Following reports of plagiarism being discovered in entries for The Guyana Annual, management of the magazine is assuring the public of the integrity of the winners.
In a statement released yesterday, the magazine’s management committee stated that it wished to “clarify some misconceptions” that may have been created by an article published on Tuesday by The Guyana Times, which reported that the magazine’s launch would be postponed because of certain findings during the judging process.
“Although instances of plagiarism and lack of proper citation of sources were discovered in a few entries submitted to the Guyana Annual Magazine 2018, NONE of these entries was awarded any prizes. [Therefore], all the winning entries that were announced on the Guyana Annual’s Official Facebook Page on April 16th, 2018 were verified as being original pieces with proper citations and references,” the committee assured, reminding that the competition rules explicitly stated that all entries must be “original work, unpublished and unproduced” and “verifiable if necessary.”
“…We, the 2018 committee are extremely excited about this edition of the magazine and the quality of the entries. We hope that many of the young writers, budding journalists, poets and artists will be encouraged to pursue future literary, art and editorial careers, contributing to the strong cultural and social legacy of Guyana,” the release further stated.
It was explained that the magazine’s launch was postponed due to two factors—the need for extensive verification of the entries received, and the fact that the deadline for entries had been extended from November, 2017 to January, 2018.
The release related that there was a need for the extension of the initial deadline not only to allow more entries, especially from outlying regions, but also because of a lack of sponsorship of the publication, which the statement pointed out is almost entirely supported by benefactor Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh.
The magazine is scheduled to be launched on May 24th, 2018 to coincide with Guyana’s Independence celebration.
The Guyana Annual last year relaunched the competition aspect of the publication, requesting entries in 11 categories covering short story writing, poetry, cartooning, visual arts, photography, journalism and essay writing.
The announced winners in the various categories are:
The Bobby Fernandes Award for Photography:
First Place- Amanda Richards, “Boats at Ogle”
Second Place- Dwayne Hackett, “Madbull, Run”
Third Place- Jarryl Bryan, “Fishing Boat at Ogle”
Stephanie Correia Award for Visual Arts
First Place- Jermana DeFreitas, “Reminisce”
Second Place- Jermana DeFreitas, “The Last Light”
Third Place- Walter Gobin, “The Drummers”
Hawley Harris Cartoon Award
Honourable Mentions-
Walter Gobin, “2017 VAT”
Chabilall Seupaul, “Big Mouth”
David de Caires Award for Journalism
Honourable Mention-Lucas Jonas
The Sheila King Short Stories for Children
First Place- Kathleen Henriquo, “Kerrilee and the Lucky Pen”
Second Place- David Thomas, “The Spider’s Big Decision”
Third Place- Adelaja Kayode-Dalrymple, “We Two”
Junior Poetry
First Place- Hadiya McLean, “Waves of Ancestry”
Second Place- Brianna Gopie, “The True Guyana”
Third Place- Abiké Barker, “Dungeon”
Open Poetry
First Place- Scott Ting-A-Kee, “The Scandal of O Tye Kim”
Second Place- Francis Q. Farrier, “We are older now”
Third Place- Gabrielle E. Mohamed, “Ayl (Oil) Massa”
Junior Short Story
First Place- Analise Symia Samaroo, “A Bed of Roses”
Honourable Mention- Lucas Jonas, “Ol’ Higue”
Open Short Story
First Place- Andrew Hutson, “De Gaff”
Second Place- Rae Wiltshire, “Me Fuss Fineral”
Third Place- Malcolm De Freitas, “Losing De Head”
The Bertram Charles Prize for Drama
First Place- Rae Wiltshire, “Creative Burying Ground”
Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh Oil and Gas Essay competition
First Place- Omari Joseph, “Be Wise…Be Wary…Be United”
Third Place- Vishani Ragobeer, “Scoring Black Gold: A Pyrrhic Victory?”
Honourable Mention- Joenitta Arthur-McKenzie, “Expectations, Environmental Impact, Resource Curse”
