Coordinator reports response, so far, not encouraging
Coordinator Petamber Persaud said Tuesday that response to the Children’s Poetry and Short Story competitions, so far, it not encouraging.
“It is not as we expected,” he admitted, as the closing date, July 9 nears.
Persaud maintained, though that there was enough publicity because youth leaders in the regions and schools were contacted.
“What I think might happen, is that, at the last minute, we could see an influx,” he posited.
The contest is the first of its kind, from which the best poems and stories will be published in an anthology by the Caribbean Press.
Following a commitment, by President Bharrat Jagdeo during CARIFESTA X last August, the Caribbean Publishing House was established in Guyana with an annual allocation of US$100,000.
The establishment was an effort to leave an enduring legacy of the Caribbean Festival of Creative Arts hosted in Guyana.
The project was conceptualised during discussions between President Jagdeo and a group of writers, including Derek Walcott and Earl Lovelace, with the focus on how a Caribbean publishing house could be another institution to further unite the region.
The present editor of the Caribbean Press is Professor David Dabydeen and it reprints out-of-print and rare books on Guyana and publishes contemporary writings by Guyanese and Caribbean writers.
The first fruits of the Caribbean Press were the Guyana Classics, historical volumes of Guyanese literature.
According to Persaud, the primary criticism of the Caribbean Press is that it focuses too much on the old, rather than give emerging writers a chance to do more.
“We decided to have this competition to bridge the gap between old and new and contemporary writers,” he said.
Persaud said the publishing house is encouraging new writings by Guyanese children by four methods, literary competitions, workshops, performances and publications.
He explained that schools are targeted and the new crop of writers given more opportunities to explore their creativity.

Main criterion

Persaud said the main criterion for entry is that the writer should be a Guyanese resident. Entries ought to be typewritten on one side and double-spaced. Two copies of each entry must be submitted; competitors may submit up to three entries in categories open to them; entries may be written in English or Creolese and working the ‘green’ theme is preferable but not necessary.
He said the poetry rivalry is intended for primary school pupils under 12 years old whose poems should not be more than 30 lines.
Persaud said the Short Story Competition targets secondary school students between 13 and 18 years old, whose stories should not be more than 1,000 words.
“Each entry ought to be accompanied by an electronic copy but this is not necessary
Entries must be the original unpublished work of the competitor and this should be verifiable, if necessary,” he said.
Persaud said a separate cover sheet must be included to indicate the category entered, full name, age, mailing address, telephone number and e-mail address and name of school being attended.
There is no entry fee and submissions should be sent to Petamber Persaud, c/o Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Main Street, Georgetown or dropped in a box provided at the Ministry’s security building.
Monetary prizes will be awarded for the best entries but he said the competition is not a one-off activity as there will be three follow-up components – a workshop and a reading of outstanding poems and short stories in August and the publication of the best works in the anthology.
“After the competition has ended and the winners are awarded, a series of things will be done to help the young writers,” Persaud said.
He said, for the workshop, 25 students from each category will be selected to participate and they will be assisted to better their writing.
Plans are being made to have them interact with established writers locally and from the Caribbean, Persaud said.
About steps being taken to afford budding out of school writers, he pointed to the Guyana Annual and Guyana Prize for Literature competitions, with specifics for the latter to be released either this or next month.
Persaud said the competition for the nest issue of the Guyana Annual will start in September.