Literature of Guyana
Encyclopedia
Guyanese literature has been produced by a number of authors, most of whom write in the English language
. Many Guyanese-born writers have emigrated abroad.
, was The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empyre of Guiana (With a Relation of the Great and Golden Citie of Manoa (Which the Spanyards call El Dorado) and of the Provinces of Emeria, Aromaia, Amapaia, and Other Countries, with Their Riulers, Adjoyning (Robert Robinson: London, 1596).
One of the earliest and most famous Guyanese authors was Edgar Mittelholzer
, author of Corentyne Thunder. His works often deal with issues of interracial relations, particularly the strain between European and non-European Guyanese.
Famous authors include E. R. Braithwaite
author of To Sir, With Love, Roy Heath
, author of the Georgetown Trilogy and The Shadow Bride, Wilson Harris
author of 'Palace of the Peacock', David Dabydeen
and Michael Gilkes (writer)
. Heath, Harris and Dabydeen now live in Britain, while Gilkes lives in Barbados.
They were succeeded by a new generation of writers from the 1980s onward, including Beryl Gilroy
, John Agard
, Cyril Dabydeen
, and David Dabydeen.
Martin Carter
is considered Guyana's greatest poet.
Michael Abbensetts
is a noted playwright.
Vincent Roth wrote A Life in Guyana.
In recent years, Pauline Melville
has written The Ventriloquist's Tale, Oonya Kempadoo
has written Buxton Spice, and Sharon Maas
has written Of Marriageable Age, Peacocks Dancing and The Speech of Angels.
The famous and influential intellectual Walter Rodney
was Guyanese. His most important book was How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
(1972). Travelling and teaching widely he was a proponent of Pan-Africanism
and a supporter of the downtrodden. Rodney returned to Guyana in 1974 and was active in the opposition movement, leading to his assassination in 1980.
in 1987, with a view to promoting the development of local literature. Prizes are awarded biennially in categories including best book of fiction, best first book of fiction, best book of poems, best first book of poems, and best play. The Guyana Prizes are managed by a Committee consisting of a number of University personnel, and the Chief Librarian of the Guyana National Library.
Winners have included Wilson Harris
, Fred D'Aguiar
, David Dabydeen
, D. Gokarran Sukhdeo, Pauline Melville
, Ian McDonald
,Cyril Dabydeen and Ruel Johnson
.
, Grace Nichols
, Ian McDonald
.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Many Guyanese-born writers have emigrated abroad.
History of Guyanese literature
The first book written on Guyana, by Sir Walter RaleighWalter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
, was The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empyre of Guiana (With a Relation of the Great and Golden Citie of Manoa (Which the Spanyards call El Dorado) and of the Provinces of Emeria, Aromaia, Amapaia, and Other Countries, with Their Riulers, Adjoyning (Robert Robinson: London, 1596).
One of the earliest and most famous Guyanese authors was Edgar Mittelholzer
Edgar Mittelholzer
Edgar Mittelholzer was a Guyanese novelist. Born in New Amsterdam, the country's second largest town, he was the son of William Austin Mittelholzer and his wife Rosamond Mabel, née Leblanc...
, author of Corentyne Thunder. His works often deal with issues of interracial relations, particularly the strain between European and non-European Guyanese.
Famous authors include E. R. Braithwaite
E. R. Braithwaite
Edward Ricardo Braithwaite is a Guyanese novelist, writer, teacher, and diplomat, best known for his stories of social conditions and racial discrimination against black people...
author of To Sir, With Love, Roy Heath
Roy Heath
Roy A K Heath was a Guyanese writer, most noted for his "Georgetown Trilogy" of novels , consisting of From the Heat of the Day , One Generation , and Genetha...
