bocas Litfest|access-date=5 February 2023}} He has twice been longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. He has been the runner up for the Burt Award for Caribbean Literature for young adults and has won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction, and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.
Early life and education
Kevin Jared Hosein was born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1986 in an Indo-Trinidadian family.{{Cite web|title=Kevin Jared Hosein|url=https://www.peepaltreepress.com/authors/kevin-jared-hosein|access-date=3 February 2021|website=Peepal Tree Press}}{{Cite tweet |number=1629473542231171073 |user=TheEconomist |title=Kevin Jared Hosein joins a line of Indian-Trinidadian writers, including V.S. Naipaul and Sam Selvon, who have grappled with the country’s history of indentured labour |author=The Economist |date=25 February 2023}}
As a young child, he was not initially interested in reading, but was more into video games, especially those with story-heavy plots.{{Cite news|last=Pires|first=BC|date=14 June 2015|title=The beauty of the writing beast|url=http://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.365679.85263a9dc6|access-date=3 February 2021|newspaper=Trinidad & Tobago Guardian|language=en}} Later on in his childhood, Hosein became deeply interested in books and writing, particularly authors such as Stephen King and Cormac McMarthy. Of Caribbean literature, the 1972 novel No Pain Like This Body, written by Harold “Sonny” Ladoo, had a large influence on Hosein's interest in reading and writing.
Due to literature not being offered as a subject option at his secondary school, Hosein obtained a degree in biology and environmental studies at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine. He worked as a school biology teacher for over a decade.
Works, awards, and honours
=Short stories and novels=
In 2013, Hosein's story "The Monkey Trap" was featured in Pepperpot: Best New Stories from the Caribbean. It was also shortlisted for the Small Axe Literary Prize.{{Cite web|date=23 May 2018|title=Kevin Jared Hosein|url=https://www.burtaward.org/%5Bauthor%5D/kevin-jared-hosein|access-date=3 February 2021|website=CODE's Burt Literary Awards|language=en}} In 2015, he won the Caribbean regional category of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for his story "The King of Settlement 4".{{Cite magazine|last=Ramlochan|first=Shivanee|date=1 November 2018|title=Kevin Jared Hosein: a writer with a plan {{!}} Closeup |url=https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-154/kevin-jared-hosein-a-writer-with-a-plan-closeup|access-date=3 February 2021|magazine=Caribbean Beat|language=en-GB}}
In 2018, he won the overall Commonwealth Short Story Prize for his story "Passage". The judging panel included Damon Galgut, Sunila Galappatti, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Mark McWatt, Paula Morris, and Sarah Hall, who was the chair. Hosein received his £5,000 prize on 2 July 2018, in Cyprus. "Passage" is written in Trinidadian Creole. It follows a forester's quest to find a family living outside society in the mountains of Trinidad. It depicts a natural world that is both brutal and exploited by humans. The story's ecological details draw on Hosein's biology and environmental science education, as well as his own experience of walking in the forests.
Hosein published his first novel for adults, Hungry Ghosts, in 2023. The novel won pre-publication praise from Hilary Mantel ("a deeply impressive book… and an important one") and Bernardine Evaristo ("An astonishing novel – linguistically gorgeous, narratively propulsive and psychologically profound").{{cite web| url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/articles/interviews/in-conversation-with-kevin-jared-hosein/|title=In Conversation with Kevin Jared Hosein: 'This is a book about dreams slowly turning into nightmares; appetites slowly turning into anguish'|website=Bloomsbury|date=26 January 2023|access-date=5 February 2023}} Reviewing it for The Times, Claire Allfree called Hungry Ghosts a "sumptuous, brilliantly written novel".{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/hungry-ghosts-by-kevin-jared-hosein-review-zsq5k5szg|title=Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein review — cursed families and killer cherries|newspaper=The Times|date=3 February 2023}} The title refers to pretas, an ancient Hindu tradition that people who commit certain sins transform after death into beings with very small mouths and very large appetites.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/04/kevin-jared-hosein-the-1940s-in-trinidad-was-like-the-wild-west|title=Interview {{!