Arts on Sunday

Guyana is among the culturally fascinating countries where it is possible to have, in the same week, two separate holidays and a spiritual observance sacred to three different religions.

  My Heart Leaps Up (or “The Rainbow”) My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die!

All the processes and events connected to the Guyana Prize for Literature 2023 concluded on May 3, when the curtains closed on the 2024 Literary Festival. 

After a bounty year in 2023, dramatic performances have made a fair appearance so far in 2024. 

Today is the final round of the 2024 Literary Festival of the Guyana Prize for Literature. 

The Guyana Prize for Literature 2023 will be awarded on Friday March 1 in the dedicated Awards Presentation Ceremony at the National Cultural Centre at 7 pm. 

Among the important cultural highlights of 2024 will be the Guyana Prize Literary Festival which is scheduled to take place between Thursday, February 29 and Sunday, March 3. 

Our review of the year 2023 concludes with theatre, more specifically, an analysis of the dramatic plays performed during the year and recognition of the best achievements and performances.

As we continue a review of the Guyanese stage in 2023, the spotlight is turned to focus on the production Nothing to Laugh About. 

India celebrated the 75th anniversary of its Republic Day last week.

Our review of the year 2023, started in these pages last week, found it to have been the best year for the arts in Guyana since COVID and going back for many years. 

The month of January has its origins and owes its name to literature. 

Christmas comes but once a year                                      And everyman must have his share But poor Brother Willy in the jail Drinking sour ginger beer   Ban !

The University of Guyana spent most of the year 2023 celebrating the 60th anniversary of the institution which was founded in 1963, opening its halls to academic instruction on October 1, in that year. 

Today we take the opportunity to revisit the poetry of Edward Alston Cecil Baugh (January 10, 1936 – December 9, 2023), generally known as Eddie Baugh, one of the foremost giants of Caribbean literature in our time. 

It is interesting to read poems by Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who was awarded the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry 2023. 

The Hand That Signed the Paper The hand that signed the paper felled a city; Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath, Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country; These five kings did a king to death.

Howl, howl, howl!  O you are men of stones. Had I your tongues and eyes, I’d use them so That heaven’s vault should crack.

Once upon a time drama and theatre in Guyana were exclusive to the Theatre Guild and vice versa.

The annual performance production Greens and Golds 5 for 2023, under the theme and title “World Dance Tour” enthralled the audience on October 28 last at the Critchlow Labour College.