, author of the Georgetown Trilogy and The Shadow Bride, Wilson Harris
Wilson Harris
Sir Theodore Wilson Harris is a Guyanese writer. He initially wrote poetry, but has since become a well-known novelist and essayist. His writing style is often said to be abstract and densely metaphorical, and his subject matter wide-ranging.Wilson Harris was born in New Amsterdam in what was then...
author of 'Palace of the Peacock', David Dabydeen
David Dabydeen
David Dabydeen is a Guyanese-born critic, writer and novelist.Dabydeen was born in Berbice, Guyana, his birth registered at New Amsterdam Registrar of Births as David Horace Clarence Harilal Sookram...
and Michael Gilkes (writer)
Michael Gilkes (writer)
Michael Gilkes is a Caribbean critic, dramatist, filmmaker and university lecturer. He has been involved in theater for over 40 years...
. Heath, Harris and Dabydeen now live in Britain, while Gilkes lives in Barbados.
They were succeeded by a new generation of writers from the 1980s onward, including Beryl Gilroy
Beryl Gilroy
Beryl Agatha Gilroy was a novelist...
, John Agard
John Agard
John Agard is an Afro-Guyanese playwright, poet and children's writer, now living in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
, Cyril Dabydeen
Cyril Dabydeen
Cyril Dabydeen is a writer who was born in the Canje, Guyana, a locality which also produced his contemporaries Arnold Itwaru and Jan Shinebourne.He grew up in a sugar plantation with the sense of Indian indenture rooted in his family background Cyril Dabydeen (born 1945) is a writer who was born...
, and David Dabydeen.
Martin Carter
Martin Carter
Martin Wylde Carter was a Guyanese poet, who has been compared in stature to W. B. Yeats and Pablo Neruda, as well as being called "the most Caribbean of Caribbean poets". Of mixed European, East Indian, and African descent, he began publishing in 1950 in Thunder Martin Wylde Carter (June 7,...
is considered Guyana's greatest poet.
Michael Abbensetts
Michael Abbensetts
Michael Abbensetts is a writer who was born in British Guiana on 8 June 1938. He attended Queen's College from 1952 to 1956, then Stanstead College, Quebec, Canada, and Sir George Williams University, in Montreal ....
is a noted playwright.
Vincent Roth wrote A Life in Guyana.
In recent years, Pauline Melville
Pauline Melville
Pauline Melville is a Guyanese-born writer and actress. Her mother was English, and her father Guyanese. Her first book, Shape-Shifter , a collection of short stories, won the 1991 Commonwealth Writers' Prize , and the Guardian Fiction Prize.The book consists of a number of short stories dealing...
has written The Ventriloquist's Tale, Oonya Kempadoo
Oonya Kempadoo
Oonya Kempadoo is a writer who was born in Sussex, England, in 1966 of Guyanese parents. She was brought up in Guyana and has studied art in Amsterdam. She has also lived in Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Tobago, and now lives in Grenada....
has written Buxton Spice, and Sharon Maas
Sharon Maas
Sharon Maas was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1951. She came from a prominently political family. Her mother was one of Guyana's earliest feminists, human rights activists and consumer advocates; her father was Press Secretary to the Marxist opposition leader and later President of Guyana, Dr...
has written Of Marriageable Age, Peacocks Dancing and The Speech of Angels.
The famous and influential intellectual Walter Rodney
Walter Rodney
Walter Rodney was a prominent Guyanese historian and political activist, who was assassinated in Guyana in 1980.-Career:...
was Guyanese. His most important book was How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa is a book written by Walter Rodney in which he portrays the view that Africa was deliberately exploited and underdeveloped by European colonial regimes....
(1972). Travelling and teaching widely he was a proponent of Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a movement that seeks to unify African people or people living in Africa, into a "one African community". Differing types of Pan-Africanism seek different levels of economic, racial, social, or political unity...
and a supporter of the downtrodden. Rodney returned to Guyana in 1974 and was active in the opposition movement, leading to his assassination in 1980.
