by Petamber Persaud
The magazine is fittingly juxtaposed between the newspaper and the book. And The Guyana Annual magazine has lived up to its role and expectations, fulfilling its mandate for over 100 years, all of which were portrayed when the 2019 edition of the magazine was launched on Saturday, July 27, 2019, in the Conference Room of the National Library, an institution which is also over 100 years in service to Guyana, ‘empowering the nation through literacy’.
But its existence was fraught with challenges. The longevity of The Guyana Annual magazine rest solely on the fact that the custodians of this publication have never shied away from change and innovation; in fact, change and innovation were embraced with a passion.
Without embracing constant change the magazine could not have survive this long – one hundred and four years and counting, outliving its main rivals like the ‘Caribia’ and ‘The Christmas Tide’, two early literary with sound groundings.
The ‘Christmas Tide’ was produced by the Argosy Company and the ‘Caribia’ by British Guiana Lithographic.
Some of those modifications started as in the early 1930s, only fifteen years after its launch in December 1915. In the year 1932, the magazine was the first to add colour to such publications in the colony. 2019 was scripted for more modifications including the size which was scaled down for more manageable handling and naming various competitions – short stories, writing for children, poetry, photography, visual art, cartoon, and playwriting – in honour of outstanding Guyanese writers and artists. This year, there was also a competition for cover design which was won by Kasy Sookram with an entry entitled ‘I told my Story’. The cover featured Sheila King, read all about her in one of the articles.
Winner’s Row:
A. J. Seymour Prize for Open Short Story:
First prize – ‘Old Mr Greaves’ by Daryll Goodchild; Second prize – “For Sale: 14-Year-Old Soul’ by Akeesha Giddings; and Third Prize – ‘Finding Faith For Tomorrow’ by Omari Joseph.
Mahadai Das Prize for Open Poetry:
First Prize – ‘Her Feat’ by Scott-Ting-A-Kee; Second Prize: Papo’ by Tina Puran; and Third Prize – ‘Heartbreak Sonnet #1’ by Akeesha Giddings.
Pauline Melville Prize for Junior Short Story:
First Prize: ‘Sparrows’ by Analise Samaroo; Second Prize – ‘Love Pon Safety’ by Daniel Dass; and Third Prize – ‘The Attack’ by Naila Rahaman.
Grace Nichols Prize For Junior Poetry:
First Prize – ‘Puppets’ by Brianna Gopie; Second Prize – ‘Ode to My Country’ by Nusaibah Hosein; and Third Prize: ‘Shea’ by Abike Barker;
Sheila King Prize for Short Story for Children:
First Prize – ‘Annie’s Adventure’ by Devi Persaud; Second Prize: ‘Learning is fun’ by Sonia Yarde; and Third Prize: ‘Troubling Alien’ by Kathleen Henriquo.
Bobby Fernandes Prize for Photography:
First Prize – ‘Angel’s Eye’ by Shamar Semple; Second Prize – ‘The Sea and the Sky’ by Aryan Tulsi; and Third Prize – ‘Peace of Mind’ by Chelsia Denny;
Stephanie Correia Prize for Open Visual Art:
First Prize – ‘Amazonian Monarch’ by Raquel Ferreira; Second Prize – ‘Curiosity’ by Addevi Persaud; and Third Prize – ‘‘Daydreaming’ by Kathleen Henriquo;
Bertram Charles Prize for Playwriting:
First Prize – ‘Graveyaard Talez’ by Gabrielle Mohamed;
George Simon Prize For Junior Visual Art:
First Prize: ‘Slow and Steady’ by Dhaniram Beepat; Second Prize – ‘Reflections’ by Ameena Mohamed; and Third Prize – ‘Once Upon a Blue Moon’ by Dhaniram Beepat;
Hawley Harris Prize for Cartoons:
First Prize – ‘Quiero’ by Vishani Ragobeer; Second Prize – ‘No confidence motion’ by Siddharth Ramessar; and Third Prize – ‘Man Eating Shark’ by Josiah Hooper.
There were a handful of entries given honourable mentioned.
Other winners include Ms. Danielle Swain, editor, and the editorial team who did an amazing job of keeping such a tradition alive with an exceptionally conceptualised publication.
The magazine’s focal point, the literary and arts competitions, was buttressed by a number of feature articles including ‘The Last of Sheila’ King: 1922- 2019 by Petamber Persaud, ‘Get Ready Guyana: You are an Oilman’ and ‘The Coin collector’ by Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh, ‘Carnival and Mashramani’ by Mosa Telford, ‘The Front Page’ by Allan A. Fenty, ‘The Skill Drain’ by Terence Holder, ‘Dengue’ a health feature by Nikita Blair, ‘National Drama Company & Carifesta XIV by Subraj Singh. The magazine included also an extensive bookshelf section compiled by Petamber Persaud.
Copies of The Guyana Annual can be had from Guyenterprise, 234 Lance Gibbs & Irving Streets, Queenstown, Georgetown at $1,000 each.
Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: [email protected]
