Alecia McKenzie

Alecia McKenzie (born Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican writer and journalist.^[1]

Life

She studied at Alpha Academy, Kingston; Troy University, and Columbia University, focusing on languages, art and journalism.^[2]

She has worked as a journalist for various international organizations and has taught Communications at the Free University of Brussels.^[3] She has lived in the United States, Belgium, England and Singapore and now mainly shares her time between France, where she is based with her family, and the Caribbean.^[4]

Writing career

Her first collection of short stories, Satellite City, won the regional Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (Canada and the Caribbean). Her second book, When the Rain Stopped in Natland, is a novella for young readers, and has been included on the literacy program in several schools.

That was followed by a novella for teenagers, Doctor's Orders, which is a part-adventure, part-detective story, with mostly teenage characters, set in the Caribbean; and a second collection of stories, Stories From Yard. Her latest book is Sweetheart, a novel, which on 21 May 2012 was announced as the Caribbean regional winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize 2012.^[5]

Works

• Satellite City, Longman, 1992, ISBN 978-0-582-08688-3
• When the Rain Stopped in Natland, Illustrator Guy Parker-Rees, Longman, 1995, ISBN 978-0-582-12245-1
• Doctor's Orders, Heinemann, 2005, ISBN 978-0-435-98827-2
• Stories from Yard, Peepal Tree Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-900715-62-1
• Sweetheart, Peepal Tree Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84523-177-4

Awards and recognition

• 2015 – Commonwealth Short Story Prize Shortlist for Cindy's Class
• 2012 – Commonwealth Book Prize Winner, Caribbean region, for Sweetheart ^[6]
• 1993 – Commonwealth Writers Prize Winner, Best First Book, Canada & the Caribbean, for Satellite City

References

External links

• "BATISSEUSES DE PAIX COMPRISES JEWISH, MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN WOMEN", Noticias Financieras, 2009