The 2010 Guyana Prize was the most catastrophic ever

Sep 19, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
Ruel Johnson is the voice in the wilderness protesting the mysteries of the Guyana Prize and now the mysteries of the first Inter-Cultural Festival.
It is fair to ask on what basis the Surinam team was chosen, their qualifications and why others were shunned. Surely the Director of Culture and the Minister of Culture can answer that simple question.
Do they actually know, or care to know, who the qualified people are or do they only know the poseurs that surround them and claim to be practitioners and enablers? I support Ruel’s call to make the qualifications of Guyana’s literary representatives known to the public.
I disagree with something that Ruel wrote (KN, 11 Sept) that the Guyana Prize should be held regularly and not at the whims of the political administration. But on Plain Talk with Christopher Ram, Mr. Creighton casually said that he must take the blame for the missing 2008 Prize as he was too busy with Carifesta.
This tells me that he was given the funds and held on to it for two more years without so much as the courtesy of an explanation or announcement to the public who kept on enquiring about the Prize.
Then was he given another budget for the 2010 Prizes? Incidentally, Mr. Hoyte never said anything about a Caribbean prize. This move is merely to impress Mr. Derek Walcott that we are not so puny as he thinks we are.
We are running ahead to impress Caribbean people while our own writers are sadly neglected and rejected right here. The little so called remedies Mr. Creighton outlines are just drops in the bucket if they materialize at all.
Those same Caribbean people who turn us back from their airports and snatch our people from their beds or their workplaces and crudely deport them. The President should have asked Mr. Walcott about that.
I wish that Mr. Christopher Ram, not being a man in the literary field himself and more versed in economics and law, had prepared better for his show with Ruel and Mr. Creighton. Then he could have asked Creighton some tough questions about the selection of the judges. Who really selects the judges? That is the big question. No aspersion on the judges but clearly there’s more in a mortar than a pestle.
Then Mr. Ram could have asked Mr. Creighton why he withheld the shortlist, and instead of stretching out his legs, smiling smugly and grinning all the time on the show, Mr. Creighton would have been called to account and Ruel would not have been at so much pains to choose his words carefully not to offend the status quo.
The Guyana Prize Committee needs a complete shake-up with broad representation from the public and persons who work in the arts. All the members should not come from UG. This prize is 22 years old and going nowhere. The 2010 Prize was the most catastrophic ever. It has to be reconfigured not to exclude us year after year after year. Mr. Ram should have done his homework better.
And how is it that no citizen who defends Mr. Hoyte’s legacy can step up and ask questions of this closed shop Prize arrangement?
The opposition is only concerned with politics and economics? They should concern themselves with the arts too and ask questions. We the writers are left to the mercy of the Guyana Prize and its visionless management team.
The incoming President must have an advisory board for the arts made up of independent minds apart from the paid officers and those collecting funds for special projects.
This is the 21st century and most areas of the arts in this country are run like petty dictatorships. I wonder if maybe Ruel is right in thinking that this administration puts down its intellectuals.
D. Thorne

Latest News

The 2010 Guyana Prize was the most catastrophic ever

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 14th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Junior Jaguars hold Costa Rica to 2-2 draw, extend unbeaten streak in...

Harpy Eagles, WIA tussle end in draw

Rosignol Secondary dominates Region 5 edition of...

One Guyana Racing Rides with Pegasus Cup Champion...

Kennard Memorial Turf Club to stage traditional...

GBA assembles elite squad for 2025 Caribbean...

Features/Columnists

I don’t remember!

OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus

Bharrat J – another try to redeem a brother

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

The 2010 Guyana Prize was the most catastrophic ever

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 14th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]