Latest update May 13th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 03, 2015 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
It is bewildering that the PPPC administration continued with the Guyana Prize for Literature. There seemed no plausible reason why the Prize should have been continued to upkeep the tradition of the Prize which in chronological terms had a short history in 1992 when the PPP took office.
The Guyana Prize for Literature was established with two objectives in mind. Firstly, it was intended to give focus and recognition to Guyanese writers at home and abroad. Secondly, it was intended to stimulate creative writing. It has never served either of these objectives. Instead, it has become an unnecessary and controversial sideshow so that the government can boast that it is doing something for the arts.
A Prize can only call attention to the works of Guyanese writers if the prize allows for their works to meet a wider audience. In order for the Guyana Prize for Literature to do so, it needed to be branded as a major literary award. This was however, always going to be difficult for a Guyana Prize becoming a major literary brand considering that Guyana is a small country with limited readership. Even with writers from the Diaspora involved, the number of works competing for the award was always going to be limited.
There is always a plus side to attempting to give focus and recognition to literary works. That plus side is increased sales and interest in the literary works. When the Man Booker Prize or the Pulitzer Prize winners are announced, the sales of the winning books increase and the awardees attract increased international fame. That has never happened with the works of Guyana Prize for Literature.
The Guyana Prize for Literature has also failed to promote creative writing by Guyanese. The award has never provided a significant stimulus for writing. Indeed, the argument has long been made that prizes are never the stimulus for writing. Writers do not write with a prize in mind but write because they have something to say or for the love of writing.
As such, an award can only incidentally stimulate creative writing. This is where the second objective of the Guyana Prize for Literature is wholly misplaced. Whoever came up with this idea that an award can stimulate creative writing obviously was thinking about an essay competition and not a Literature Prize.
The Guyana Prize for Literature has failed to achieve any of its objectives and it should be discontinued. It is a waste of money. The same funds could be used to provide access for Guyanese writers who have little outlets for publication.
The greatest constraint faced by local writers is the challenge of having your work published. If any government in Guyana wants to stimulate creative or any other form of writing, it would be better advised to provide avenues for publication.
The Caribbean Press holds out great promise for this objective. The funds used for the Guyana Prize for Literature can be used, for example, to either revive Kyk-Over-Al or to create some new journal that would provide access to local writers in all the genres including short story and academic papers.
Local writers are hamstrung by the lack of local publications or presses in which they can have their material published. If under the aegis of the Caribbean Press, greater opportunities can be provided for local writers and academics to have their works and research published; it would stimulate local writing both creative and creative.
It is time to disband the Guyana Prize for Literature. Over its many years of existence it has failed to achieve its objectives. It is not an internationally literary award and does nothing for the awardees. In fact a counter argument can be made: it is the prestige of these writers that adds credibility to the Guyana Prize.
The Guyana prize for Literature has equally not stimulated local creative writing. Those who won the prize would have written anyway. There are better ways to stimulate creative writing than through a Prize.
That the PPP continues with this prize is a disservice to the use of national resources.
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