Pen, Passion, Persistence

Before Shakirah Bourne became a celebrated voice in literature, she was just a young woman with a love for stories. Today, she is an acclaimed Barbadian author, known for stories that dive into the worlds of fantasy, horror, folklore and all things distinctly Bajan.

When Bourne first entered the NIFCA, she never imagined how much it would shape her path as a writer. In reflecting on her journey, she said “the first time I entered was not even my idea originally but a friend of mine suggested that we both enter as we wrote stories. It is very funny because that first year, I actually did not medal, and I was completely devastated because my friend got two medals and I was extremely competitive”

However, that moment of disappointment sparked something deeper. “I was extremely discouraged, but the next year she told me, oh, you should enter – and I did enter, but I did not attend the ceremony because I was convinced that I was not going to medal. And then she called me and said you got two medals. I remember feeling so excited because I did not expect to get any. From then on, I have been entering. I think I entered NIFCA for the next 10 or 15 years after that.”

Through those years, NIFCA became more than a competition but rather, it became a motivator. She said “I am going to write stories whether I get awarded or whether I win any medals. The first time I entered was the only time I didn’t medal, but it’s not really about the medals to me. It’s about the competition getting you to create, because every year I had a target and having that deadline gave me the discipline to write.”

Writing, for some, is not a choice but it is an instinct and something that is unexplainable. And for Bourne, writing is just that. “Honestly, I don’t know what keeps me going. I just know that I have to do it. If I knew what inspired me, I would be able to tap into it more often during those hard times when I am looking for inspiration. But honestly, it can be anything – a character, a story, nature or something I read online. I am just constantly inspired by different things, and I am very grateful for that,” she said.

Shakirah Bourne

Looking back, Bourne credits NIFCA with providing structure and purpose early on while providing a foundation that helped transform her raw passion for storytelling into a serious craft. The annual festival gave her deadlines to meet, themes to explore and most importantly, an audience to write for. It was in that space, part competition, part creative laboratory, that she learned how to shape her ideas with intention, to revise with care and to see writing not just as expression, but as discipline. “NIFCA gave me a goal. Even if I didn’t feel like writing or didn’t have time to write, NIFCA gave me a deadline. I knew that I wanted to enter in August or September, or whenever the deadline was, so I needed to finish stories by then. It gave me the incentive to keep writing every year and to keep experimenting and challenging myself with different literary techniques, because I always wanted to see what medal I got and what feedback the judges had. It was just really encouraging.”

The competition also opened unexpected doors and eventually after years of persistence that defines a writer’s life, one of her proudest moments came. “My proudest moment is definitely when I first entered as a professional – I think that was in 2014 or 2015 – and I got the Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Literary Fiction and it was also the first time I entered as a professional for my collection of self-published short stories. I remember being very shocked and then very excited. Some of the short stories that I submitted to NIFCA also went on to be published in different international journals around the world. I remember one year the story I entered to NIFCA was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story competition. So the truth is NIFCA really gave me the foundation to start submitting those stories to other places around the world.”

With years of experience behind her and a growing list of accomplishments, Shakirah Bourne’s advice to emerging artists is simple but grounded in the lessons she has learned along the way. She knows how easy it is to get caught up in expectations, recognition and self-doubt, but for her, the most important thing is to begin. “Just do it. Stop worrying about awards. Stop worrying about what other people think. Stop worrying about what you know. Just do it – just do it and see what happens, because you never know where the journey is going to take you.”

That same philosophy has carried her through highs and lows in her creative life, and it is part of why she still holds NIFCA close to her heart. When asked to sum up what the festival has meant to her, she paused, not for lack of things to say, but to find the right word. Eventually, she landed on one: validating. She said, “NIFCA confirms for you what you are doing as a creative. You would enter a short story and even if you did not medal, you were in a place to be encouraged to do better and keep going.”

It is that sense of encouragement and growth that has stayed with her and now, as she continues to evolve as a writer, her focus remains on what matters most which is telling stories that honour her culture and ignite the imagination of readers everywhere. “More stories, more books more projects.I have some very exciting stuff coming up such as Barbadian folklore stories that are just waiting to get into the hands of more readers.” (PR)