Marsha Massiah

Marsha Massiah is the Founder and Executive Director of the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF), the only U.S. literary festival dedicated exclusively to Caribbean literature and indigenous storytelling. Held each September, the BCLF has become a leading destination for Caribbean and diaspora writers, celebrating luminaries such as Jamaica Kincaid, Julia Alvarez, Lorna Goodison, and its patron and prize namesake, Dr Elizabeth Nunez.
Born and raised in Trinidad & Tobago, Marsha credits her homeland with shaping her creative consciousness. As the festival’s chief visionary, she leads its programming, partnerships, and growth with a clear mission: to build a bridge for Caribbean stories and secure their rightful place in the global literary landscape.
Her philosophy holds that Caribbean literature is not a peripheral voice but a central force in the world’s canon. She champions systems that ensure Caribbean creatives are recognised, compensated, and sustained, a response to the need for intellectual and economic sovereignty within the arts.
For her, Caribbean stories are a form of genetic inheritance,  the unlikely fruit of resilience, joy, and ancestral fortitude born from centuries of labour and exploitation. Through her leadership, the BCLF is democratising access to literature and revolutionising conversations around the literary arts.
Her conceptual projects include the Caribbean Fiction Collection at the Center for Fiction, the acclaimed Cocoa Pod podcast (ranked among Apple’s top 10% of podcasts in 2022), and the BCLF Short Fiction Story Competition, a fertile pipeline nurturing the next generation of Caribbean writers.
A frequent collaborator across creative disciplines, she has shared conversations with Asha Lovelace, Mahmood Patel, Freetown Collective, and global cultural figures including Roxane Gay, Edwidge Danticat, and Sir Hilary Beckles.
She is the recipient of multiple honours, including the Caribbean Life Impact Award and CBN’s U.S. Caribbean Boss Lady distinction.
Marsha lives in Brooklyn with her son Kai, and spends what’s left of her time inducting Gen Alpha into the magic, power and pride of the storytelling tradition of their ancestors.