Jamaican’s Short Story ‘OCOEE’ under Consideration for the Big Screen

Jamaica’s 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner, Kwame McPherson, says his award-winning story, ‘Ocoee’, is under consideration for adaptation into a television series or film.

Mr. McPherson made the announcement while speaking yesterday (June 18), on a panel discussing the topic, ‘Harnessing the Power of Jamaica’s Creative Industries and Sport for National Development’, at the 10th Jamaica Biennial Diaspora Conference, at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James.

The session explored the utilisation of Jamaica’s sport, art and cultural resources as catalysts for sustainable growth and development, fostering dialogue, collaboration, and actionable initiatives among stakeholders.

In an interview with JIS News, Mr. McPherson said that he is in negotiation with a film company, which had reached out to him because “they love the story idea and because it is an award-winning story”.

Ocoee is a mixture of Caribbean folklore and African-American history.

He said the company believes that the story can be made into a TV series or adapted for film due to its angles and perspectives.

“We are in negotiations and so, hopefully, we sign all the dotted lines and what needs to happen to us is the creation of a ‘shopping’ agreement,” he added.

Mr. McPherson said that the world is ready for Jamaican stories.

“We have rich stories, so I think that’s what had made my story win and why others are interested in fitting it into something that could be visualised. I am grateful and humbled by it,” he said.

Following the Commonwealth short story competition, Mr. McPherson said he was invited to a writing workshop and an awards ceremony, put on by the Royal Commonwealth Society at Buckingham Palace, where he met the Queen.

“I was able to have a dialogue with her for a minute or two about writing and writing in the Caribbean. Basically, she said to me that I must encourage more young people to write. I am an advocate for writing, always willing to work with young people and to get them involved in writing,” he added.

Over the years, Mr. McPherson has won many awards and was the 2007 Poetic Soul winner, as well as the first Jamaican Flash Fiction Bursary awardee for the Bridport Prize International Creative Writing Competition in 2020.

He has contributed to UK-based Flame Tree Publishing’s diverse writing anthologies and is a contributor to the ‘Heart of a Black Man’ anthology, which includes empowering stories from prominent black men.