Guyana Prize for Literature winners to be named on March 1

…as Ministry reveals shortlisted candidates

The Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry on Saturday announced the shortlisted candidates for the coveted Guyana Prize for Literature 2023 awards.
The competition is divided into four categories – Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Non-Fiction. According to the Ministry, the winners in each group will be announced at the Awards Ceremony set for Friday, March 1, 2024 at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown.
In Fiction, the shortlisted candidates are: Michael Jordan for The Girl in the Pink Pleated Skirt; Somnauth Narine for Rage from the Backwaters; Kenneth Puddicombe for Racing with the Rain; and Kennard Ramphal for Slippery Ochro.
Shortlisted in the Non-Fiction category are: Esterine GH Adams for The Few Among the Many: Women’s Labour in British Guiana’s Jails, 1838-1917; Daniella Chase for Becoming Bolder with Every Step; Daizal R Samad and Ashwannie Harrispersaud for A History of Guyanese Words and Expressions; and Joanne Collins-Gonsalves for Iris De Freitas Brazoo: Legal Luminary and Trailblazer.
In the Poetry category, there are two sub-categories. For Best First Book of Poetry, the shortlisted candidates are Ruth Osman for All Made of Longing and Makeda Braithwaite for Go Fish: Go in the Pack. The Best Overall Book of Poetry nominees are Sasenarine Persaud’s Mattress Makers and Ian McDonald’s Not Quite Without a Moon.
In Drama, Jamal La Rose is shortlisted for his piece “Requiem for the Living”; Shaphan A Hestick for “With a Kiss”; and Harold A Bascom for “Unfounded”.
There are also categories for young shortlisted candidates.
In Poetry (Male and Female), they are: Samir Mohammed for Shadows in the Sand; Reneka Anand for Lotus Flower Story; The Woman’; Angel Moore for Yellow Cheese Pencil for a Vegan Artist (Untold Stories of An Artist); Mya Sanders for Pitch Black; and Italy Ton Chung for The Paradox of Youth.
The candidates for Short Story (Male and Female) are: Malachi Fyffe for “Reinvention”; Samir Mohammed for “The Lighthouse at the Bottom of the Sea”; Cianna Barkoye for “February The Fifth”; and Kemilah Hodge for “Plucking the Chrysanthemum”.
These shortlisted candidates were selected by a jury in each of the four categories.
The members of the jury for 2023 are: Professor Funso Aiyejina (Chair), Celeste Mohamed, and Dr Denise de Caires Narain Gurnah (Fiction); Professor Edward Greene (Chair), Professor David Dabydeen, and Dr Lisa Outar (Non-Fiction); Professor Evelyn O’Callaghan (Chair), Professor Alison Donnell, and Dr Richard Georges for the Poetry category and Rawle Gibbons (Chair), Eugene Williams, and Gem Madhoo-Nascimento for Drama.
Vanda Radzik (Chair), Camanie Khedaroo, and Imam Baksh are the jury members for both the Youth Poetry and the Youth Short Story categories.
After a six-year hiatus, the Guyana Prize for Literature was restored by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government in 2022 with new categories, features, and prizes.
Originally introduced in 1987 by late President Desmond Hoyte, the Prize was halted under the People’s National Congress (PNC)-led A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition’s term in office from 2015 to 2020.
At the first award ceremony in February 2023 following the return of the Prize, Prime Minister, Brigadier (Retired) Mark Phillips underscored 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 said.
He further explained, “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.”
Pointing to the untapped potential in Guyana’s creative industry, the Prime Minister noted that the Guyana Government was making sizeable investments in the sector including through the creation of the cultural/creative industries grants and a soon-to-be-accredited Institute of Creative Arts to develop the skills of Guyanese creatives.
The Prize winners last year were Professor Clem Seecharan for his book Joe Solomon and the Spirit of Port Mourant for non-fiction; Kenneth Puddicombe for Down Independence Boulevard for fiction; Berkeley Wendell Semple for the Best Book of Poetry; and Rae Wiltshire for the Best Drama.
In the youth category, Samir Mohamed won first place in both the Poetry (Male) and Short Story (Male) categories. Meanwhile, Kimora Payne received the award for Best Short Story (Female) and Zelena Khan received the award for Best Poem (Female). Elly Niland won for the Best First Book of Fiction for her book Bone Soup and Other Stories. (G8)