Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer 'WRITE IN Time', the 2004 Jamaica Creative Writing Competition put on by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), culminated in an awards ceremony at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, New Kingston on Tuesday night.
The audience was welcomed, welcomed and welcomed again by first Vivien Morris Brown, speech drama and literary arts co-ordinator, Marcia Hextell, executive director, and Vivian Crawford, chairman of the JCDC.
At the end of the night, some of the entrants went home laden with medals, trophies and other prizes. Michael Reckord managed to scoop medals from two categories, toting home two silver medals, one for poetry (Revolution Night) and the other for short story (Foresight). Reckord also earned merit certificate in the poetry category for For Soldiers.
LUCRATIVE MEDAL PRODUCER
Poetry was indeed the most lucrative medal producer in this year's competition. Michael Bailey, who is more popularly known as M'Bala, continued his medal haul, taking home a silver for Dinner at My House and bronze for Snake of Paradise. Katrina Robinson also earned two medals, taking bronzes for August and Another Life, along with three merit certificates for Fabrication, Travel Companion and Street Vendor.
As usual, gold remained scarce. Gold medals were awarded in only two categories, short story and essays. Jermaine Rankine earned the sole gold medal for My Grandfather's War Medals and sole silver medal for A Home for the Mind in the essay category. Rankine also took home a merit certificate for the short story My Son, My Son.
SHORT STORY CATEGORY
Two gold medals were awarded in the short story category, going to Verone Johnston for Coconut Woman and Rudolph Wallace for Death Trap. Death Trap was deemed of a particularly high standard and so also took home the trophy for best short story.
There were no awards given in the novel category, while the highest awarded for playwriting was a bronze. This went to Basil Dawkins for No Disrespect. However, he seemed to be in good company as it was revealed that 30 years ago Trevor Rhone's Smile Orange was also awarded a bronze in the competition.
The night included two performances by Lloyd Reckord from his dramatised collection of poetry, Adios Carenage.
"Louise Bennett is celebrated as being a great writer of comic verse, but what we don't see often is her as a satirist," Reckord said by way of introducing his first piece, Is Me. He explained that he had selected the piece, which gives a hilarious view of rampant egotism, to highlight Miss Lou's skills as a satirist.
Toward the end of the programme, Lloyd Reckord returned to perform Evan Jones' Lament of the Banana Man, which was also included in Adios Carenage.
BOOK LAUNCH
Glynis Salmon, marketing manager of Carlong Publishers, delivered the feature address. As a celebration of writers she read Jean Goulbourne's speech 'I Write Because I Must' from the launch of Carlong's Sand Pebbles series. Goulbourne's speech addressed the importance of having Caribbean stories as a part of validating our place in humanity.
"I want others to see themselves as they are," read Salmon.
