Lisa Allen-Agostini

Lisa Allen-Agostini is a Trinidadian journalist, editor and writer of fiction, poetry and drama.[1] She has been a columnist for the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, writing both in Trinidadian Creole and in Standard English,[2] and among other publications where her journalism appears are the Trinidad Express, Caribbean Beat,[3] Caribbean Review of Books,[4] and Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. She is the author of novels both for young people and adults, and her fiction and poetry have been published widely, including in Lightspeed,[5] Wasafiri, sx salon, Susumba, Moko,[6] past simple,[7] and About Place Journal.[8] She is a contributor to the anthologies Mothership: Tales of Afrofuturism and Beyond (edited by Bill Campbell and Edward Austin Hall, 2013) and New Daughters of Africa (edited by Margaret Busby, 2019).[8] Allen-Agostini is also a stand-up comedian, performing as "Just Lisa".[9]

Lisa Allen-Agostini
Born
Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago
Other namesJust Lisa
EducationLower Morvant Government School; Bishop Anstey High School
Alma materUniversity of the West Indies, St Augustine
OccupationJournalist, editor, novelist, poet, dramatist, stand-up comedian
Websitelisaallen-agostini.com

Biography

Born in Trinidad, Allen-Agostini attended Lower Morvant Government School and Bishop Anstey High School, before going on to earn a first-class honours degree in English at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine,[10] as well as studying stagecraft, having been an actor with the Trinidad Theatre Workshop.[2]

Allen-Agostini's ambition to be a writer began early, and her 1991 win of a national schools poetry commpetition was the impetus for her to self-publish a book of poems called Something to Say in 1992.[2] She began her career as a journalist by working at the Trinidad Express, as a feature writer and editor of a weekly youth magazine called Vox,[2] from where she moved to the Trinidad Guardian in 1998.[11] In 2001 an Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship enabled her to spend five months at The Washington Post, before returning to work in various capacities at the Guardian until 2010.[12] She has also written for the Caribbean Review of Books.[13]

Her Young Adult science-fiction book, The Chalice Project, was published in 2008, and in the same year she co-edited and contributed to the crime anthology Trinidad Noir.[14]

In 2009 she founded The Allen Prize For Young Writers – named in honour of her father – a not-for-profit company dedicated to developing the talent of young writers.[15][16] She was awarded a scholarship by global advocacy organisation Women Deliver to attend their May 2013 conference in Malaysia.[17] Also in 2013 she was shortlisted for the Hollick Arvon Prize for emerging Caribbean writers[18] and was the 2014 Dame Hilda Bynoe writer-in-residence at St George's University in Grenada.[14][19] She joined the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday team as a freelance reporter in 2017.[2][20] That year, her YA novel Home Home won third-prize in the Burt Prize for Caribbean Young Adult Caribbean Literature and was published in 2018 by Papillote Press.[21]

In 2019 she started the Caribbean feminist stand-up comedy partnership FemComTT with Louris Lee-Sing, performing at events as "Just Lisa" and "Lyrix",[22] as well as co-hosting the online chat show The Givin' Trouble Show.[2][23][24]

Allen-Agostini contributed to 2019's New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby for Myriad Editions,[25] and was a participant in an event showcasing the anthology at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest.[26][27] Her debut adult novel, The Bread the Devil Knead, was announced for publication in May 2021.[28][29]

Awards and recognition

Selected bibliography
  • The Chalice Project (Young Adult sci-fi), Macmillan Caribbean, 2008.
  • (As editor and contributor) Trinidad Noir, Akashic Books, 2008.
  • Swallowing The Sky (poetry), Cane Arrow Press, 2017.
  • Home Home (Young Adult fiction), Papillote Press, 2018; Delacorte, 2020.
  • The Bread the Devil Knead, Myriad Editions, 2021.

References
  1. "Lisa Allen-Agostini". Papillote Press.
  2. Allen-Agostini, Lisa. "About". Writer, Editor, Stand-Up Comedian. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  3. "Lisa Allen-Agostini". Caribbean Beat. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  4. Allen-Agostini, Lisa. "Move on up". The Caribbean Review of Books.
  5. "Destroy". Lightspeed. June 2016.
  6. "Playing Dragon". Moko.
  7. "Lisa Allen-Agostini". Past Simple. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  8. Allen=Agostini, Lisa. "Cam and the Maskless". About Place Journal. VI (II, 2020 Pandemic Blues). Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  9. "Comedy friends in Christmas show". The World News. 21 November 2019.
  10. Allen-Agostini, Lisa (12 May 2018). "A Black, Female Writer's Story". Repeating Islands. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  11. Allen-Agostini, Lisa (1 July 2010). "Las lap".
  12. Allen-Agostini, Lisa (1 July 2010). "Bye-bye for now". Trinidad & Tobago Guardian.
  13. Allen-Agostini, Lisa (May 2020). "Greener pastures". Caribbean Review of Books (21).
  14. "Inaugural St. George's University writer-in-residence announced". CaribLit. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  15. "In My Own Words: Lisa Allen-Agostini". Geoffrey Philp. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  16. Allen-Agostini, Lisa (15 May 2011). "Celebrating My Father". Writer, Editor, Stand-Up Comedian. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  17. Allen-Agostini, Lisa (15 April 2013). "Delivering women from inequality". Trinidad & Tobago Guardian.
  18. "7 T&T writers shortlisted for Hollick Arvon Prize". Trinidad & Tobago Guardian. 9 March 2013.
  19. "Writing Workshop Opportunities with SGU's Writer in Residence". Groundation Grenada. 2 March 2014.
  20. "Lisa's Articles". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
  21. "Home Home". Papillote Press.
  22. "The Little Carib and FemCom partner on International Women's Day show". Trinidad Express. 7 March 2020.
  23. Lee Sing, Louris (16 June 2020). "The Givin' Trouble Show with FemComTT".
  24. "More than a book festival: comedy, extempo and more!". Bocas Lit Fest. 16 September 2020.
  25. Busby, Margaret (ed.). "Lisa Allen-Agostini". New Daughters Of Africa. Myriad Editions.
  26. Greaves, Debra (12 April 2019). "Bocas festival celebrates new writing". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
  27. "New Daughters of Africa". NGC Bocas Lit Fest. 2 May 2019 – via YouTube.
  28. Hackett, Tamsin (20 November 2020). "Myriad to publish Trinidad-set novel from Allen-Agostini". The Bookseller.
  29. The Bread the Devil Knead. UK: Myriad Editions. 20 May 2021. ISBN 978-1-912408-99-3.
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