Dear Editor,
Now that my latest publication Biographical Dictionary of Guyana – a first in the English-speaking Caribbean – has been published, I have started to gather information for a fifth edition of the Bibliography of Guyana and Guyanese Writers due to be out early next year in 2023. A bibliography is a mirror that reflects the culture, character and current interest of a country. It provides a continuing resource for reference and learning and is invaluable for anyone who would want to know more about Guyana and Guyanese authors’ contribution to the world of knowledge. Showcasing such accomplishments helps in national development, enriches the literary landscape of Guyana and is important to recording and preserving Guyana’s intellectual property.
The fourth edition was done in 2015 and was over 300 pages capturing material published up to 2014 both in Guyana and around the globe. Its Foreword was done by the late iconic and prolific author Professor Jan Carew who wrote a glowing praise for that edition which contained almost 3,000 titles, well over 1,500 authors, and comprehensively organized into an Index and three Appendices. Indeed, it was a broad-based bibliographical reference showcasing the range of books, films, and documentaries on Guyana and by Guyanese on a range of other areas categorized into 74 subjects. Quite a number of researchers, reference libraries and universities acquired copies. The upcoming fifth edition will build on this and will be even bigger to capture both traditional published material and those brought about through the explosion of internet, co-publishing, and self-publishing efforts.
If you have any publications of your own or know of any documentary, film, theatrical play, musical, and books on Guyana or on any other subjects by a Guyanese author (living or deceased) including self-published material, please send me the author’s name, title of material, year of publication, publishing house, and place where published. Works edited and contributions of chapters or sections are also welcome. Do spread the word and circulate this request to your network in order to widen the net to capture as much material as possible.
Thanks,
Lal Balkaran
Author
Em: lalbalkaran@rogers.com
Tel: 416-451-6075
