Caribbean L 18 ife, Jan. 11–17, 2019
Barbados Central Bank Governor, Cleviston Haynes, presents second prize
to Hazel Simmons-McDonald. Photo by George Alleyne
Barbados writers get boost
By George Alleyne
The literary arts in Barbados is
now on a firmer footing thanks to a
Bds$1,000,000 donation dedicated to
writers and their development.
Central Bank of Barbados
Governor, Cleviston
Haynes over the weekend
announced the gift, that
equates to US$500,000,
that will be used as an
investment trust fund to
supplement work of the
island’s premier scheme
for annual writing competition
and writer’s development,
the Frank Collymore
Literary Endowment,
(FCLE) which will
receive all dividends.
This sizeable enticement
for Barbadians to
further let loose their creative
imaginations should
be a welcome contribution
FCLE chair, Esther Phillips,
takes a photo op
with third prize winner,
Sonia Williams.
Photo by George Alleyne
for authors because a common cry
among artistes on the island, in other
developing and in Third World countries,
is that the absence of material
rewards for their work reflects scant
respect for such productions.
Haynes chose to make the announcement
at the 21st FCLE annual prizegiving
ceremony where the second and
third place winners for the 2018 competition
were announced.
There was no first prize winner at
this ceremony owing to an uncompromising
standard set by FCLE judges.
This is the third time in the Endowment’s
21 years of competition that a
first prize was not awarded.
Second prize went to UWI Professor
Emeritus Hazel Simmons-McDonald
for ‘A Collection of Short Stories,’ and
Poet Sonia Williams, for the second
consecutive year, won third prize for
her poetry collection ‘On Livity.’
The Central Bank initiated this competition
in the name of one of the
island’s foremost poets, Frank Collymore,
and sponsored the prizes totalling
just under US$20,000
annually along with supporting
writing workshops.
The trust fund gift is
an addition to those prizes
and workshop support,
and some of the money
earned will go towards
two annual scholarships
for Barbadians in the University
of the West Indies,
Cave Hill Campus, Creative
Writing programme.
Haynes noted that the
fund comes amidst the
turbulence of the island’s
economic adjustment and
suggested now is the time
for writers to document
the pain and joys of this period.
“These circumstances offer the
potential for enlightening and informative
poetry, prose, plays and films
because they embody the vagaries of
life, change, challenges, hurt, conflict,
highs and lows.
“You must tell our story, past,
present, and future, of Barbados’ Economic
Recovery and Transformation
so that we never forget these efforts at
rebuilding our economy and our children
and their offspring know of the
sacrifices so many of us made for our
country,”
Chief FCLE judge, a Barbadian Poet
Laureate herself, Esther Phillips said
that the current trying economic conditions
can serve as an impetus for
writing, and that incentives from the
fund would serve as an added encouragement.