The Jury of the Guyana Prize for Literature today released the Shortlists for the 2012 Awards in the various categories of entries.
The release from Al Creighton, Secretary, Management Committee said that the Shortlists and Winners were decided by a Jury comprised of “very distinguished judges, selected by the Guyana Prize Management Committee because of their outstanding credentials in the field of literature as literary critics, academics, literary editors, authors and creative writers.”
The selections in each case are listed in alphabetical order according to the authors.
BEST BOOK OF FICTION
Ruel Johnson – Collected Fictions
A semi-autobiographical collection of short fiction that addresses racial and political tensions, relationships and displacement.
Chaitram Singh – The February 23rd Coup
A fast-paced fictional account of an attempted coup by a group of disaffected Guyanese soldiers.
BEST BOOK OF POETRY
Cassia Alphonso – Black Cake Mix
A collection of evocative poems with a well-realized creole voice.
Ian McDonald – The Comfort of All Things
Elegiac musings by a mature poet on aging and mortality.
Sasenarine Persaud – Lantana Strangling Ixora
Complex, introspective poems with a bitter edge.
BEST DRAMA
Harold Bascom – Deportee
A screenplay for a crime thriller set in New York and Georgetown, involving deportation, narcotrafficking and corruption.
Mosa Mathifa Telford – Sauda
A morality tale about the need for understanding and forgiveness between mothers and daughters, and the difficulties of escaping from a legacy of self-contempt.
BEST FIRST BOOK OF FICTION
Only ONE entry was shortlisted from among those in this category. It will therefore be declared the winner.
BEST FIRST BOOK OF POETRY
No work was considered suitable for a shortlist in this category.
The release said that the winners of the Prize will be announced by the Chairman of the Jury at the Guyana Prize Awards Ceremony to be held on September 15, at 19:00 h. at the Pegasus Hotel. The Awards will be presented to the Winners by President Donald Ramotar. Chair of the Jury Prof Jane Bryce will read the Judges’ Report, the release said.
The shortlist came on the same day that a letter appeared in this newspaper from writer, Ruel Johnson, querying why it had not been released by the given date, among other things.