Wadadli Pen Diary – The Short List

The first round of judging for the Wadadli Pen Challenge 2020 Season has wrapped. We have some familiar names and some first timers on the short list. And the judges (Floree Williams Whyte – local author/publisher and Wadadli Pen’s chief judge/judging coordinator w/local industry professional and writer Glenn Toussaint, and award winning regional writer and artist Danielle Boodoo Fortune) agree that their pieces are all “excellent”. Shout out to our judges for the efficiency and meticulousness (given that they also had to provide edit notes/feedback for review of the shortlisted pieces to the writers); deep appreciation for volunteering for the thankless task of wading through nearly 60 entries and coming up with this year’s top contenders. With the judges’ edit notes as guide, the short listed writers have been given a week to review, revise, and resubmit ahead of the final round of judging to determine ranking in each age category and winners overall. Still in the running are (in random order):

Cheyanne Darroux (Golden Grove Primary School); Tom, the Ninja Crab

Aria-Rose Browne (St. Anthony’s Secondary School); The Fabled Truth

Lehana Simon; Lead Me Lord

Zaniah Pigott (Island Academy); A Mermaid

Sienna Harney-Barnes (St. Nicholas Primary); A New World

Ciara Thomas (Sunnydale School); My Favourite Dish

Andre Warner; A Bright Future for Tomorrow

D’chaiya Emmanuel (Antigua Girls High School); Two Worlds Collide

William Henderson (St. Anthony’s Secondary School); The Beast of Barbados

Judah Christian (Antigua Grammar School); The John Bull Effect

Sethson Burton (American University of Antigua); Oh, Beach that I Once Loved

 

Schools in the running for the schools’ prize are:

Sunnydale Primary

Trinity Academy

 

Congratulations to everyone who submitted and to the finalists. At this writing, judges are still deliberating re special prizes like the Imagine a Future climate change prize. If any additional names emerge from that process they will be added to this list. – Joanne C. Hillhouse, Wadadli Pen founder and coordinator