On Wednesday 23 October 2024, Laura Devine Immigration was pleased to host a Literary Lounge with Ayanna Lloyd Banwo who is a writer from Trinidad and Tobago currently living in Norwich.

Her debut novel When We Were Birds tells the story of Darwin who is a down-on-his-luck gravedigger looking to make his fortune. The book is embedded with timeless myth and magic. It is a masterpiece about loss and renewal. It was the 2023 winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award, the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, and the American Book Award, named one of the UK Observer’s Best Debuts and The Economist’s Best Books of 2022.

A raffle on the evening benefited Ayanna’s chosen charity The Carriacou Roof Fund which is helping to rebuild homes after Hurricane Beryl devastated the island.