Trinidadian architect-poet Fawzia Muradali Kane has been named as the second prize winner in Britain’s National Poetry Competition for her poem Eric.
The poem was selected from 19,000 poems from 8,841 poets in 110 countries, which were judged anonymously by the poets Jane Draycott, Will Harris and Clare Pollard.
Born in San Fernando, Kane went to the UK on a scholarship to study architecture. She practised as an architect in Trinidad for some years, and now lives in London. Along with Mike Kane she is co-director of KMK Architects.
Most of Kane’s early poetry is in the form of dramatic monologues, mainly in the voice “Tantie Diablesse”, a 300-year-old folklore character who was an enslaved woman from T&T.
“Tantie Diablesse” (Waterloo Press, 2011) is also the name of her first collection, which was a finalist in the poetry section for the 2012 Bocas Lit Fest prize.
Kane’s poetry has been published in journals including Agenda, Brittle Star, Poetry Review, Poetry London, Poetry Wales, and Rialto.
A selection of her poems was published in MPT Profound Pyromania, which focuses on Caribbean poetry. An illustrated long sequence of poems Houses of the Dead was published as a pamphlet by Thamesis Publications in 2014.
More: https://poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/eric/
(Source: Dominic Kalipersad, May 20, 2024)

Mango lime pie
3½ ozs ginger snaps
2 tbs melted butter
½ cup lime juice
1 cup condensed milk
½ cup mango puree
4 egg yolks
1 tsp lime zest
Preheat oven to 325F.
In a food processor process gingersnaps to fine crumbs, add melted butter and process.
Press mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake for 5 minutes until set.
Preheat oven to 350F.
With an electric mixer, beat yolks until light and fluffy.
Add condensed milk, lime zest and mix on low speed until combined.
Add lime juice and mango puree, and mix well.
Pour mixture into pre-baked cookie shell and bake for 20-30 minutes until the centre of the pie is firm and dry to the touch.
Chill thoroughly until ready for use.
Option: serve with whipped cream if desired.
Serves 6-8
Mango passion fruit sorbet with lemongrass
5 cups water
3 cup sugar
1 stalk fresh lemon grass bruised and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cups mango pulp (about 8 Julie mangoes)
1 cup passion fruit pulp( about 6 passion fruit)
¼ cup fresh lime juice
Boil water and sugar with lemongrass until sugar is dissolved. Cool and strain.
Stir in lime juice, mango and passion fruit pulp. Chill well.
Pour into an ice cream freezer and process according to manufacturer’s directions.
Makes about 6 cups
To make passion-fruit pulp, slice fruit into half, scoop out pulp covered seeds, put in a blender jar and process until liquefied.
Add a very small amount of water if needed, do not strain.
Serves 8-10

It's mango season and as more and more mangoes appear at the grocery stores, here are two recipes.  Unfortunately Julie mangoes are hard to come by, so use the yellow Atulfo mangoes.  These recipes were published by Newsday on June 1, 2024.  Enjoy.  

​Caramelised mango upside-down cake -

Cake:
⅓ cup butter
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cardamom
½ cup orange juice
1tsp vanilla
For the mangoes
1 lb mango flesh, preferably Julie, just ripe, sliced
½ cup granulated sugar
⅛ cup water
Juice of two small limes
Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease one 9-inch round spring-form cake pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Place mangoes in a concentric circle at the base of the pan.
Squeeze lime over mangoes.
Cream ⅓ cup butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy, and add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions.
Sift flour with baking powder and cardamom.
Add to butter mixture alternately with juice and vanilla, making sure your last addition is with flour.
Place sugar in a small saucepan, add water and cook until sugar becomes an amber colour.
Pour over mangoes.
Spoon on cake batter and bake for 35 minutes.
Remove, and invert onto serving plate,
Serve warm.
Serves 8
Mango mousse
1 tbs gelatine
¼ cup rum
2 cups whipping cream
½ tsp lime zest
1 cup mango pulp
Heat rum gently remove from heat and dissolve gelatine into rum, set aside and cool.
Puree mango in a food pro and add to gelatine mixture with lime zest. Stir well and refrigerate to cool.
Beat whipping cream to stiff peaks and gently fold into mango puree.
Pipe into stemmed glasses, cover and refrigerate until ready for serving.
Garnish with sprigs of fresh mint and chopped fresh mango.

​ that Trinidad & Tobago is the third largest Leatherback turtle nesting site in the world? Approximately 10,000 turtles visit our shores every year to lay their eggs!
Our country is home to many species of endangered and critically endangered turtles, such as the Hawksbill sea turtle, the Green sea turtle, and the Leatherback sea turtle. After about two months in their nest, Leatherback hatchlings emerge from the sands and make their way to the ocean.
Matura, Las Cuevas, Fishing Pond, and Grande Rivière are some of our most popular beaches where people can gather to observe this amazing phenomenon. During nesting season, these beaches are protected and permission is required from qualified tour guides to view the turtles. This season lasts for six months, until August 31st.
This beautiful photo by Trinbagonian photographer Maria Nunes shows a leatherback turtle on the Grande Riviere Beach, at the North Coast of Trinidad. It is courtesy of the magazine, “Ins & Outs of Trinidad & Tobago 2016”, which is part of the National Archives of Trinidad & Tobago Magazine Collection. At the National Archives, we believe that magazines are valuable archival documents that show how dates of agricultural, civil, religious, or social significance can change over time.
(Source: National Archives of T&T, May 23, 2024)