Guyana Prize for Literature: “Our writers were left without an outlet” – PM on Govt restoring awards

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips hailed the return of the Guyana Prize for Literature, which was held on Friday evening at the National Cultural Centre.
In an invited comment, the Prime Minister said that Government restored the awards after a six-year hiatus, because of the importance of the written word.
“It is unfortunate that for six years, our writers were left without an outlet, a platform, on which they could exercise their talent and be recognised for their self-expression.”
He further explained that “Our Government felt that this was unacceptable, and upon return to office, sought to revive this prestigious programme and return to our local writers the opportunity to hone their craft and expand their horizons through the written word.”

The Prime Minister highlighted the sizeable investment that the Government is making in the industry, including through the creation of the cultural/creative industries grant and a soon-to-be-accredited Institute of Creative Arts to develop the skills of Guyanese creatives.
The senior Government official was also quick to point out that Guyana’s creative industry has untapped potential, citing Dr Letitia Wright as an example of how far Guyanese can go when given the right impetus.
He explained that the Government’s commitment is to “ensure that the future Letitia Wrights, the future Eddie Grants, the future Martin Carters and Edgar Mittelholzers of Guyana are able to realise their potential right here on home soil.”
The Guyana Prize for Literature Awards was organised by the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry.

Notably, Professor Clem Seecharan’s book “Joe Solomon and the Spirit of Port Mourant” was awarded the inaugural non-fiction prize. A youth category was introduced for the first time and young Samir Mohamed won first place in both the Poetry (Male) and Short Story (Male) categories. In both categories, he was named the Best Youth Performer.
Meanwhile, Kimora Payne received the award for Best Short Story (Female) and Zelena Khan received the award for Best Poem (Female).
Elly Niland received the award for the Best First Book of Fiction for her book “Bone Soup and Other Stories”.

Kenneth Puddicombe received the Guyana Prize for Literature Fiction for his piece “Down Independence Boulevard”, which won first place in Fiction. Berkeley Wendell Semple received the Guyana Prize for Literature for the Best Book of Poetry while Rae Wiltshire received the Guyana Prize for Literature for Best Drama Piece.