About the Anthony N. Sabga Award

I got a package in the mail about the Anthony N Sabga awards of which I am the 2023 arts and letters laureate (alongside Dr. Adesh Sirjusingh, Women’s Health Doctor, Trinidad and Tobago, the Public & Civic Contributions laureate, and Dr. Mahendra Persaud, Agriculture Scientist, Guyana, the Science & Technology laureate) and I wanted to share some of it.

Example, the 2022 laureates were Jamaican Marlon James (Arts and Letters), Christine Carrington of Trinidad and Tobago (Science and Technology), Surinamese Anushka Sonai and Barbadian Kim Jebodhsingh (Public and Civic Contributions), and  Shyam Nokta of Guyana(Entrepreneurship). James is, of course, a Man Booker Prize winner among other awards, but I’ve also been learning about the other laureates: e.g. about Nokta’s environmental management consulting business, started in a small room in his parents’ home, his environmental advocacy, and his advisory role on energy and climate change at the high level of both the government and private sector; and about how Sonai is literally a woman in tech paying it forward via a handful of for profits feeding in to non-profits that educate and empower across the Caribbean. Eligible territories are Trinidad and Tobago, where the prize is based, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States of which my country Antigua and Barbuda is a part. Each of the five eligible territories have nominating committees – who, from experience, create a dossier of their chosen candidate to submit.

Another of the publications received broke down the criteria like this – track record of consistently superior work, excellence in the opinion of a significant number of experts, potential for future development, and work (ideas etc) relevant to Caribbean particularities and models for future work. The selection process has three levels – the nominating committee, research review of credentials and achievements, and final selection by a regional panel of eminent persons. The laureate programme is considered to be Anthony N Sabga’s crowning achievement, “one which he hoped would pave the way for Caribbean integration and the recognition of home-grown talent.”

Each selected laureate becomes part of a college of laureates – the award itself is literally life changing but I’m not sure yet what being a part of the college of laureates will mean but, it’s quite a network. In my category alone, arts and letters, in addition to James, past winters are Trinidad and Tobago filmmaker Yao Ramesar, Guyanese writer and academic David Dabydeen, St. Lucian theatre producer Adrian Augier, Trinidad and Tobago journalist and researcher Kim Johnson, Lokono artist and archeologist from Guyana George Simon, Kittitian novelist and playwright Caryl Philips, Trinidad and Tobago musician and music professor Liam Teague, Guyanese academic and writer Paloma Mohamed Martin, Guyanese sculptor Winslow Craig, Trinidad and Tobago conductor Kwame Ryan, Jamaican writer and scholar Kei Miller, Trinidad and Tobago TV and film producer Danielle Dieffenthaller, St. Lucian sculptor Jallim Eudovic, Trinidad and Tobago documentarian Maria Nunes, and classical pianist Sean Sutherland of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The man for whom the award is named, Trinidad and Tobago businessman Anthony N. Sabga, died in 2017. Other activities of the ANSA McAl Foundation, financed with one percent of the profit from the Ansa McAl Group, include building a psychological research center at University of the West Indies St Augustine, the UWI Institute of Business of which it is a founding member, and a five-year hospice endowment and services focused on children, the handicapped, cancer, food and water, and book donations; and a contribution to the Diagnostic, Research, Education and Therapeutic Centre. Amazing to imagine the transformative impact of every Caribbean business similarly transferring just one percent of profits to philanthropy.

This year there was no selection in the entrepreneurship category. That’s an indication of the caliber of candidates and selectees; something that came home to me as I read another of the magazines in the package received, The Laureate 2021 edition has autobiographical essays by St. Lucian sculptor Jallim Eudovic, Trinidad and Tobago documentarian Maria Nunes, and classical pianist Sean Sutherland of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Inspiring and intimidating – the latter not because I don’t think I deserve to be named a laureate (I didn’t select myself and since the announcement was made my mindset has been set to receiving) but how do I tell my story? I know, a writer uncertain about telling her story. but honestly that’s on brand for me and their writing was so inspiring…it’s a lot.

Nunes wrote: “Our bodies are living libraries, living archives. This is the root and navel string of my work: the action of the photograph enters into conversation with lived memory, listening for what is being said to us today in the hands of a drummer, in the feet of a dancer, in the voice of a chantwel, in seemingly ordinary moments of daily living. Through my camera, I become both observer and participant, witness as well as active agent. What emerges in the images is often multi-layered and can take time to reveal itself.”

Whoo! Like, I said, it’s a lot.

And it’s weighty. After being named a laureate in 2019, Eudovic was named, in 2020, a goodwill ambassador for St. Lucia on visual arts and received his country’s medal of merit.

