Three Win in the Frank Collymore Literary Awards

Karen Lord, a first-time entrant in the Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Competition, was awarded the first prize at the 11th Frank Collymore Literary Awards Ceremony at the Grande Salle Tom Adams Financial Centre on Saturday.

Lord was awarded BDS$10,000 for her work Redemption in Indigo. The novel, weaves fantasy into an implied history of the world to reflect on the use of power and human choice.

Thomas Armstrong, also entering for the first time, won the $7,500 second prize for the novel Of Water and Rock. Armstrong tells a story of faith and the courage to accept and forgive in the face of deception and loss.

Trevor Yearwood, a journalist, received the Prime Minister’s Award for his entry The Rainbow Man. Jointly supported by the office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Community Development and Culture, the award recognizes writing that presents readers with original and provocative ways of viewing Barbadian culture and identity and with a quality that strongly deserves recognition and encouragement. Yearwood’s collection of stories holds up the antics of a thinly veiled band of eccentrics as a mirror for readers.

Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr. Marion Williams in encouraging the continued development of the literary arts, reiterated the Bank’s support for the growth and development of writing. She told the awardees that the Bank remained impressed with the standard of entries and encouraged young and upcoming writers to use writing as an avenue for expressing their creativity and awareness.

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 2009 competition. Unpublished entries should be submitted to the Chairman, Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Committee, c/o Central Bank of Barbados, Tom Adams Financial Centre.

January 10, 2009