The Journey, an Evening of Literature (Part XI)
THE eleventh leg of The Journey, an Evening of Literature was staged on Wednesday June 2 at the National Art Gallery, Castellani House under the theme, ‘Anatomy of Independence’, featuring literary works that explore challenges and victories on the route to attaining (political) independence. It was another engaging evening of making literature come alive. Tabulated below is the evening’s programme, showing selections and performers:

Selections                                                         Performers

Extract from ‘The West on Trial’                  

by Cheddi Jagan (Guyana)                             Mr. Kencil Banwarie             

‘Tomorrow Belongs to the People’

by A. J. Seymour (Guyana)                            Mr. Jamal LaRose                                         

Extract from ‘A Destiny to Mould’,

speeches by Forbes Burnham

(Guyana)                                                         Mr. Russel Lancaster

‘Let Freedom Wake Him’

by Martin  Carter (Guyana)                            Dr. Ian McDonald

‘Days of Sahib’                                                         

by Rajkumari Singh

(Guyana)                                                         Ms. Rosanne Pumwasie                                            

‘A Merry Indian No More’

by Basil Rodrigues

(Guyana)                                                         Mr. Jamal LaRose

Extract from essay by Martin Carter

‘Of Governor and Governed’

(taken from KyK 49/50 Issue)                                    Ms. Vanda Radzik

‘A Wish A Could Emancipate You’

by Creighton Pencheon (St. Kitts/Nevis)

(Taken from ‘An anthology of Caribbean

Poetry’ edited by Petamber Persaud)             Ms. Tivia Collins

‘No Frontiers’

by Elie Stephenson

(French Guiana)                                              Mr. Omarnauth Bissoon        

‘A Patriot to Patriots’

by Derek Walcott

(St Lucia)                                                        Ms. Elfrieda Bissember

‘Ain’t Want De Goat No Mo’ by

Patricia Adams (Anguilla)

(Taken from ‘An anthology of Caribbean

Poetry’ edited by Petamber Persaud)             Ms. Konya Addo

‘The Unknown Citizen’

by W H Auden

(Anglo-American)                                           Ms. Tivia Collins                                           

‘Weeping Woman’

(from ‘Picasso, I Want My Face Back’)

by Grace Nichols (Guyana)                            Ms. Amika Doris & Ms. Kandasia Kendall

‘The Journey, An Evening of Literature’ started in 2004 under the auspices of the National Art Gallery, Castellani House.

‘The Journey’ is an ongoing series of literature programmes designed to go where other related undertakings have failed to venture. To appreciate this, a listing of the objectives of ‘The Journey’ would show how useful this venture is to society.

The intent of the journey is to sensitise more Guyanese (and non-Guyanese) as to the massive output in the field of literature by our writers, both local and overseas; to expose literature to more persons, especially our young people; to foster an interaction between those who know and those willing to learn about literature; to raise the level of appreciation for such matters; to restore a reading culture by putting the joy back into reading; to offer another, and eventually a permanent, venue for oral performance; to encourage more writers to write and to publish; and to encourage scholarship and more research in our literature.

‘The Journey’ has covered much ground and achieved quite a lot in a short period. The event has facilitated almost two hundred individual and group performances of prose, poetry, song and drama. Selected pieces include works of Guyanese and writers from around the world.

In ‘Part I’, we went to the beginning of our (Guyanese) literary heritage, the oral literature of our Indigenous Peoples, moving into the printed word, from the first published poem in the early 17th Century to the first published anthology, covering a period of 100 years.

In ‘Part II’ of ‘The Journey’, we sampled various genres of writing, prose, poetry, song, the essay, the novel, and the letter. We also celebrated the works of past Guyanese writers, and honoured a couple of living resident authors.

In ‘Part III’, we celebrated living Guyanese women writers, while giving local emerging writers a chance, another occasion, to showcase their own fare.

Both groups of writers need our support, especially our women writers who face numerous challenges, both as women and as writers.

In ‘Part IV’, we celebrated our literary heritage that was captured in anthologies; anthologies serve to shape a nation’s literature.

In ‘Part V’, it was ‘school days are happy, happy days’, going way back to ‘Jack and Jill’, ‘all the world’s a stage’,  moving to present-day and long overdue inclusion of Guyanese writings on the CXC syllabus.

In ‘Part VI’, it was literature in translation (from foreign languages) and Guyanese creolese. Although it was a sampling of different cultures, the themes explored by dissimilar writers are universal ones encompassing issues of identity, alienation, integration and freedom.

In ‘Part VII’, it was ‘winner’s row’, featuring selections from works of literary prize winners from around the world, including Rabindranath Tagore, V. S. Naipaul, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Neruda, Gao Xingjian, Toni Morrison, David Dabydeen, Paloma Mohamed, Mark McWatt, Martin Carter, and Arundhati Roy.

‘Part VIII’ was staged under the theme, ‘The Sporting Life’. For ‘Part IX’, the theme was  ‘Parameters Of Liberty’, featuring literature in celebration of freedom and the rights of Man. Part X’s theme was  ‘Looking Forward and Back’, heralding CARIFESTA  X and looking back at ‘The Journey’, Parts I-IX.

‘The Journey’ continues leading to who knows where, but for sure, ‘The Journey’ is heading in the right direction of creating the  climate for the better appreciation of literature on the whole and the appreciation of Guyanese literature in particular.

What’s Happening
•           The Guyana Annual 2010 issue is now available at Guyenterprise Ltd. on Lance Gibbs and Irving
Streets, Queenstown.
•           The new closing date for the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sport literary competition for school is July 9, 2010. Please contact me for more information. This competition includes three follow-up components via a writers’ workshop, using entries submitted, performances of shortlisted entries, and a publication of the outstanding works.
(To respond to this author, either call him on (592) 226-0065 or send him an email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com)