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Jonathan Cumberbatch expertly blends a corporate career in human resource management with a deep passion for poetry and art.
As the current Senior Human Resources and Business Relations (HRBR) Manager at Nutrien, he debuted his first poetry collection–Primary Colours–originally compiled from 20 years of work and published in 2021.
The book received immediate acclaim, not only in print but also through its immersive audio and visual editions. Its hybrid presentation topped the Amazon Caribbean Poetry Best-Seller list and earned a Communicator Award of Excellence in 2022. But Cumberbatch didn’t stop there.
In early 2023, he released Valentine’s Day in Trinidad and Tobago, with distribution internationally in 2024 via Belle Amande Publishing. Earning critical acclaim, the regional group Tropical Literature Creatives listed it amongst its ten Best Books on Romance, and in terms of commercial success, it topped the Amazon Caribbean Poetry Best-Seller list. This body of work, which surrounds love and introspection, earned Cumberbatch a prestigious accolade.
In May 2025, Trinidadian Cumberbatch was honoured with a Communicator Award of Distinction by the US-based Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA), recognising the outstanding quality of the work and its complementary visual performance.
He was selected from amongst 6,000 entries – an accolade which reflects both artistic excellence and narrative impact. Both the book and trailer were lauded for the excellence of creative expression, highlighting how effectively they communicate themes around love and introspection.
Audible describes Cumberbatch’s journey of personal and common experiential reflection as “… a personal musing on variable aspects of love as experienced and observed …”
Cumberbatch said the AIVA recognition speaks to a testimony of excellence. They are an invite-only organisation composed of top-tier professionals in media, advertising, marketing, publishing, and academia. Their Communicator awards, a leading international awards programme, celebrates excellence and innovation in communications across diverse media platforms. The awards honour work across a wide array of categories, including digital, video, podcasts, marketing, mobile apps, social media, and print, and entrants cover agencies, in-house teams, freelancers, and students from around the world. It is one of the largest and most competitive awards of its kind, but it is not a competition, where multiple winners may be named in a category if their work meets the high criteria. The Gold category recognises excellence – the highest honour – awarded to entrants whose ability to communicate positions them as the best in the field, and Silver is awarded to projects that exceed industry standards in quality and achievement.
In part, Valentine’s Day impressively resonated with judges because of its poetic depth, multimedia excellence, creative continuity, and global and local appeal, and the Audible blurb and Amazon reviews underscore consistent five-star ratings and audience appreciation.
Next on Cumberbatch’s list is his third collection, Parade, for the release season this October. Positioned as a fresh yet thematically resonant summation of life’s many episodic events and adventures, Parade is expected to build on the successful lineage started by Cumberbatch’s earlier works.
“Winning an AIVA distinction enhances my stature both within Caribbean literary communities and in global poetry networks,” Cumberbatch said. “Recognition across both print and multimedia demonstrates my versatility as a poet and storyteller. This award, combined with digital best-seller status, signifies growing visibility for Caribbean literature on the world stage and boosts career momentum. This recognition marks a career milestone, validating my blend of emotive verse and multimedia storytelling.”
Cumberbatch added, “It underscores Caribbean literature’s ability to compete in global creative arenas and highlights the increasing appeal of poetry in accessible formats like trailers and audiobooks. With a third collection on the horizon, my path is one of continuing artistic evolution. I stand not just as a singular Trinidadian literary figure, but as a rising voice on the global cultural stage. My win underscores the multidimensional storytelling I deliver, not just in verse, but also in complementary visual/mobile formats.”
Valentine’s Day is available at: Amazon, Kindle, and Audible, and locally: Paper Based Bookshop, Scribbles and Quills, and House of Creative People.
English (US) ·