Apr 17, 2025

4 Questions With Celeste Mohammed | Ever Since We Small

The Nicholas Huggins designed Caribbean cover for BOCAS Award winning author, Celeste Mohammed's second novel: Ever Since We Small is revealed!

The brief:

"The cover should feel lush and vivid, with the title playing a main part of the cover. We would like there to be a feeling of depth to the cover as well, featuring the colours/shapes of the immortelle tree and perhaps also the Great Kiskadee bird. There could also be featured a flash of white fabric, like the hem of a dress, with a figure disappearing out of focus."

The result:

To celebrate this cover, Celeste Mohammed spoked to the BOCAS team ahead of her 4th May launch in Trinidad and Tobago to share some of the inspiration behind Ever Since We Small and what is means to be back with a second book. In 4 questions, we get to know a little bit more...

1. What was the original inspiration for you to write the family saga of Ever Since We Small?

The impetus for the book came from "the headlines", the countless reports of intimate partner violence leading to dead parents and orphaned children. In particular, I was unnerved by the stories of these women who fascinated the nation for all too brief a time: Kunti Deopersad, in 2018; Andrea Bharatt and Ashanti Riley in 2020.

2. This is a novel-in-stories that spans generations and decades--how much research did you need to do and what resources did you find helpful?

Writing ESWS required a lot of research. So much so that I included a page, "Main Sources". I see fiction as a kind of "gateway drug" for readers to learn about our Caribbean history.

3. What else would you like TT readers to know about the book?
I want readers to experience the book with the fullness of their imaginations. I hope it will entertain but ask hard questions, too. Ultimately, I hope readers will come away with the message that it takes time, but we can triumph over our family histories.

4. How do you feel about launching the book at Bocas and having its world debut at the festival? What are you most looking forward to?

The book launch is taking place on May 4, exactly four years after the release of Pleasantview, my debut, which won the OCM Bocas Prize in 2022. So, it's a sentimental moment for me. Truly, a homecoming. I'm looking forward to sharing the stage with an icon, Olive Senior, and a scholar, Lisa Outar. It should make for a firecracker of a conversation.

Ever Since We Small is out in the Caribbean first on 4th May 2025 and in the UK 16th October 2025.