Winners of the Guyana Prize for Literature will soon be announced, and they will be conferred with prizes by President Bharrat Jagdeo during a convocation ceremony set for August 31.
University of Guyana Professor Al Creighton
The roster of awardees has been shortlisted by members of the Guyana Prize for Literature judging panel and management committee who updated the head of state during a recent meeting.
Among the members were Elfreida Bissember, Victor Ramraj, Alim Hussein and Gwyneth George.
The shortlist will be published soon in the lead-up to the award ceremony, according to University of Guyana Professor Al Creighton who was among the committee members who visited the president. “The judges have decided on the shortlist in all the categories, fiction, poetry and drama and we will be making an announcement about which books, which writers have made it to the shortlist and then also the next thing that is going to happen is the actual awards ceremony for the prize,” Creighton said.
The Guyana Prize for Literature has been conferred on the best Guyanese writers since 1987 as stimulus for the development of good creative writing among Guyanese and Caribbean writers.
In 2010, the Guyana government had provided funds to the prize management committee for the first Guyana Prize for Literature Caribbean Award. Three awards were being offered in the categories of fiction, poetry and drama, with a US$ 5000 prize for the winner in each category.
The meeting between the head of state and the management committee also looked at the development of writers and creative writing and plans for an upcoming workshop facilitated by prominent international writers.
The broad objective, according to Professor Creighton, is to give impetus to creative writing in Guyana.
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