But what was grounding, reading these bios, beyond the obvious passion for the work and the commitment to craft was the reminder that the work continues.

Sutherland said: “There is a commonly held view in the classical piano world that, in order to be a successful pianist, one has to develop a solid technique by one’s mid to late teens. With my progress cut short, I have always felt left behind. However, Audrey challenged me a few years ago to keep honing my technique and to adopt a growth mindset, believe that I can actually improve. Having done so I am reaping the benefits as I am now playing repertoire that 20 years ago I never thought I would be able to play. I have always been drawn to projects both ‘professional’ and musical, that have impact. While I may not have exactly achieved my childhood dream, I have been able to share my love of music performing regionally and internationally.”

Dreams shift, and there is more to do, more growing, more learning, even as the spotlight brightens.

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Additionally, just as I finished reading these publications I noticed, via social media, that the nominating period for the 2024 awards have opened. I’ll be adding it to our Opportunities Too page, but anyone may nominate a candidate and a candidate may nominate themselves. Details re criteria and nominating form here.

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See also these links on Jhohadli:

I have News with a Capital NEWS

Media Updates re Anthony N. Sabga Awards for Arts and Letters

As with all content on Wadadli Pen, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Oh Gad!, Musical Youth, With Grace, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure, The Jungle Outside, and To be a Cheetah). All Rights Reserved. Subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.

Carib Plus Lit News (Middish January 2020)

Condolences

We begin with condolences to the friends and family of Victor Chang, and the community at the University of the West Indies. He actually died some weeks ago, in 2019. This Jamaica Gleaner article described Dr. Chang as a former lecturer in the Department of Literatures in English at UWI.

“Chang’s academic career is characterised by his involvement with the wider community and beyond, having served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Hull, England in 1981, carried out assignments with the Ministry of Education and Jamaica Festival. The noted academic was a contributor to the National Association for Teachers of English Workshops for some 20 years and was assistant chief examiner in English Literature with the Caribbean Examinations Council …(in addition to) service to the West Indian Association for Commonwealth Language and Literature Studies (WIACLALS).” There were many expressions of condolences being shared among the Caribbean literary community including my own memory of him as head of my department during my time at UWI (Mona, Jamaica) and this one (unknown) “He gave brilliant conference papers about Caribbean writers, and his sense of humor was wicked.”

Trinidad Poet wins the T. S. Eliot Prize

We move to celebratory news with Trinidad and Tobago poet Roger Robinson’s win of the T. S. Eliot Prize, the only major poetry prize judged solely by established poets. He won for A Portable Paradise about which judges said: “Roger Robinson’s characters bear witness to a country where ‘every second street name is a shout out to my captors’. Yet though Robinson is unstinting in his irony, he also gives us glimpses of something that his chosen protagonists also refuse to surrender – a taste, through the bitterness, of ‘life, of sweet, sweet life’.” A Portable Paradise was published by Peepal Tree Press in the UK. Robinson receive a £25,000 cheque.

Wadadli Pen 2020

The Wadadli Youth Pen Prize Challenge is back for 2020 with several new categories to stimulate artistic expression among young people in Antigua and Barbuda. …The Wadadli Pen Challenge is open to any resident aged 35 and younger. Entries – fiction, poems, creative non-fiction –1000 words max. must be original. Beyond that entries can be as creative or tonally diverse as the artist desires; as long as it retains a Caribbean sensibility (i.e. feels Caribbean). Young Antiguans of all ages are encouraged to try – there will be, as usual, age category prizes, with a slight adjustment to the breakdown (six and younger, seven to 12, 13 to 17, and 18 to 35) – in addition to an overall top three. All entries require completed submission forms (2020 WADADLI YOUTH PEN PRIZE SUBMISSION FORM). Incomplete and plagiarized entries will be disqualified.

Special Prizes

Imagine a Future – A special prize will go to the story which per the sub-head ‘Imagine a Future’ best illustrates either the consequence of inaction (dystopia) or action (futopia) on climate change. This is an opportunity to venture in to speculative fiction (including science fiction). What does the future look like through your eyes? Be creative.

Art Prize – Visual artists can also tell their story, solo or in collaboration with others by creating a comic strip – telling a complete story using visual art and (optionally) words in three horizontally-aligned art panels of equal size, fitting on to a single sheet of paper. Art entries can be hand inked and coloured (per standard comic panels) or electronically created. No collages. Winning collabos get a single prize.

