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Kevin Jared Hosein

ケビン・ジャレッド・ホセイン

Kevin Jared Hosein

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1986-01-01 （Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago）
Nationality
Trinidad and Tobago
Languages
English

Career

Occupations
Author, Teacher
Active Years
2013-
Influenced By
Stephen King, Cormac McCarthy, Harold 'Sonny' Ladoo
Nominations
International Dublin Literary Award longlist (The Repenters), International Dublin Literary Award longlist (The Beast of Kukuyo), Dylan Thomas Prize longlist (Hungry Ghosts)

Education

University of the West Indies, St. Augustine
Biology and Environmental Studies
Country: Trinidad and Tobago
Studied biology and environmental studies; literature was not offered at his secondary school

Awards

Commonwealth Short Story Prize (Caribbean regional winner)
2015
Work: The King of Settlement 4
Category: 短編
Organization: Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Result: winner (regional)
Commonwealth Short Story Prize (overall winner)
2018
Work: Passage
Category: 短編
Organization: Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Result: winner (overall)
Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature (runner-up)
2018
Work: The Beast of Kukuyo
Category: ヤングアダルト
Organization: CODE's Burt Literary Awards
Result: runner-up
OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction
2024
Work: Hungry Ghosts
Category: 小説
Organization: Bocas Lit Fest
Result: winner
Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
2024
Work: Hungry Ghosts
Category: 歴史小説
Organization: Walter Scott Prize
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Littletown Secrets

2013 Children's book

A story about a boy who charges to keep other children's secrets. Hosein both wrote and illustrated this his first published book.

secretscoming-of-age

The Repenters

2016 Young adult / Novel

The story of Jordan Sant, placed in a children's home after the murder of his parents, who later runs away to Port of Spain.

lossmigrationcoming-of-age

The Beast of Kukuyo

2018 Young adult / Mystery

A 15-year-old girl investigates the disappearance of her classmate in a quiet rural village in Trinidad.

communitynatureinvestigation

Hungry Ghosts

2023 Historical fiction

Set in 1940s rural Trinidad, the novel follows the impoverished Saroops and the wealthy Changoor family whose lives intertwine after Dalton Changoor disappears; it incorporates the Hindu tradition of pretas (hungry ghosts).

colonial historyfamilydesire and deprivationnature

Passage

2018 Short story

A forester searches for a family living outside society in the mountains of Trinidad. Written in Trinidadian Creole, it depicts a natural world that is both brutal and exploited by humans.

natureisolationculture and language

Bibliography

  • Littletown Secrets (2013)
  • The Repenters (2016)
  • The Beast of Kukuyo (2018)
  • Hungry Ghosts (2023)

Adaptations

  • Short film based on the poem 'The Wait is So, So Long' (received a Gold Key at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
realistic prose with strong ecological and natural descriptionuse of Trinidadian Creole in narration
Recurring Motifs
nature and its brutalityhunger and appetitefamily and communityechoes of colonialism

Legacy

A Trinidadian writer acclaimed across short fiction, novels and children's literature. With awards including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, OCM Bocas Prize and the Walter Scott Prize, he is recognized as an important voice exploring Caribbean history and ecology.

Quotes

  • "a deeply impressive book… and an important one"
    Source: Hilary Mantel (endorsement) (2023)
  • "An astonishing novel – linguistically gorgeous, narratively propulsive and psychologically profound"
    Source: Bernardine Evaristo (endorsement) (2023)

Trivia

  • As a child he was initially more interested in video games than reading.
  • Born into an Indo-Trinidadian family.
  • Worked for over a decade as a secondary school biology teacher, informing his ecological detail.
  • The short story 'Passage' is written in Trinidadian Creole.