OF course, my stopover in East Berbice, Guyana, was filled with references to individuals who have made and continue to make significant contribution to Guyana.  I have singled out Jock Campbell to feature here mainly because of his little-known contribution to world literature.

As I continue my foray into literary prizes (See previous articles on The Guyana Prize for Literature, the Casa de Las Americas Literary Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize), I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the world’s richest literary prize (for a single book) has a connection to Guyana… Well, Booker Guiana. The Prize at reference is the Booker Prize, and the connection is Jock Campbell.
Before the Prize became what it has evolved to be today, it was a business venture called the Booker Author Division, where the company bought the rights to Ian Fleming’s books and marketed them in such a way as to realise huge profits.
Here is that story, courtesy of a recent email correspondence from Clem Seecharan, who is now emeritus professor at London Metropolitan University.  Seecharan was born in Palmyra Village, East Canje, Berbice, British Guiana, in a society that he described as “a bookless world” but went on to make his name and fortune in books.
“I recall his [Jock Campbell] telling me that he was a good friend of Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels. They lived in Oxfordshire, in the Nettlebed/Henley area, played golf together, and talked a lot about Ian’s business dealings. Jock also visited Ian at his house on the north coast of Jamaica.
“He was doing well with the Bond films, but the books were not being properly marketed and Ian asked Jock for some ideas. Jock suggested that Booker buy over the rights to the books – not the films.
“Booker would then be responsible for the marketing of the Bond novels. They also agreed that a portion of the profits be earmarked for a writing prize…. Thus was born the idea of the Booker Prize. The Bond books yielded a bonanza, which was invested in order to fund the Booker Prize in perpetuity.”
The Prize was originally known as the Booker-McConnell Prize when it was established in 1968-69. (The business entities, Curtis Campbell & Co. and Booker Bros., McConnell & Co., merged in the late 1930s.) Since then, the Prize has undergone various modifications, but maintained its original objective, which is to reward the finest work of fiction.
But now, a little bit about Campbell’s connection to East Berbice and British Guiana. Most of the following information was gleaned from Clem Seecharan’s book, ‘Sweetening Bitter Sugar: Jock Campbell, the Booker Reformer in British Guiana, 1934 – 1966’.
The blurb states that the book is about “Jock Campbell’s role in the shaping of British Guiana (Guyana) towards the end of the empire.” Campbell was then the head of the Booker Company which owned most of the sugar plantations in colonial Guyana, when Guyana was invariably referred to as ‘Booker Guiana’.
Campbell had sugar in his veins, and he also had literature in his veins. Campbell’s early interest in literature led eventually to his promotion of good writing and the Booker Prize.
Seecharan made numerous references to Campbell’s literary leaning. Campbell’s passion for books fired his imagination and “[T]his early romance with the imagination was heightened,” especially after his “astounding recovery” from polio.  Campbell became immersed in the classics, biography, history, philosophy, and his reading interest ran in this manner: Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, Hardy, Kipling, Hazlitt, Walter Scott, R. L. Stevenson, Conan Doyle, P. G. Wodehouse, Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, and The Bible. Dickens made the greatest impact on his imagination.
That is part of the story of the world’s richest literary prize (for a single book).
However, a Guyanese writer is yet to win that Prize, or even to get on the long list. You could be the one to change that!

(To respond to this author, either call him on (592) 226-0065 or send him an email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com)

What’s Happening:
•     ‘From Historical Paths to the Cultural Processes between Brazil and Guyana’ was recently launched on the University of Guyana Campus. This book is the first major literary collaborative effort between the two countries.