Guyana Prizes for Literature
The Guyana Prizes for Literature were founded by President Desmond HoyteDesmond Hoyte
Hugh Desmond Hoyte was a Guyanese politician. He served as Prime Minister of Guyana from 1984 to 1985 and President of Guyana from 1985 until 1992.He was born in Guyana's capital, Georgetown...
in 1987, with a view to promoting the development of local literature. Prizes are awarded biennially in categories including best book of fiction, best first book of fiction, best book of poems, best first book of poems, and best play. The Guyana Prizes are managed by a Committee consisting of a number of University personnel, and the Chief Librarian of the Guyana National Library.
Winners have included Wilson Harris
Wilson Harris
Sir Theodore Wilson Harris is a Guyanese writer. He initially wrote poetry, but has since become a well-known novelist and essayist. His writing style is often said to be abstract and densely metaphorical, and his subject matter wide-ranging.Wilson Harris was born in New Amsterdam in what was then...
, Fred D'Aguiar
Fred D'Aguiar
Fred D'Aguiar is an author of poetry, novels, and drama.D'Aguiar was born in London. His parents were Guyanese. He spent his childhood, from the age of two to twelve, in Guyana. His work has received much, and growing, acclaim. His Bill of Rights, about the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, was a...
, David Dabydeen
David Dabydeen
David Dabydeen is a Guyanese-born critic, writer and novelist.Dabydeen was born in Berbice, Guyana, his birth registered at New Amsterdam Registrar of Births as David Horace Clarence Harilal Sookram...
, D. Gokarran Sukhdeo, Pauline Melville
Pauline Melville
Pauline Melville is a Guyanese-born writer and actress. Her mother was English, and her father Guyanese. Her first book, Shape-Shifter , a collection of short stories, won the 1991 Commonwealth Writers' Prize , and the Guardian Fiction Prize.The book consists of a number of short stories dealing...
, Ian McDonald
Ian McDonald (writer)
Ian McDonald is a poet, novelist, and sugar industry advocate. He was born in St. Augustine, Trinidad, in 1933, and educated at Queen's Royal College in Port of Spain and Clare College, Cambridge University, where he was a tennis champion and captained the university team. In 1955 he moved to...
,Cyril Dabydeen and Ruel Johnson
Ruel Johnson
Ruel Johnson is an award winning Guyanese author.Johnson won the 2002 Guyana Prize for Literature for best first fiction manuscript for a collection of short stories entitled Ariadne and Other Stories, which he self-published the following year with assistance from COURTS and GuyEnterprise...
.
Guyana Poetry Prize
Previous winners: Fred D'AguiarFred D'Aguiar
Fred D'Aguiar is an author of poetry, novels, and drama.D'Aguiar was born in London. His parents were Guyanese. He spent his childhood, from the age of two to twelve, in Guyana. His work has received much, and growing, acclaim. His Bill of Rights, about the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, was a...
, Grace Nichols
Grace Nichols
Grace Nichols is a Guyanese poet. She was born in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1950. After working in Guyana as a teacher and journalist, she emigrated to the UK in 1977. Much of her poetry is characterised by Caribbean rhythms and culture, and influenced by Guyanese and Amerindian folklore.Her first...
, Ian McDonald
Ian McDonald (writer)
Ian McDonald is a poet, novelist, and sugar industry advocate. He was born in St. Augustine, Trinidad, in 1933, and educated at Queen's Royal College in Port of Spain and Clare College, Cambridge University, where he was a tennis champion and captained the university team. In 1955 he moved to...