The Wa’omani Prize – Eligible Barbudans are also invited to write a story or poem, or create a comic strip (telling their complete story using visual art and, optionally, words in three horizontally-aligned art panels of equal size, fitting on to a single sheet of paper). This prize is designed to encourage greater participation from Barbuda and create a space for Barbudans to tell their unique stories.
An entry can be considered for more than one special prize (indicate with entry), and everyone vying for a special prize will also be considered for the main prize and for their age category prize. There will also be a prize for the school with the most submissions. Submit by 16/02/20 with ‘Your Name Wadadli Pen Challenge Submission 2020’ in the subject line.

Some early patrons have pledged their commitment and will be announced in a subsequent release. Other businesses or individuals wishing to contribute, contact wadadlipen@gmail.com To keep up with all things Wadadli Pen follow the blog. For all things Wadadli Pen 2020, check https://wadadlipen.wordpress.com/wadadli-pen-2020

Sharma Wins

Sharma Taylor, Jamaica born, Barbados based, inaugural winner of the Johnson and Amoy Achong prize in 2019 starts 2020 with another win – first prize in Barbados’ 22nd annual Frank Collymore Literary Endowment award for an unpublished collection of short stories called Hollow Calabash which one judge described as “unputdownable”. She wins $10,000 (I’m not sure if this is US or BDS but either way).

Sharma credits the support of Commonwealth Writers (CW) through initiatives like the short story prize for which she was shortlisted, a 2018 fiction writing workshop in Barbados, and the individual mentoring the CW provided in 2019, as well as encouragement from other writers.

Congrats to her (pictured below, second from left).

‘Second place went to Claudia Clarke, who was awarded $6,000 for her “CircleSquare.” Anderson Lowe’s “Inside the Blackbelly Sheep” secured him third place and prize money of $4,000. Lowe also received the Prime Minister’s Award. Ingrid Persaud and Sarah Venable received honourable mention for “So it Go” and “The Tropic of Sweet and Sour” respectively.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes spoke of the importance of Barbados having a strong literary tradition, saying, “seeing your culture reflected and celebrated in print is a powerful and validating experience.”

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The Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Awards was started in 1998 to support and develop the literary arts in Barbados. In addition to the annual competition, the programme includes outreach to secondary schools and technical workshops for writers.’ Read more.

Sabga

The 2020 Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence have been announced. They are:

Arts & Letters: Mr Jallim Eudovic, Sculptor, St Lucia
Entrepreneurship: Mr Andrew Mendes, Energy Services Entrepreneur, Guyana
Public & Civic Contributions: Dr Olivene Burke, Community Activist, Jamaica
Science & Technology: Dr Shirin Haque, Astronomer, Trinidad & Tobago

The Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards is the only programme in the Caribbean which seeks out and rewards outstanding nominees in Arts & Letters, Public & Civic Contributions, Science & Technology and Entrepreneurship. It has been in existence since 2005, and has named, inclusive of the current inductees, 43 Laureates from throughout the region.

The 2020 ceremony will be staged on April 25, 2020 at a venue to be announced in the near future. Here’s the press release: 2020-Laureate-announcement-Press-Kit

Impac Dublin Caribbean

I first became aware of the Impac Dublin award back in 2012 when I was researching possibilities for which my novel Oh Gad! could contend. I bring that up because I wondered then and I still wonder now which books have been nominated by our local library service with which I’ve shared the Impac Dublin information. The latest Caribbean author to be nominated and longlisted for the Impac Dublin prize is Viviana Prado-Nunez, the Puerto Rican author of the Burt award winning The Art of White Roses which the nominating Jamaica Library Service describes as  “a striking debut novel with a cast of engaging characters. Told through the eyes of a 13 year old who lives with her family in Marianao, a quiet suburb six miles away from Old Havana, the novel gives an intimate view of the struggles of the working people fighting for independence fuelled by a burning desire to end corruption. It is a sharp-eyed study of power, community, questioning values and the contradictory messages of adults.” The Art of White Roses is published by Dominica’s Papilotte Press.

Also nominated by the Jamaica Library Service, also long listed, another Burt Award title Kevin Jared Hosein’s The Beast of Kukuyo. This is published by Jamaica’s Blue Banyan.

Congrats to them and to the library service for nominating them. See the entire long list. The prize is €100,000 which is awarded to the author if the book is written in English. If the winning book is in English translation, the author receives €75,000 and the translator, €25,000. The winner also receives a trophy provided by Dublin City Council. Nominations are made by libraries in capital and major cities throughout the world – libraries interested in participating can contact the organizers.

The shortlist for the 2020 prize will be announced in April.

