REPRESENTATIVES of the Guyana Annual 2018 magazine on Friday launched seven new competitions, making it another feature of its edition.

Committee Member Danielle Swain told a press briefing at Guyenterprise Board Room in Georgetown that competitions were: the Sheila King Award for short stories for Children; the Bobby Fernandes Award for photography; the Stephanie Correia Award for art; the David De Caires Award for journalism; the Hawley Harris Award for cartoon and the Bertram Charles Award for drama.
The newest competition “Oil and Gas” which is sponsored by Dr. Tulsi Singh comes with special cash prizes.
Swain stated that for the first time too, this year, the magazine had taken to social media with the establishment of an email address theguyanaannual@gmail.com and Facebook page- theguyanaannual.

She said all rules for the various competitions were available on Facebook or could be uplifted from Guyenterprise and entries could either be submitted electronically via email or in hard copy format, hand-delivered.
She pointed out that there were four untitled competitions such as the open short story, junior short story competition and open poetry competition.
Giving a brief history of “The Guyana Annual,” Petamber Persaud said the magazine was founded in 1916 with the title “Chronicle Christmas Annual” which evolved over the decades and finally became “The Guyana Annual.”
He added that the publication was a century-old tradition and had outlived many other publications and it kept alive Guyanese art and literary traditions.

Persaud related that the magazine might not have survived to celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2016 were it not for the persistence, dedication and sheer enthusiasm of patron Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh, a medical doctor with a passion for the arts and culture.
He stated that the magazine was now published by Guyenterprise, which had decades-long association with this prestigious publication and is supported by corporate sponsors.
The magazine was however, resuscitated in 1998 and is being edited by Petamber Persaud. Meanwhile, Client Services Officer Shamshun Mohamed, who spoke on behalf of Vic Insanally said the Oil and Gas Competition which was sponsored by Dr. Tulsi Singh came with the first prize of $250,000, followed by second and third. There are other prizes as well.

In remarks, Allan Fenty said the “The Guyana Annual” was a magazine which stimulated young Guyanese to express their art and literary skills and was the only such edition which had been around for so long.