Central Bank of Barbados Governor Cleviston Haynes with top 2019 Frank Collymore Literary Award winner Sharma Taylor (second from left) beside sister awardees Claudia Clarke and Sarah Venable. Photo Copyright © 2020 courtesy of the Central Bank of Barbados.
THE 2019 FRANK COLLYMORE LITERARY AWARDS were presented on January 11, 2020, at Frank Collymore Hall. From a number of new voices on the scene to a first place winner in short story—the first time since 2002—there were many pleasant and promising surprises. This year's judges were De Carla Applewhaite, Ayesha Gibson-Gill, Dana Gilkes, Nicola Hunte, Dr Karen Lord, Dr Philip Nanton, Samuel Soyer, Andy Taitt, Dr Yvonne Weekes, and Esther Phillips. Here’s what they had to say about the manuscripts they considered for Barbados' most lucrative literary prize for unpublished work.
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"...[W]e saw a significant increase over last year from forty-four entries to seventy. While we would be happy to see high numbers every year, we believe these fluctuations in numbers to be normal. What we’re very sure of is that we encourage you to keep writing and sending in your work to the competition.
"Of the seventy entries to the competition this year, thirty-two were poetry, twenty-two fiction, eight non-fiction, and eight drama. Several scripts were eliminated early in the competition because the work submitted was not substantial enough for us to make a reasonable assessment. Let me point out that finalists are invariably those who submit a wide enough range of work that allows judges to gauge the true quality of the writing.
"For the most part, the short fiction entries showed a reasonably good understanding of character, plot and dialogue. The novellas, entertaining and insightful as they were in some parts, suffered mostly from lack of a central plot or theme presenting the work as a unified whole.
"As usual, the poetry revealed genuine emotion, whether of love or loss or joys of nature, grappling with personal identity or social issues. One of this genre’s most powerful qualities, however, is the way in which it hits the ear. For the most part, the poetry submitted read too much like prose simply separated into lines. How to find the right fusion of feeling, language (including image, metaphor or other poetic devices), rhythm or meter is crucial.
"While there is a growing interest in speculative fiction, and while this kind of writing allows for the futuristic and the fantastic, it is felt that the work must still be grounded enough in the kind of emotional, motivational and psychological reality that entices the reader to willingly suspend disbelief. A competent handling of language is essential as well.
"While attempting to present real-life issues, the drama pieces often suffered from an insufficient knowledge of the practical aspects required to stage a play. The matter of motivation in the development of character and situation seemed particularly problematic.
"...[I]t should be evident that the FCLE sees itself as a viable body in the transmission, dispersion and archiving of literature produced right here in Barbados. While the FCLE will never tell people what to write, I am personally gratified to see that individuals are becoming more and more confident that our own life in the Caribbean is worth writing about. The so-called American novel, for example, is rooted in American values, norms, cultures, traditions, histories and linguistics. We, too, must see the value of recording our own authentic Caribbean experience. We need have no fear of parochialism, since every experience we write about, from the stand-pipe or rum-shop to the corporate offices or the heights and terraces, derives from the universal experience of human complexity and struggle to which we are all subject.
"It is not only the content of your work, however, that the committee evaluates, but we look for qualities such as maturity of thought, mastery of style and language, the intuitive understanding of how speech must be adapted to character and situation; how well, perhaps, you are able to manipulate the use of humour, irony or satire to good effect. In short, how skillfully you handle the demands of your particular genre. We do see some of these qualities in some of the work we evaluate, and look forward to seeing their greater development over time."
from the Chairperson of the Committee, Esther Phillips
Frank Collymore Literary Award, First Prize: Hollow Calabash by Sharma Taylor
Sharma’s short stories are driven by compelling and vivid characters who are trying to reclaim things they have lost or to fill the emptiness inside. They may be broken familial ties, failed romantic relationships or missed opportunities. Her characters grapple convincingly with loss and try to navigate the struggles of daily life, attempting to fulfill their most cherished desires. This outstanding collection, written predominantly in Jamaican dialect, offers novel storytelling angles, is easy to read, and was found to be, in the words of one judge, “unputdownable.” Please see here for a story from the collection, and also Jhohadli for this Q&A with Sharma Taylor by Antiguan and Barbudan author Joanne C. Hillhouse.
Frank Collymore Literary Award, Second Prize: CircleSquare by Claudia Clarke
As may be inferred from one of the Homeowners Association memos, several neighbourhood problems arise as a consequence of everyday living, a daily bucking of the system, a deep-rooted need to celebrate, reinvent, tailor one’s life to suit one’s self in spite of someone else’s unwelcome sanctions and restrictions. Even in their peculiarities, the characters are highly relatable, the cou-cou well stirred and the steamed flying fish buckled back, as folks contrive to make the most of life in this contrary geometric construct known as CircleSquare.
Frank Collymore Literary Award, Third Prize: Inside the Black Belly Sheep by Anderson Lowe
Anderson’s collection of eleven short pieces reflects a close understanding of Barbadian life and mores shown mainly from a working-class perspective. His themes include: a Barbadian view on outsiders, how to be rid of a non-paying tenant, a child’s-eye view of community life and a cricket match. The collection does not shy away from examining delusion, backbiting and hypocrisy. A major strength of the collection is its satirical, clear-eyed and unromantic tone.
Honourable Mention: So It Go (A Short Story Collection) by Ingrid Persaud
From issues surrounding the power and mysticism of Puja and “the Buck” to misapprehension regarding “overcrowding in heaven,” in this short story collection you can hear down-home calling with the kind of sweet familiar resonance that makes the reader smile and shake his head in arrogant dismissal of what he would love to refer to as some of these damn fool-fool people, but keep on reading. And the language does yeoman service, too; it juggles fact with superstition, it banters even as it connives, it wanders around all over the place and does exactly what it wants to do.
Honourable Mention: The Tropic of Sweet and Sour by Sarah Venable
Sarah’s collection offers an eye on an eclectic range of Barbadian themes from St Lucy's egrets to horses and their riders in the Garrison Savanah to her neighbour and his noisy early morning cockerel. For the most part descriptive, many of the poems have a playfully arch quality.
from the Judges' Citations
Last Modified: October 25, 2023
