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Journalist highlights injustices in the Guyana Prize

Dec 04, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
I intentionally waited until the completion of The Guyana Prize for Literature Awards Presentation Ceremony that was held last Sunday at the Pegasus Hotel to pontificate, on what I believe are egregious shortcomings of the Prize.  My reason for waiting until the release of the shortlist and completion of Awards Ceremony was deliberately aimed at attempting to prevent and minimise at least, any accusation of the proverbial “sour grapes” situation after not being shortlisted for the Prize in the ‘First Book of Poetry Category’.
I wanted those who made the shortlist and received prizes to enjoy their rewards unhindered.  In that regard, I want to take this opportunity to publicly offer my congratulations to all winners of the 2015 Guyana Prize for Literature.  However, Mr. Editor, it would be remiss of me to not highlight an irrefutable situation that defies logic.  I received an ‘Honorable Mention’ from the Guyana Prize in 2007 in the ‘First Book of Poetry’ Category for my book “Twilight Dreams: In Memory of Dan Sealy”.   The judges that year offered sufficient reasons for not having a shortlist.
Suffice it to say that I took that information in good faith and participated in several workshops that the Prize subsequently hosted to perfect my work; having done so over a period of time, I engaged Mr. Al Creighton, who advised that I can resubmit the edited work to the jury of the Guyana Prize. I did so in 2013 and this year. On both occasions my work failed to make the shortlist.  The obvious question here, Mr. Editor, is having received an Honorable Mention in 2007, and having participated in the prescribed methods of the Prize to strengthen the literary landscape, how is it my work was not good enough to be shortlisted?  Are we saying, therefore, that the training and workshops of the Guyana Prize are flawed mechanisms or merely a facade aimed at evading criticism for not fostering literary development?
I believe these questions and more are what were at the centre of a Kaieteur News article that accused the Prize of “perceived biases in the Shortlists”. Mr. Creighton has since come to the defense of the sanctity of the Prize, but I believe his missive did very little to quell the cries of writers, who believe an injustice was done.
Edison Jefford
Journalist/Literature graduate- UG

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