ONE of the highpoints of the local art scene has always been the Guyana Prize for Literature Awards Ceremony, and that was held last Sunday at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.

According to Secretary of the Management Committee, Mr. Al Creighton, while the recent years have seen the emergence of much stronger fields, three of the seven writers are completely new; and, more interestingly, four of the seven titles are unpublished manuscripts. Four of the authors are also locally resident writers, and this is important, since one of the contentions in the past has been the overbearing dominance of foreign-based Guyanese writers who make the shortlist and win the prize.

Creighton also disclosed that among the highlights of the Guyana Prize activities since 2011 has been increased emphasis on training and development. 

He pointed out that a series of writers’ workshops and training sessions has been held to assist local writers and aspirants to better understand the craft and improve their work, in response to a need for greater developmental input; so that there is not only reward for good writing, but there are efforts to assist the production of good writing in a local situation where there is not much help.

Creighton said, “We regard this series of training sessions a success.  They have included sessions held by leading international writers. Among these were Pauline Melville, Janice Lowe Shinebourne, Gaiutra Bahadur, Mark McWatt, John Agard and Grace Nichols.”

Creighton also noted that in 2011, experts who came to Guyana for the Guyana Prize Caribbean Awards were utilized. Sessions were held by Stewart Brown, Mark McWatt and Myriam Chancy, besides, teachers of drama and literature were targeted when members of the Caribbean Prize jury, Rawle Gibbons and Prof Funso Aiyejina, held a workshop on the UG Berbice Campus at Tain, Corentyne.

In addition to the foregoing events, an extended playwriting class, in which some of the classes were conducted by celebrated writers Prof David Dabydeen and Lori Shelbourn of the University of Leeds in the UK, has just ended. Sponsored by the Guyana Prize, this class was held in collaboration with the Department of Language and Cultural Studies at UG, and the National School of Drama.

This represented unprecedented and most concentrated focus in the training of writers over a two-year period by the Guyana Prize. It was made possible because the funds received for the Prize included provisions for workshops conducted by both locally-based and international writers and experts, who also gave public lectures.

Coinciding with the life of the Prize has been a forward leap in Guyanese literature, with a multiplicity of new writers and work that increased in geometric proportions. Most of this has taken place overseas among Guyanese writers resident mostly in the UK, Canada and the USA; but the Prize can claim to have contributed to that significantly, having played a role in many of them coming to prominence.

Creighton likened the Guyana Prize for Literature to the Commonwealth Writers Prize, which was developed when the Commonwealth Foundation thought more and more writers were developing in various Common-wealth countries, and the Prize could give them more exposure and bring Commonwealth writing more to the world’s attention. 

He said that where locally-based writers are concerned, many of them have developed over a period of time by entering work in the Guyana Prize to be of international stature. Some have left the country for residence overseas, after having won the Prize at home; whilst others have won the Prize with unpublished manuscripts which they have since published.  Those have then been added to the corpus of Guyanese literature. 

Over the life of the Prize, there has been some advance in local literature. Professor Jane Bryce, chairman of the jury, who has been teaching African Literature at Cave Hill since 1992, remarked in the Judges’ Report that the advent of digital publishing has changed the face of publishing, as it is now easier than ever to use the Internet as a platform.

Chairman of the committee, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, said in his opening declaration at the Awards Ceremony that writers must reach a particular standard for the prize, and he was thrilled at the standard.

The following works were shortlisted this year according to category: FICTION: Ruel Johnson: Collected Fictions — A semi-autobiographical collection that addressed racial& political tensions, relationships and displacement.
Chaitram Singh: The February 23 Coup.

POETRY: Cassia Alphonso: Black Cake Mix — A collection of nostalgic poems in a creole tone. Ian McDonald: The Comfort of all things — Observations of a mature poet on aging and mortality. Sasenarine Persaud: Lantana strangling Ixora.

DRAMA: Harold Bascom: Deportee — A screenplay for a crime thriller set in New York and Georgetown. Mosa Telford: Sauda — A Tale about the need for forgiveness between mothers and daughters and overcoming low self-esteem.

The First Book of Fiction prize went to Chaitram Singh for “The Flower Convoy”, the only entry shortlisted in the category. In the First Book of Poetry category, no work was considered suitable.

The event was graced by His Excellency President Donald Ramotar, who handed over the prizes to the winners.