Publishing News

Papilotte press, of Dominica and the UK, continues to make major moves with the acquisition of UK based Trinidad author Lawrence Scott’s Dangerous Freedom, a novel described as “radical and moving”. Said the author, “In Dangerous Freedom I am trying to redress what I see as the romantic portrayals of Dido in art, film and literature. I wanted to question the sketchy history we have of Dido and, through fiction, to alter the psychological and political perspectives. I hope that the novel can add to our understanding of a pain that remains just below the surface of contemporary life.” I’ve seen at least one of the film adaptations, Amma Asante’s Belle which starred Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the daughter of an Englishman and an enslaved African who lived with her aristocratic uncle, none less than Chief Justice Lord Mansfield at a time when he was adjudicating a critical case in the anti-slavery movement. Papilotte publisher Polly Pattullo bought world rights, excluding translation, for Dangerous Freedom from Johnson & Alcock. It will be published in May 2020 and distributed by NBN International.

New Music Awards for Antigua and Barbuda

You might remember that there was a music awards held in Antigua and Barbuda some years ago. It was produced by a private person and called the National Vibes Star Project Award. It was a  great Grammy-style event that I truly enjoyed covering. But it was a one-time event. And while I will always wish we weren’t reinventing the wheel, the announcement of a national musical awards by the Culture Department is, on the surface of it, a welcome development.

 

Deputy Director of Culture, and accomplished musician, Mr Khan Cordice described the awards, to be held on April 16th 2020, as a “Grand Celebration’ to recognize the work of all musicians and music practitioners alike to include vocalists, instrumentalists, pannists and DJs for the work they would have contributed to music over the years, but more specifically, throughout the year 2019.”

There are six categories: ‘Vocal Awards’; ‘Instrumental Awards’; ‘Steelpan Awards’; ‘Best Recording Artiste of the Year’; ‘DJ of the Year’ and ‘Special Awards’. In the vocal awards category, the breakdown includes:
Junior Soca Artist of the year
Junior Calypsonian of the year
Junior Reggae Artist of the year
Junior Gospel Artist of the year
Soca Artist of the year
Calypsonian of the year
Reggae Artist of the year
Gospel Artist of the year
Choir of the Year

At a glance, one difference between this and the NVSPA is that the latter also included hip hop and artists that didn’t fit in to the usual boxes.

For the Steelpan Awards announced categories include:

Steelpan Awards
Junior Pannist of the Year
Pannist of the Year
Arranger of the year
Junior Steelband of the Year
Steelband of the Year

The rebirth of pan continues – you love to see it.

The Instrumental Awards include:
Junior Instrumentalist of the Year
Instrumentalist of the Year

Two young Antiguans and Barbudans having recently featured in the finals of the Commonwealth International Composition Awards, as reported in Carib Plus Lit News in November 2019, it makes sense to continue to encourage our Musical Youth in this way.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday month to one of my literary icons Zora Neale Hurston who LitHub informs me was born January 7th (two days after me) 1891 (so not exactly the same century).  

Another reason I’m shouting out the late Harlem Renaissance writer, she has a new book coming with a foreword from Tayari Jones (whose book, the Oprah’s book club pick An American Marriage I’m currently reading after absolutely loving her previous book Silver Sparrow). Hurston died in 1960 – and while she had published significant work like Their Eyes were watching God – had slipped in to obscurity until resurrected by Alice Walker in In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, the title piece in the latter’s 1984 essay collection. Hurston has been a staple on university lit syllabuses since then including my African-American lit courses at UWI, which is where I discovered her and, in her, a literary model. Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is Hurston’s second posthumous book (after 2019’s Barracoon: the Story of the Last Black Cargo) in three years.  Can’t wait.

As with all content on Wadadli Pen, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Musical Youth, With Grace, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure/Perdida! Una Aventura en el Mar Caribe, and Oh Gad!). All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed it, check out my page on WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen and my books. You can also subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.

Mailbox – Goodison is Jamaica’s First Female Poet Laureate

‘”I try as best as I can to be a true representation of the life of my people, the ordinary Jamaican,” said a spirited Lorna Goodison, CD, Poet Laureate of Jamaica for 2017-2020.

In a ceremony held at King’s House on Wednesday, Goodison, 69, was invested by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen as the second officially recognised Poet Laureate of Jamaica, the fourth since 1953 and the very first female holder.

A national honour, the title is bestowed on a distinguished Jamaican poet for his/her significant contribution to the literary community.

A Poet Laureate is expected to stimulate a greater appreciation for Jamaican poetry, write poems for national occasions, and preserve and disseminate the island’s cultural heritage through prose.

“I am inspired by our (Jamaican) dialect, our resilience, and just the way we value our humanity regardless of the negatives that are happening all around. Poets are supposed to give voice to the voiceless and a lot of my works reflect this,” the St Hugh’s High alumna told The Gleaner.’ READ MORE.