-recognises Dr. Alista Bishop as first Euro-Guyana Poetry Competition winner
CELEBRATING the literary work of young Guyanese, Ambassador of the European Union to Guyana, Luca Pierantoni, on Wednesday evening presented the first-ever Euro-Guyana Poetry Competition Award to Alista Bishop at his residence.
It was there that Ambassador Pierantoni spoke of advancing cultural cooperation in Guyana.
The Ambassador said the European Union (EU) has been in Guyana for many years. However, there is very little that Guyanese know about Europe, and just the same, very little that Europe knows about Guyana.
The EU has over the years supported Guyana in key initiatives such as the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), health resilience and manufacturing of health products, as well as water and sanitation, among other areas.
The longstanding friendship between Guyana and the EU stretches back to the signature of the forest convention and subsequently the Georgetown Agreement in 1975 which established the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States.
From then to now, the evolving relationship between the EU and Guyana has grown across many sectors.
Ambassador Pierantoni continued to say, “So what we are trying to do now this year is to create some activities to help share Europe with Guyana and Guyana with Europe, to build bridges, which is cultural bridges.”
According to the Ambassador, they have decided to select a number of areas for this, including an arts exhibition on gender and violence; gastronomy in the form of a pizza competition; and activities touching both music and sports.
“We are going to have our first classical concert music event here in the house on the 25th of April. And then at the St George’s Cathedral, most likely it’s going to be the 8th of June, we are going to have a concert, and then there is going to be a very important opera singer that comes from Argentina. It’s one of the most important, most famous in the world to do some opera singing,” he announced.
Ambassador Pierantoni stated that the EU is trying to be more visible in Guyana and is opened to receiving shared suggestions or ideas for partnership and opportunities to be involved.
Meanwhile, Advisor on the One Guyana Commission, Ruel Johnson added that in the coming months, persons will see an increased focus on the creative arts, with poetry being part of the activities leading to the Guyana Prize for Literature Festival.
Johnson explained that while the time frame for entries has closed, creatives can prepare entries for next year’s Guyana Prize.
This first poetry competition focused on the theme of friendship, a concept that is no stranger to the European Union.
The poems were submitted anonymously by a small group of poets, who wrote from their hearts about the theme of friendship. Each poem was judged by Ruel Johnson, with Dr. Alista Bishop emerging as the overall winner.
