Reading Groups

In Short: Celeste Mohammed's "The Dragon's Mouth (Bocas del Dragón)" with Andie Davis

$45

1 Session

In stock

Wednesday, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT June 3, 2026

The Center for Fiction

Registration includes a complimentary drink from the Café & Bar.

A stone’s skip across the water from Venezuela, the fictional Trinidadian town of Pleasantview is the site of interlocking ills: poverty, violence, corruption, crime, and the sexual exploitation of Venezuelans fleeing to Trinidad in search of a better life. Celeste Mohammed’s Pleasantview (2021) is an anthology of linked short stories about the town’s denizens. The first story, “Prologue: The Dragon’s Mouth (Bocas del Dragón),” captures with lyrical precision, humor, and heart the tale of a Venezuelan woman and her jailbreaking Trinidadian lover.

As U.S. military action intensifies off the Venezuelan coastline, “The Dragon’s Mouth” adds welcome context to the crisis from the perspective of an anxiously close neighbor. Expect a wide-ranging, interactive discussion incorporating multimedia elements (e.g., a musical interlude showing the influence of calypso on the story’s narrative style).

Reading List:

“The Dragon’s Mouth” by Celeste Mohammed

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Please read “The Dragon’s Mouth” in its entirety before we meet. A PDF of the story will be provided.

Led by

Andie Davis

Andie Davis

Andie Davis is a novelist, essayist, and short story author. Her debut novel, Let Me Liberate You, was published in 2024. 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. Andie grew up in Barbados and as a teen moved with her family to the United States. A graduate of Howard University and Harvard Law School, she worked as a lawyer in Eastern Europe and Latin America before entering the global development sector. She lives in New York City.

About this series

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