THE 2017 JUDGES for the 20th Annual Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Award were DeCarla Applewhaite, Professor Jane Bryce, Ayesha Gibson-Gill, Dana Gilkes, Christine Matthews, Professor Mark McWatt, Esther Phillips, Chairman Antonio “Boo” Rudder, and Andy Taitt. The following is what they had to say about this year’s awardees:
Honourable Mention
“Every so often a manuscript comes along that shows tremendous promise but doesn’t quite make it to an award; this year in this category we want to give an honourable mention to a novella which struck the judges for its ambitious attempt to play with form. It’s rare that an entry spans dream, surreal episodes, magical elements, encounters with the self, dialogue and dramatic monologue, and we commend this entry for the way it plays with all these, as well as for the quality of its writing. The honourable mention is for The Ups and Downs of Dessa Darling by Amanda Haynes.”
The Prime Minister’s Award
“The Prime Minister’s Award is given to an entry that presents Barbados in a new, unexpected or unusual light; something that makes us at least pause and wonder, ‘What is this Barbados? Who are we people who call ourselves Bajans?'
“The award goes to a coming-of-age story told by a young girl dreading [the] Eleven Plus [secondary school Common Entrance exam], an event made even more difficult with looking after a sister who is really a cousin; a white man living under a lime tree, an unusual man who no longer wants to live in sin with his girlfriend; a headmistress who says there are no duncy children; and the void surrounding a girl who disappears. This tale we shouldn’t find strange [in] that [it] lifts another corner of the veil between who we are and who we think we are, continually asking us to account for our behaviour.
“For Getting Back at Jack Taylor, Shakirah Bourne.”
Frank Collymore Literary Award, Third Prize
“Third Prize goes to a collection of twenty-eight poems shaped by ritual and the power of performance. Focusing on aspects of femininity, including vulnerability, relationship and ancestral memory, they aim to bridge the oral and the literary. For the very intriguingly named Her Bald Head Luminous, Sonia S. Williams.”
Frank Collymore Literary Award, Second Prize
“Disappointingly, the judges felt unable to award…First Prize this year and this always feels very Naipaulian. Second Prize, however, goes to a collection of stories. Though the individual stories are not equally successful, the judges were particularly impressed by the opening story, ‘The Plundering,’ a piece of dystopian speculative fiction that considers the legacy of slavery in contemporary [Barbadian] life. Stylistically the writing is not as interesting as the variety of topics and genres, including letters, the use of a child’s point of view and the point of view of an elderly person losing her memory, as well as slavery as a context for some of the stories. The judges are very pleased to award Second Prize in the Frank Collymore Award 2017 to The Plundering by Heather Barker.”
All awardees received trophies. Heather Barker and Sonia Williams took home $7500.00 and $5000.00, respectively, as part of their prize.
The order changeth in 2018, with a new chair and a new lineup for the Frank Collymore Literary Endowment committee: DeCarla Applewhaite, Ayesha Gibson-Gill, Dana Gilkes, Dr Nicole Hunte, Dr Karen Lord, Chairperson Esther Phillips, Andy Taitt, and Dr Yvonne Weekes.
