Guyana Prize for Literature (2012)
Guyana Prize for Literature 2012
Acceptance Speech, Given on Behalf of the Prize Winners
Your Excellency President Ramotar, Vice-Chancellor, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Dr. Jane Bryce, Members of the Prize Committee, Fellow Prize Winners, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Let me begin by congratulating the prize winners and saluting those who submitted their works for consideration but did not make the final cut.
And now, on behalf of the Prize Winners, I would like to thank President Ramotar for his presence here and for his participation in this ceremony which, of course, makes it very special, but I would also like to thank him for the support his government has been giving to the arts, including support for literature in particular. I hope, and indeed it is my earnest plea, that you will continue to maintain this support and keep it on a regular schedule, preferably an annual one.
To Dr. Bryce, Chief Judge of the competition, please accept our thanks to you and your committee. As one, who has served on a book awards committee, I know that the work can be voluminous and time-consuming, even challenging, and the deliberation agonizing. Please convey to the rest of your colleagues our thanks and appreciation for their work.
To the Prize Committee, for which Ms. Debra Lowe-Thorne and Professor Al Creighton seemed to be its primary interlocutors, I wish to thank you all for the kindnesses and considerations extended to me and to the other prize winners and short-listed individuals.
And now, I am on the clock, as they say. My handlers have given me a time limit and, since I am not running for political office, I am very glad to stick to their schedule.
One reader of my novel, The Flour Convoy, a very well-meaning individual, after confessing how much he had enjoyed the work, asked why I wrote about Guyana, as in why the bother? Were there not more interesting subjects to write about? What can one possibly learn from Guyana? These, at least, were the inferences I drew from the original question and the expression accompanying it.
The social circumstances of the encounter did not permit a lengthy engagement on the subject and, in any case, it was clear to me that the reading of my work was a concession made by someone who had not invested much time on reading beyond the narrowest requirements of the job and, therefore, was not in a position to fully appreciate the value and contribution of literature, regardless of the origin of the writer or the geographic locale that served as the focal point of the work. Continue reading →
While many Guyanese characters express dissatisfaction with the Burnham régime by emigrating abroad, The February 23rd Coup highlights an attempted military coup by members of the Guyana Defense Force on February 23rd 1980. A successful coup would be improbable, since it conflicts with historical accuracy; whereas failure of the coup conveys the truth, as expressed by another American official: “…suffering would continue, and every low-level official would exact, without impunity, bribes and other favors from people too destitute to pay, but too powerless to resist.” (p.246) 
CHAITRAM SINGH 