First-time
entrant, Yvonne Mary Selina Weekes, won the 2004
Frank Collymore Literary Competition sponsored by the Central
Bank of Barbados.
The winner from a list of nearly thirty Barbadian writers in
this
annual competition sponsored by the Central Bank of Barbados,
Weekes received BDS$10,000 for her work, Volcano.
Well-known poet and English teacher, Esther Phillips, won the
second prize of BDS$7,000 for her collection of poems, Nexus.
Another collection of poems, Prelude to the Dimensions of
Silence won the third prize of BDS$3,000 for Kerry André
Belgrave, who won a gold award in the 2004 National
Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) Literary
Competition.
The Prime Minister’s Award, sponsored by the Prime
Minister’s
Office, was won by Reynold Colin Field.
The
judges were also impressed with the work of Mark Jason
Welch, third prize winner in 2003; Sonia Williams; Christopher
White and Michael Gilkes. Each was accorded an honorable
mention.
The winners were presented with their prizes at an Awards
Ceremony in the Inner Courtyard of the Tom Adams Financial
Centre on January 8, 2005.
The Central Bank of Barbados established the Frank Collymore
Literary Endowment in 1998 to assist in the promotion of the
literary arts in Barbados.
Writers
are encouraged to start preparing for the 2005 competition. Unpublished entries should be submitted to the
Chairman, Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Committee no
later than August 31, 2005. Queries may be directed to the
Chairman, Andy Taitt, at ataitt@sunbeach.net
or Novaline
Brewster at nfbrewster@centralbank.org.bb.