Shortlist for Guyana Prize for Literature Caribbean Award revealed

A shortlist of 11 persons has been announced for the fiction and poetry categories of the Guyana Prize for Literature – Caribbean Award. The nominees for the fiction prize are: Amanda Smyth for Black Rock; Diana McCaulay for Dog-heart; Karen Lord: Redemption in Indigo; Myriam J A Chancy: The Loneliness of Angels; and Patricia Powell: The Fullness of Everything. In the poetry category, Christian Campbell was nominated for “Running the Dusk”; Ishion Hutchinson for “Far District”; Jennifer Rahim for “Approaching Sabbaths”; John Agard for “Clever Backbone”; Mark McWatt for “The Journey to Le Repentir”; and Vahni Capildeo, “Undraining Sea”. The judges are Stewart Brown (chairman of the panel); Funso Aiyejina; and Rawle Gibbons.

Brown is the Reader in Caribbean and West African Literature at the Centre of West African Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. He is a poet, artist, critic, editor and anthologist who has researched and published extensively in areas of West Indian literature.

Among his publications are books of poetry including Lugard’s Bridge; important Caribbean anthologies, including Voiceprint; a collection of his essays, and other critical works, including The Art of Derek Walcott, The Art of Kamau Brathwaite and The Art of Martin Carter. He has been a judge on the panel of the Guyana Prize for Literature; a visiting lecturer at UWI, Cave Hill; and has exhibited his work in the fine arts.

Aiyejina is a professor of literature and creative writing. He is a Nigerian fiction writer who won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for the Africa region with his collection of short stories. He has conducted workshops in creative writing, including the Cropper Foundation Workshop in Trinidad. He is also one of the directors of the OCM Bocas Caribbean Book Festival and Awards. He is the dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the UWI, St Augustine, and has researched and published extensively in his field. Gibbons is a lecturer at the Centre for Creative and Festival Arts at the UWI, St Augustine, Trinidad. He has conducted extensive research in theatre, drama, and the arts of carnival.

Additionally, he is the president of CaribNet, a regional network of Caribbean artists and dramatists. He is one of the leading dramatists in Trinidad and the Caribbean; and has written and directed several plays, including OgunIaan (as in Pan), I La Wa, and The Calypso Trilogy. He is the chief examiner for the CXC Theatre Arts programme.

The winners will be announced at the awards presentation ceremony on September 1, 2011 in the Savannah Suite of the Pegasus Hotel. The ceremony begins at 19:00h, and the public is invited.

The Guyana Prize for Literature has been giving recognition to 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 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.