The Caribbean Press on Friday launched 15 new Guyana Classics books at the Umana Yana, bringing the total number of works in the collection to 75.
The new books represent a collection of works on Guyana’s history and literature penned by Guyanese novelists and poets. It was officially launched by Professor David Dabydeen.
Professor Al Creighton, in his remarks at the launch, stated that the volumes launched also mark the debut of published works of contemporary Guyanese writers. “We are now seeing another side of Guyanese literature that has come out in the writing of writers we have never known before,” he said.
The books added to the Guyana Classics collection include: The Ldyll and the Warrior (Recollections of Edgar Mittleholzer) by Jacqueline Mittleholzer; Collected Poems (1937-1989) by A. J Seymour; Beacons of Excellence: the Edgar Mittleholzer memorial lectures (1967-2013) volumes 1, 2, and 3; Volumes 2 and 3 of the National Assembly Speeches by Forbes Burnham; Reaching for the Stars—The life of Yesu Persaud by Dr. Yesu Persaud; Bitter by Portia Dodson; Twenty-five Poems by Guyanese Children—Edited by Rev. Gideon Cecil; Heads and Tails by Pearl Lewis; The Hinterlands by Stanley Niamatali; Duenne by Paloma Mohamed; the Anthology of Contemporary Guyanese Verse Volume 1, which includes the works of 21 Guyanese writers—Edited by Petamber Persaud; and My father’s Wish by Andrew D.O. Hutson.
Some of the writers were present at the launch and they were given a few minutes to read excerpts from their novels and poems before copies were handed over to different institutions as legal deposits. Copies were presented to the National Library, the National Archives, the Parliament of Guyana, The University of Guyana, the Caricom Library, the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), the Bishops’ High School and Queen’s College.
