The Guyana Prize for Literature Literary Festival 2023, which was held last weekend had a number of interesting features. Apart from the Guyana Prize Awards Ceremony, which was the apex event, there was the exhibition of Guyanese Literature mounted by the University of Guyana Library and new inclusions such as the staging of the prize-winning play, Sauda, and the finals of the National Poetry Slam.
In a way, the festival has a slight extension since the play is to be staged again. The National Drama Company will hold a repeat performance of Sauda, directed by Ayanna Waddell and performed by the company, tomorrow. One of the purposes of this is to allow another opportunity for secondary school students to see it.
The National Poetry Slam, under normal circumstances, an annual national competition, was for the first time brought into this festival. Its inclusion was one of the initiatives of Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson, Jnr, and proved quite a success in its new place and venue, where it was accorded recognition in the presentation of literature, while at the same time claiming proximity to Mashramani competitions in the republican celebrations.