The Caribbean Writer is pleased to announce the prize winners for its Volume 34 edition under the theme: Dignity, Power and Place in the Caribbean Space. Winners in the various categories are:
The Daily News Prize to an author of fiction or an essay from the British Virgin Islands or the U.S. Virgin Islands goes to Carmelo Rivera for “About My Identity Journey,” one in a series of essays about identity and growing up. Rivera is a graduate of the University of the Virgin Islands and of State University of New York at Albany. He was born on the island of Vieques and raised on St. Croix from primary school to college. He is currently a human resources professional residing part-time in Florida.
The Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for best short fiction goes to Eugenia O’Neil for “Harold Varlack’s Return.” She is the author of two novels “Jessamine” and “Jamaica Dreaming” as well as works of non-fiction, including “Black Voices” and “From the Field to the Legislature.” A Tortolan, O’Neil resides in Grenada.
“Occasional Moonlight” by Sara Lynn Burnett and “Gringo Pobre” by Rafael Gamero were also shortlisted for this prize.
The Marvin E. Williams Literary Prize for a new or emerging writer goes to Nathalie G.S. Corthésy for “The Helper Experiment.” Corthésy has been published in The Daily Gleaner, The Carimac Times and most recently in The Caribbean Writer Volume 33 (2019). She is a Calabash International Literary Festival Poetry Workshop fellow. Her first collection of poems is “Fried Green Plantains,” Nasara Publishing, 2017. Corthésy lives and works in Kingston as a lecturer at The University of the West Indies, Mona.
“Ananci” by Chike Bukka Roots Pilgrim and “The Returned (Los Cocolos)” by Althea Romeo Mark were also shortlisted for this prize.
The Cecile de Jongh Literary Prize to a Caribbean author whose work best expresses the spirit of the Caribbean goes to Rajiv Ramkhalawan for “An Unkept Heart.” Ramkhalawan was awarded a Gold Key Award (2006) from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for “Where the Caribbean Imagination Embraces the World,” a collection of prose and poetry. He is a Trinidadian and is a practicing attorney-at-law currently writing his first novel.
“Diaspora Darling” by Latoya S. Smith and “Spinner” by C. Andie Davis were also shortlisted for this prize.
The Vincent Cooper Literary Prize to a Caribbean author for exemplary writing in Caribbean Nation Language (Kamau Brathwaite) goes to Rohan Facey for “Fi We Language.” Facey is a multiple-award winning poet, songwriter and playwright. He has won a number of awards for his work; his poems have appeared in The Sunday Gleaner, The Sunday Observer and The Caribbean Writer.
The Caribbean Writer truly appreciates the tremendous support of its prize sponsors. It is evident that their generosity is carving new inroads and casting new futures in literacy and literature within the Virgin Islands, the broader Caribbean and regions beyond.
For more information on The Caribbean Writer, visit www.thecaribbeanwriter.org.