}} Kevin Jared Hosein: 'The 1940s in Trinidad was like the wild west'|first=John|last=Self|newspaper=The Guardian|date=4 February 2023}} It is set in rural Trinidad in the 1940s, and features the impoverished Saroops and the wealthy farm-owning Changoors. Their lives become intertwined when Dalton Changoor disappears. In 2024, the novel was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, for writers under the age of forty,{{Cite web |title=The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize reveals international longlist for 2024 |url=https://www.swansea.ac.uk/press-office/news-events/news/2024/01/the-swansea-university-dylan-thomas-prize-reveals-international-longlist-for-2024.php |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=Swansea University |language=en-GB}} and won the OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction{{cite web |title=Announcing the 2024 OCM Bocas Prize shortlist |url=https://www.bocaslitfest.com/2024/04/07/announcing-the-2024-ocm-bocas-prize-shortlist/ |website=Bocas Lit Fest |access-date=5 February 2025}}{{cite web |title=OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2024 shortlists announced. |url=https://www.writingafrica.com/ocm-bocas-prize-for-caribbean-literature-2024-shortlists-announced/ |website=Writing Africa |access-date=5 February 2025}} and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.{{cite web |title=Kevin Jared Hosein wins 2024 Walter Scott Prize for ‘many-layered tale’ of 1940s colonial Trinidad |url=https://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/kevin-jared-hosein-wins-2024-walter-scott-prize-for-many-layered-tale-of-1940s-colonial-trinidad/ |website=The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction |access-date=5 February 2025}}{{cite web |title=Caribbean writer takes Walter Scott fiction prize |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4nn44zgx4ro |website=BBC |access-date=5 February 2025}}
=Books for children and young adults=
Hosein has published three works of fiction for children and young adults: Littletown Secrets, The Beast of Kukuyo and The Repenters.
Littletown Secrets (2013) was his first published book. He both wrote and illustrated the book, which tells of a young boy who charges to keep other children's secrets.{{cite web |title=New book for young adult readers |url=https://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.405913.c238bba6a4 |website=Trinidad and Tobago Guardian |access-date=5 February 2025}} It was named Best Children's Book of 2013 by the Trinidad Guardian.
The Repenters (2016) tells the story of Jordan Sant, who is placed in a children's home after the murder of his parents, and later runs away to Port of Spain. It was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award{{cite web |title=2018 Longlist The Repenters Kevin Jared Hosein |url=https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/books/the-repenters/ |website=Dublin Literary Award |access-date=5 February 2025}} and the OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction.{{cite web |title=Announcing the 2017 OCM Bocas Prize longlist |url=https://www.bocaslitfest.com/2017/03/12/announcing-2017-ocm-bocas-prize-longlist/ |website=Bocas Literary Festial |access-date=5 February 2025}}{{Cite web|title=Kevin Jared Hosein|url=https://bluebanyanbooks.com/product_author/kevin-jared-hosein/|access-date=3 February 2021|website=Blue Banyan Books|language=en-US}}
His 2018 book, The Beast of Kukuyo, in which a 15-year old girl investigates the disappearance of her classmate in a quiet rural village in Trinidad, won second place in the Burt Award for Caribbean Literature for young adults.{{cite web |title=Winners of the 2017 Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature |url=https://www.jwilonline.org/winners-of-the-2017-burt-award-for-caribbean-young-adult-literature/ |website=Journal of West Indian Literature |access-date=5 February 2025}} It was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.{{cite web |title=2020 Longlist The Beast of Kukuyo Kevin Jared Hosein |url=https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/books/the-beast-of-kukuyo/ |website=Dublin Literary Award |access-date=5 February 2025}}
=Other work=
Hosein's poem, "The Wait is So, So Long", was turned into a short film that received a Gold Key at the New York-based Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Bibliography
- Littletown Secrets, 2013.
- The Repenters, Peepal Tree Press, 2016, {{ISBN|978-1845233310}}.
- The Beast of Kukuyo, Blouse & Skirt Books, 2018 {{ISBN|978-9768267153}}.
- Hungry Ghosts, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023, {{ISBN|978-1526644480}}.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- Alice O'Keeffe, [https://www.thebookseller.com/author-interviews/kevin-jared-hosein-in-conversation-about-the-inspiration-behind-his-novel-hungry-ghosts "Kevin Jared Hosein in conversation about the inspiration behind his novel Hungry Ghosts"], The Bookseller, 11 November 2022.
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{{Authority control}}
Category:21st-century male writers
Category:21st-century short story writers
Category:People from Chaguanas
Category:Trinidad and Tobago male writers
Category:Trinidad and Tobago novelists
Category:Trinidad and Tobago writers