Cabinet has ap-proved the awards to be presented to winners of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr RogerLuncheon, said last week. Speaking at a week-ly news conference, Dr Luncheon said the or-ganising committee of the Guyana Prize for Literature has submit-ted its list to Cabinet, and approval has been granted.Dr Luncheon told the media that Cabinet has also approved ex-penditure for addi-tional aspects of the awards. Among the ad-ditional aspects are the first Caribbean Writer’s Award, and the hosting of a writers’ workshop, to be held during the time of the awards ceremony.He said the two ad-ditions follow engage-ments between President Bharrat Jagdeo and sev-eral acclaimed writ-ers during the previous awards ceremony, and follow-up talks duringthe Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA X) in 2008. For the 2010 cere-mony, Cabinet has also agreed to the recom-mendation to honour Sir Wilson Harris. Sir Harris is a Guyanese writer who began writing poetry,and later became a well known novelist and es-sayist. His first novel, Palace of the Peacock, was published in 1959. It was one of a quartet of novels, including The Far Journey of Oudin, The Whole Armour, and The Secret Ladder. Carnival, Dr Roger Luncheon The Infinite Rehearsal, and The Four Banks of the River of Space (1990) formed Harris’s Carnival trilogy.Sir Harris also wrote the novels Jonestown, The Dark Jester, The Mask of the Beggar, and The Ghost of Memory. A two-time winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Sir Harris was conferred honor-ary doctorates by the University of the West Indies in 1984, and the University of Liège in 2001. The Guyana Prize for Literature was started in 1987 to promote the de-velopment of local litera-ture. It is managed by a committee consisting of a number of university personnel, and the chief librarian of the Guyana National Library. Prizes are awarded biennial- ly in categories, includ-ing best book of fiction, best first book of fiction, best book of poems, best first book of poems, and best play. This year’sawards are specific to the Anglophone Caribbean; and even though there are intellectuals from various languages across the world, Dr Luncheon believes such a decision will make judging more comfortable.
Cabinet approves prizes for Guyana literature awards
Cabinet has ap-proved the awards to be presented to winners of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr RogerLuncheon, said last week. Speaking at a week-ly news conference, Dr Luncheon said the or-ganising committee of the Guyana Prize for Literature has submit-ted its list to Cabinet, and approval has been granted.Dr Luncheon told the media that Cabinet has also approved ex-penditure for addi-tional aspects of the awards. Among the ad-ditional aspects are the first Caribbean Writer’s Award, and the hosting of a writers’ workshop, to be held during the time of the awards ceremony.He said the two ad-ditions follow engage-ments between President Bharrat Jagdeo and sev-eral acclaimed writ-ers during the previous awards ceremony, and follow-up talks duringthe Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA X) in 2008. For the 2010 cere-mony, Cabinet has also agreed to the recom-mendation to honour Sir Wilson Harris. Sir Harris is a Guyanese writer who began writing poetry,and later became a well known novelist and es-sayist. His first novel, Palace of the Peacock, was published in 1959. It was one of a quartet of novels, including The Far Journey of Oudin, The Whole Armour, and The Secret Ladder. Carnival, Dr Roger Luncheon The Infinite Rehearsal, and The Four Banks of the River of Space (1990) formed Harris’s Carnival trilogy.Sir Harris also wrote the novels Jonestown, The Dark Jester, The Mask of the Beggar, and The Ghost of Memory. A two-time winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Sir Harris was conferred honor-ary doctorates by the University of the West Indies in 1984, and the University of Liège in 2001. The Guyana Prize for Literature was started in 1987 to promote the de-velopment of local litera-ture. It is managed by a committee consisting of a number of university personnel, and the chief librarian of the Guyana National Library. Prizes are awarded biennial- ly in categories, includ-ing best book of fiction, best first book of fiction, best book of poems, best first book of poems, and best play. This year’sawards are specific to the Anglophone Caribbean; and even though there are intellectuals from various languages across the world, Dr Luncheon believes such a decision will make judging more comfortable.