.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Elly Niland Elly Niland Elly Niland is a poet, playwright and teacher.Her first collection of poetry was nominated for Best First Book of Poetryand was runner up for the Guyana Prize for Literature 2004. Her second collection Cornerstones won the Guyana Prize for Literature 2006... |
| 2006 | Ryhaan Shah Ryhaan Shah Ryhaan Shah is a writer who was born in Berbice, Guyana. She is currently active in Guyanese public life as the President of the Guyanese Indian Heritage Association.... |
| 2006 | Cyril Dabydeen Cyril Dabydeen Cyril Dabydeen is a writer who was born in the Canje, Guyana, a locality which also produced his contemporaries Arnold Itwaru and Jan Shinebourne.He grew up in a sugar plantation with the sense of Indian indenture rooted in his family background Cyril Dabydeen (born 1945) is a writer who was born... |
| 2006 | Mark McWatt |
| 2006 | Michael Gilkes |
| 2004 | Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar is an author of poetry, novels, and drama.D'Aguiar was born in London. His parents were Guyanese. He spent his childhood, from the age of two to twelve, in Guyana. His work has received much, and growing, acclaim. His Bill of Rights, about the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, was a... |
| 2004 | David Dabydeen David Dabydeen David Dabydeen is a Guyanese-born critic, writer and novelist.Dabydeen was born in Berbice, Guyana, his birth registered at New Amsterdam Registrar of Births as David Horace Clarence Harilal Sookram... |
| 2004 | Paloma Mohamed |
| 2004 | Ian McDonald |
| 2004 | Berkley Semple |
| 2002 | Michael Gilkes |
| 2002 | Stanley Greaves |
| 2002 | Ruel Johnson Ruel Johnson Ruel Johnson is an award winning Guyanese author.Johnson won the 2002 Guyana Prize for Literature for best first fiction manuscript for a collection of short stories entitled Ariadne and Other Stories, which he self-published the following year with assistance from COURTS and GuyEnterprise... |
| 2000 | David Dabydeen David Dabydeen David Dabydeen is a Guyanese-born critic, writer and novelist.Dabydeen was born in Berbice, Guyana, his birth registered at New Amsterdam Registrar of Births as David Horace Clarence Harilal Sookram... |
| 2000 | Paloma Mohamed |
| 2000 | John Agard |
| 2000 | Raywat Deonandan Raywat Deonandan Raywat Deonandan is a Canadian author and scientist. He received his doctor of philosophy degree in epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of Western Ontario in 2001... |
| 2000 | Maggie Harris |
| 1998 | Pauline Melville |
| 1998 | Gokarran Sukhdeo |
| 1998 | Dennis Craig |
| 1998 | John Agard |
| 1998 | Paloma Mohamed |
| 1996 | Grace Nichols |
| 1996 | Denise Harris |
| 1996 | Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar is an author of poetry, novels, and drama.D'Aguiar was born in London. His parents were Guyanese. He spent his childhood, from the age of two to twelve, in Guyana. His work has received much, and growing, acclaim. His Bill of Rights, about the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, was a... |
| 1996 | Harold Bascom |
| 1994 | Harold Bascom |
| 1994 | Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar is an author of poetry, novels, and drama.D'Aguiar was born in London. His parents were Guyanese. He spent his childhood, from the age of two to twelve, in Guyana. His work has received much, and growing, acclaim. His Bill of Rights, about the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, was a... |
| 1994 | Mark McWatt |
| 1992 | David Dabydeen David Dabydeen David Dabydeen is a Guyanese-born critic, writer and novelist.Dabydeen was born in Berbice, Guyana, his birth registered at New Amsterdam Registrar of Births as David Horace Clarence Harilal Sookram... |
| 1992 | Ian McDonald |
| 1992 | Michael Gilkes |
| 1989 | Martin Carter Martin Carter Martin Wylde Carter was a Guyanese poet, who has been compared in stature to W. B. Yeats and Pablo Neruda, as well as being called "the most Caribbean of Caribbean poets". Of mixed European, East Indian, and African descent, he began publishing in 1950 in Thunder Martin Wylde Carter (June 7,... |
| 1989 | Roy Heath |
| 1989 | Brian Chan |
| 1987 | Janice Shinebourne |
| 1987 | Wilson Harris |
External links
- Guyanese Literature by Jeremy Poynting.
- http://voiceofguyana.com/2007/08/01/the-guyana-prize-for-literature-part-2-by-petamber-persaud/ by Petamber Persaud.
- Focus on UG - August Edition by University of Guyana
- Niland's Blog]