Latest update February 10th, 2025 5:23 AM
Culture Minister answers questions on Caribbean Press
Dr. Frank Anthony
By Kiana Wilburg
“The (Caribbean) Press has no fixed entity or physical set up that one can simply walk into. The Caribbean Press is a nonprofit organization. Though there is no fixed place for the Press at the moment, the work of writers is emailed from the Ministry of Culture to Dr. Dabydeen who is the editor and current manager of the Press. Dabydeen along with a panel of other writers review the work sent and after editing they would make contact with the author , informing him or her if anything else needs to be added and when publishing would take place.”
This was Dr. Frank Anthony’s response to the question, “Where is the Caribbean Press?”
It was one of the many questions put to the Minister by members of the public regarding the Caribbean Press.
In a candid interview with this publication yesterday, the Minister of Culture Youth and Sport explained that at this point in time they are “even short of staff.” “Everything that is being done for the Caribbean Press is done voluntarily. No one gets paid and it should be noted that it is funded by the government.”
The Minister disclosed that 60 books have been published by the press, 36 of which have been distributed to schools, libraries and at Austin Book Store; a list of these books will be provided as soon as possible.
He added, “We are now working on parliamentary speeches and we are also encouraging publications from young writers.”
Minister Anthony explained, “Anyone that wants to contact the Caribbean Press can do so via two ways; one, by simply emailing Dr. Dabydeen and his email address can be found on the press’s website www.caribbeanpress.org or just forward your work to the Ministry of Culture and it will be sent to Dr. Dabydeen.”
One of the questions asked to the minister was, ‘Are writers informed when their work is ready for publication and is there any signed document between the writer and the press to show that the writer’s permission was given for the work to be published?”
To this, Dr. Anthony explained “About two years ago, myself along with others met with some young writers of Guyana. During that time we explained that we have no money to give them for their work and it was agreed that at least they would be able to get their stories and poems published. Mr. Pitamber Persaud, who worked along with the young writers, was responsible for getting their consent. Now what is supposed to happen, is that we normally have a discussion and once permission is given, the work is then sent to Dabydeen and others for editing. Once they are ready to go ahead with publishing, the author would be contacted and a document would be given to the writer to sign. This serves to solidify the agreement. This is the procedure and this is what must be done. With regard to Ruel Johnson’s contention about his work and the work of others being published without their knowledge. I have asked about this but I haven’t gotten word as yet. However, when this meeting with the young writers occurred, Mr. Pitamber Persaud was responsible for ensuring that they signed a document confirming their permission.”
In addition, “I also wish to reiterate that it was agreed that no money will be made by the writers when their work is published. For each publication, only 400 copies are made and most of them are given to the schools and libraries and the rest are given to Austin’s Book Services. The proceeds of that sale would go back to the funding of the press and even that is a negligible amount of money.”
The Minister was then asked to give his comments on the accusations of there being an obvious mismanagement of the Press and its funding. He explained, “We have received money and we have accounted for it, and on this basis I don’t see how this can even be a fair accusation. We have received money from the government and we have 60 books to show for the money thus far. This has never been done and it should be seen as an achievement. There is no publishing company in Guyana that does this. It is remarkable that over the past three years we have been able to get 60 books published but instead we are attacked. We will only take constructive criticisms and try to improve as such.”
The Minister also expressed, “The management of the Caribbean Press is done by Dr. Dabydeen. I won’t be able to say who has been published in the recent anthology or what poems or stories it consists of because I am not in charge of its day to day management. That is done by Dabydeen and a number of other people.”
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