Shakirah Bourne is a Barbadian author and filmmaker. Her first feature film, the comedy-drama, PAYDAY, was screened throughout the Caribbean, USA and UK. She has written three films since its debut in 2013: Two Smart (writer/co-director), Next PAYDAY (writer/producer) and A Caribbean Dream (writer/director). A Caribbean Dream is distributed by Verve Pictures and had a cinema release in London in 2017. The film won several awards, including Best Drama at the National Film Awards UK, Best International Feature at the Charlotte Black Film Festival and best UK Feature at the London Independent Film Festival.
Her short stories have been featured in many literary journals (see below). Her self-published collection of short stories, IN TIME OF NEED (2013), won the prestigious Governor General Award for Excellence in Literary Fiction. She was a finalist for the BURT/CODE Award for Caribbean YA Literature in 2018. The Caribbean edition of her middle grade novel, MY FISHY STEPMOM, was published by Blue Banyan Books (2019) and the North American edition, JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA, was published by Scholastic in 2021. She is also the co-editor of YA non-fiction anthology, ALLIES: Real Talk about Showing Up, Screwing Up and Trying Again (DK/Penguin Random House, 2021).
She was a Part-time Lecturer at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, and in Screenwriting at the Barbados Community College. She currently holds Certificates in Screenwriting from the Barbados Community College and the University of Edinburgh, and an MA (Hons) in Arts and Cultural Management from Queen Margaret University.
LIST OF CREDITS
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
2024 Beware the Heartman (Middle Grade) - Scholastic
2023 Nightmare Island (Middle Grade) - Scholastic
2021 ALLIES Anthology: Real Talk about Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again (Young Adult) - DK Books
2021 Josephine Against the Sea (Middle Grade) - Scholastic (North American Edition)
2019 My Fishy Stepmom (Middle Grade) - Blue Banyan Books (Caribbean Edition)
ADULT BOOKS
2014 Senseisha: Memoirs of a Caribbean Woman (Creative Non-Fiction)
2013 In Time of Need (Literary Fiction)
SHORT FICTION
2022 'The Heartless Woman', Strange Horizons (7th Feb Issue)
2019 'A Hurricane and the Price of Fish', Commonwealth Writers (Adda)
2017 'Corn Curls and the Red Bicycle', Commonwealth Writers (Adda)
2017 'A Tear for Miss Cinty', NIFCA Winning Words 2015/16 Anthology
2015 'I Didn't Know', NIFCA Winning Words 2013/14 Anthology
2013 'We Always Smile for Photos', She Sex Anthology
2013 'White Sands', NIFCA Winning Words 2011/12 Anthology
2013 'We Always Smile for Photos', WomanSpeak (Volume 7)
2012 'Rock-a-Bye', Journal of Caribbean Literatures: Issue 7.2
2012 'The Last Crustacean', The Caribbean Writer (Volume 26)
2012 'Getting Marry', Arts Etc No. 28
2012 'If Dogs Could Talk', POUI: Cave Hill Journal of Creative Writing XII
2011 'Crossing Over', St. Somewhere Journal
2010 'Saran's Dollhouse', NIFCA Winning Words 2010 Anthology
FILMS
2017 'A Caribbean Dream' , Writer/Director
2015 'Next Payday', Writer/Producer
2014 'Two Smart', Writer/Co-Director/Producer
2013 'Payday', Writer/Producer
STAGE PLAYS
2016 'Mirror, Mirror, Show me a Hero'
2016 'Tales of an Obeah Man'
SELECTED AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS
2024 Children's Book of the Year - Gine On People's Choice Award
2022 Ignyte Award Nominee for Best Middle Grade Novel
2021 Student Library Journal Best Book of 2021 (Josephine Against the Sea)
2021 California Reading Association EUREKA! Excellence in Nonfiction Gold Award (Allies)
2021 Black Caucus of the American Library Association's Best of the Best Reading List (Josephine)
2021 Longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize
2021 Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2021 (Allies)
2021 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection (Josephine Against the Sea)
2019 Nominated for Independent Spirit Film Production - Screen Nation Film and Television Award
2019 Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize
2018 Finalist for the BURT/CODE Award for Caribbean YA Literature
2018 Winner – Best Drama (A Caribbean Dream) - National Film Awards UK
2018 Nominated for Best Screenplay (A Caribbean Dream) - National Film Awards UK
2018 Prime Minister's Award (Getting Back at Jack Taylor)– Frank Collymore Literary Endowment
2018 Trident Achievement in Film Award– Barbados Independent Film Festival
2018 Longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize
2017 Best UK Feature – London Independent Film Festival
2017 Best International Film – Charlotte Black Film Festival
2017 Best Produced Screenplay – LA Independent Film Awards
2016 Barbados Manufacturers' Award - Short Fiction best representing Bajan Culture
2016 Semi-Finalist for the Bahamas international Film Festival Screenwriters Residency Programme
2015 Governor General Award for Excellence in Literary Fiction
2015 Shortlisted for Small Axe Literary Competition
2014 Winner of RBC Film Pitch Prize, Trinidad Film Festival
2014 Best Script for PAYDAY Movie at the Barbados Visual Media Awards
2014 Best Film for PAYDAY Movie at the Barbados Visual Media Awards
2012 Barbados Manufacturers' Award - Short Fiction best representing Bajan Culture
2011 UNICEF Award for Short Fiction which best represents the rights of a child
2010 National Development Scholarship - Creative Industries
2009 Winner of the 24 Hour Short Story Competition (Writer's Weekly)
SELECTED RESIDENCIES/APPEARANCES
2020 Selected Creative Entrepreneur for Global Hennessy "All I need" Campaign
2019 Selected Author - AfterWords Literary Festival, Halifax
2019 Selected Author - Edinburgh International Book Festival
2015 Callaloo Writers’ Workshop Participant, Barbados
2014 Selected Author - Read My World Festival, Amsterdam
2014 Durban International Film Festival film delegation, South Africa
2014 Selected Author - BimLitFest, Barbados
2013 TEDxBridgetown Speaker - The Curse of the Starving Artist, Barbados
2011 Short story performed at the Ink Writer’s Festival, Newcastle, UK
2010 Cropper Foundation Caribbean Writers Workshop Participant, Trinidad
EDUCATION
2010-2011 MA Arts and Cultural Management, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland
2011 Course in Script Development, University of Edinburgh Open Studies, Scotland
2007-2008 Postgraduate Certificate in Marketing, PR, and Advertising, UWI Continuing Studies, Barbados
2004-2007 BSc with Hons in Management with Psychology, University of the West Indies, Barbados
2009 Master Class in Fictional Writing conducted by George Lamming, EBCCI, Barbados
2008 Certificate in Cinematic Screenwriting, Barbados Community College