The Caribbean Writer is pleased to announce the prize winners for Volume 35, which is themed: “Diasporic Rhythms: Interrogating the Past Imagining a Future.” Winners in the various categories are as follows:
The Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for best short fiction goes to Grenadian writer Claude C. Allick for his short story, “The Replacement.” He is the author of a collection of short stories entitled, “Wet Storage,” as well as a novel entitled “Dancing with the Yumawalli.”
(“Truths About Coconuts,” by Dominican Author Yakima Cuffy and “Pies for Lunch” by Trinidadian/Canadian author Priya Ramsingh were also shortlisted for this prize.)
The Marvin E. Williams Literary Prize for a new or emerging writer goes to author Elaine Jacobs for “Going Away Without Shoes.” Born in Antigua, Jacobs has spent most of her life in the Virgin Islands where she currently resides. She has taught at UVI as well as multiple grades in the public school system of the U.S. Virgin Islands before her retirement in 2017. Her work has appeared in The Caribbean Writer, The Antigua Review, Mid-Atlantic Foundation, Sea Breeze Journal of Liberian Writings, and Talk That Talk: An Anthology of African American Storytelling. She is the co-author of “All This is Love: A Collection of Virgin Islands Poetry, Fiction and Art”
(“Beloved Country” by St. Lucian Poet McDonald Dixon, “A Muted Conversation Between Races and Social Injustice” by Virgin Islands Poet Clarissa Gillard, “Caribbean Blues” by David O’keefe, and “Not Ordinary Days” by Jamaican Poet Rohan Facey were also shortlisted for this prize.)
The Cecile de Jongh Literary Prize went to Alicia Valasse, a Caribbean author whose work best expresses the spirit of the Caribbean, for “Castor Oil Seeds.” Valasse is a St. Lucian writer whose work has been published in anthologies, journals and magazines such as: Moko, Cordite Poetry Review, The Caribbean Writer, Harlequin Magazine, Poui, Journal of Creative Writing among others.
(“My Girl Friend Cuts My Hair” by Vincentian British author Alexis Keir and “A Quieter Joy” by Brazilian British author Chris Rogers 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 Dominican, Barbadian American author Sherese Francis for “SomNuh/Mbulist (Patois Possession).” Francis is a poet, editor, interdisciplinary artist and workshop facilitator. Much of Francis’ work involves word play and working with the fluidity and etymology of languages to excavate buried histories and stories. She has published in anthologies and journals such as: Furious Flower, Obsidian Lit, Root Work Journal, The Operating System, African Voices, The Pierian Literary Review and others. Her artwork has been featured in the Lit Exhibit, NY Live Arts, Queens Library and other venues.
(“No Soy de Aqui, Ni de Alla” by Essah Cozett Diaz was also shortlisted for this prize.)
The Caribbean Writer truly appreciates the tremendous support of its prize sponsors. Board members for this edition are: UVI authors and professors Patricia Harkins-Pierre and Valarie Combie as well as St. Lucian author John Robert Lee and Jackson State University author and professor Lomarsh Roopnarine. The editor in chief is Alscess Lewis-Brown.
The Caribbean Writer 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. Prize winners are identified by our board members. The Daily News Prize for an author of fiction or essay residing in the USVI or BVI was not awarded this year; however, we hope that next year, more residents of the BVI and the USVI will vie for this longstanding annual prize for fiction and essay writing.
For more information on The Caribbean Writer, visit www.thecaribbeanwriter.org. The board extend an open invitation to new prize sponsors.
