THE Jubilee Creative Writing Competition welcomed entries from local writers in the categories of Prose, Poetry and Drama. Among the entries received, three winners were chosen from each category. Emerging from this competition are eight talented writers, whose work were deemed the best of the lot. Some of them you may have heard of; others are now making their mark. But above all, these young people have lauded the exposure provided through the writing competition, and expressed the hope that the venture will give rise to more frequent platforms that will give local writers a chance to have their voices heard.

This week, we conclude with the profile features of the final three winners of the competition.

MELINDA PRIMO SOLOMON, 32
Melinda won Third Place for her entry, The Wallet, in the Short Story Category. A member of the National Drama Company, Melinda has been writing for several years, but has mostly gained recognition for her plays, having won awards in both the 2013 and 2014 National Drama Festival.
After hearing about the competition, however, Melinda submitted pieces in both the Drama and Short Story Categories, and admits that to gain recognition for her short stories was a welcome surprise.
“I feel as though my hard work is paying off, because this is the first short story competition I have ever entered,” she said. “So I felt very happy to be among the top three.”
Like most other writers, Melinda wishes that Guyana would have some publishing mechanism that would allow them to have their work printed. “Writers have a lot of work that they want to publish, but they don’t know where to go,” she said. “We need a mechanism like this, where writers can get that representation.”

NICHOLAS SINGH, 20
Nicholas heard about the Jubilee Writing Competition through his former lecturer, Al Creighton, and was encouraged to submit. Having only written one play thus far, Nicholas took the chance and submitted his piece, Some other nights, what he refers to as “an existential, absurdist view of life”. The play speaks of depression and suicide, and was inspired by Nicholas’ own views on the matter from an existential point of view. “Depression isn’t something all persons talk about; I wanted to show that it is an existential absurdist view of life,” Nicholas said. “I wanted to express depression in that way; in a really deep way that would make people think something raw.”
Upon reflection, the young writer is himself amused at the content of the play, but cannot recall exactly what frame of mind he was in when he penned it. He admits, though, that it took him about a year to complete, and that it was met with rave reviews. It is, therefore, no wonder that his work was chosen among the top three for the competition; something that this first time writer is proud about.

With an avid love for theatre, the local public can expect more work coming out of this young mind, even as he wishes to see a deeper appreciation for theatre from the public. “I want to put Guyana on the forefront again as the leading theatre industry in Caribbean. Guyana was the golden place for theatre in the past, and that kind of waned. But I would love to see that back; I know a lot of people in theatre who want that, too, and I want to be there to help Guyana improve in this area,” he said.
Nicholas wishes, too, that more training sessions would be made available for writers, so that they can hone their skills in learning different styles and techniques for their writing.
KEIBA IFE MURRAY, 29
As the Golden Jubilee drew closer, Keiba was inspired to write poetry that reflected the atmosphere, which was teeming with national pride.
After posting her poem, Guyana let the world hear your roar on Facebook, she was encouraged by her cousin to submit her work to the writing competition.
Among the five poems which were submitted, it was this patriotic piece that won her Third Place in the Poetry Category. But Keiba is also proud of one of her other entries, The colours of an independent woman, which personifies Guyana, and likens the colours of the flag to various parts of a woman’s body in an empowering and inspirational manner.
In penning her pieces, Keiba said she wanted her work to stand out, as it was going to be judged by esteemed writers, and was happy to know that her work was selected.
As a ‘re-migrant’, Keiba says she wishes that Guyana would have some mechanism that would allow persons who return to live in Guyana the opportunity to come together and share ideas and other experiences learned abroad relating to the arts and other industries, so as to help in the development of the country.