Lisa Allen-Agostini on The Bread the Devil Knead with Patrice Grell Yursik

Thursday, 7:30 pm EDT May 20, 2021

Online via Zoom

THE BREAD THE DEVIL KNEAD_cover - Zach Cihlar

In collaboration with the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival, The Center for Fiction welcomes Lisa Allen-Agostini to celebrate her debut novel The Bread the Devil Knead (out in the U.S. on September 21; available for pre-order), a domestic noir novel set in Trinidad’s carnival season. A writer, editor, and stand-up comedian, Allen-Agostini pens a story of strength, resolve, and self-determination in her signature feminist, Trinidadian voice. She will discuss the new book and her craft with Patrice Grell Yursik, a Trinidadian-born writer and creator of award-winning blog Afrobella.com.

The Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival offers year-long programming celebrating Caribbean culture through the pen of the storyteller and the voice of the poet. The festival explores the rich depths of the culture and its long tradition of storytelling, empowerment, and courage.

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In Conversation

Lisa Allen-Agostini

Lisa Allen-Agostini

Lisa Allen-Agostini is a writer, editor and stand-up comedian from Trinidad and Tobago. She is a contributor to New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby, and has widely published short fiction and poetry. She has written two Young Adult novels, including Home Home, winner of a CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature. She has been a journalist and critic for over 20 years, and writes and performs stand-up comedy with her company FemCom TT. The Bread the Devil Knead is her first adult novel.
Patrice Grell Yursik

Patrice Grell Yursik

Trinidadian-born writer Patrice Grell Yursik created Afrobella.com to fill a void and to celebrate the inner and outer beauty of women all shades of beautiful. Her award-winning blog shines a loving light on natural hair and the wonderfully wide range of skin tones and sizes women come in. Patrice has been featured in Essence, Ebony, Glamour, Trinidad Guardian, WWD, and Fast Company. She has covered red carpets at the BET Awards, New York Fashion Week, Essence Black Women in Hollywood, and the Academy Awards. She was one of the first writers for Vogue Italia’s Vogue Black online, and created the popular Natural Hair Diary feature on Essence.com. She also contributes writing to a variety of notable publications including Essence, Bust, Reader’s Digest, Food and Wine, Zora, and O magazine.

Featured Book

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The Bread the Devil Knead

By Lisa Allen-Agostini

Published by Myriad Editions

PURCHASE

Alethea Lopez is about to turn 40. Fashionable, feisty and fiercely independent, she manages a boutique in Port of Spain, but behind closed doors she’s covering up bruises from her abusive partner and seeking solace in an affair with her boss. When she witnesses a woman murdered by a jealous lover, the reality of her own future comes a little too close to home.

Bringing us her truth in an arresting, unsparing Trinidadian voice, Alethea unravels memories repressed since childhood and begins to understand the person she has become.

Her next step is to decide the woman she wants to be.

Publishing Director Candida Lacey adds: “This engrossing and atmospheric novel has a strong feminist message at the heart of its page-turning plot. It explores an abusive love-affair with searing honesty, and skillfully tackles the issue of gender violence and racism against the lush and heady backdrop of the national festival, and the music that feeds it. It’s impossible not to root for Alethea – she is an unforgettable heroine, trapped in ways she is only just beginning to understand but shining with strength, resolve and, ultimately, self-determination.”

About Our Partner

The Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival is a celebration of culture as expressed through the pen of the storyteller and the voice of the poet. It is a platform designed to support and facilitate vibrant conversations about Caribbean identity via a series of readings of classic and contemporary stories, workshops, events and talks through an annual capstone festival and a developing plan for year-long programming.