Bharrat Jagdeo which in less than a decade of operation published over seventy Guyanese titles of rare books and contemporary writing. The situation for publishing has changed but not significantly to effect a shift from self-publishing. In fact, the digital age has enhanced self-publishing. Other enabling features of this emerging literature could be found in the upsurge in formation of literary organizations, founding of literary magazines, publications of anthologies, offering of prizes, recognition of women writers and the opening of performance venues.
included estrangement and the quest for harmony which were dealt with by writers like Jan Shinebourne, Sasenarine Persaud, Harischandra Khemraj, Grace Nichols, Roy Heath and Narmala Shewcharan, among others.
Prizes
The Guyana Prize for Literature initiated by the late President Desmond Hoyte in 1987 was another defining moment in our literary heritage. Some recent winners like Ruel Johnson, Subraj Singh, Ryhaan Shah and a few writers like Oonya Kempadoo will be a force to be reckoned with in the near and not too distant future.
Organizations
In due time, the liberation of the imagination in our writers was harnessed and streamlined with the formation of organizations like the PEN - Guyana Writers Group, the Annandale Group of Writers, the Pavements Poets and the Messenger Group. The Culture Corp of the Guyana National Service also played a role in producing writers imbued with political and nationalistic fervour; much of what was published did not stand the test of time. Mahadai Das was perhaps the Corp’s best known poetess. Later, in the new millennium, many other literary organizations like the Association of Guyanese Writers and Artists, Janus, and Writers in Concert (WICK) were birthed. As time went by, the convergence of writers through those organizations extended the debate/ discussion on current issues to include a wide cross section of society for whom the writers were supplying new words/phrases to address new experiences. New experiences of this era
of Local Indian Verse’ edited by C. E. J. Ramcharitar-Lalla (1934) and ‘They Came In Ships’, An Anthology of Indo-Guyanese Prose and Poetry, selected by Lloyd Searwar, Ian McDonald, Laxhmie Kallicharan, and Joel Benjamin, published in 1988.
Magazines
Magazines like Kaie, Kyk-overAl, New World, Dawn, Heritage, Plexus, Expression, the Arts Journal and the Guyana Annual offered intermediate avenues for showcasing emerging writers and some were responsible for launching the career of many writers who have gone on to international recognition. In the new millennium, the Guyana Entertainment Magazine (GEM) came on stream and is worthy of mention here due to some space provided for book reviews over the years and it has now introduced ‘a literary corner’.
Anthologies
Anthologies acted as yardsticks to the nation’s literary development and as bookkeepers of the nation’s invaluable literary heritage. Some prominent anthologies included ‘Guianese Poetry’, edited by N. E. Cameron (1931), ‘An Anthology
(The Jagan G old Me da l for Literature offered during 1961 to 1964 by Dr. Cheddi Jagan, first Premier of British Guiana, is worthy of note in this section.)
Performance venues
C ar i b b e an Fe s t i v a l of A r t s (Carifesta) founded by the late President Forbes Burnham added a new major performance venue, the National Cultural Centre, to existing ones created by various forms of the performing arts, and poetry reading. The Theatre Guild founded in 1957 was for decades the major performance venue.
The Indigenous Voice
The indigenous voice which was stifled for a long while starting s u p p l y i n g n e w nu a n c e s t o mainstream literature as it became ‘A Merry Indian No More’. See the encroachment of the environment, its beauty, its destruction, and its recovery in the poetry of David Campbell, Basil Rodrigues and Edwina Melville. (The prose of
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