Charmaine "Nailah Folami Imoja" Gill 2024 Frank Collymore Literary Award Winner

2024 Frank Collymore Literary Award winner Charmaine “Nailah Folami Imoja” Gill.  Video Copyright © 2024 by the Central Bank of Barbados.
 
 

Frank Collymore Awards Celebrate Literary Excellence, Cultural Identity (Adapted from barbadostoday.bb.)

IN A VIBRANT celebration of Barbadian letters, the Frank Collymore Literary Endowment (FCLE) showcased the island’s rich literary talent at its 27th awards ceremony.

An Excerpt from Jamaica's Exam

 

WHEN I GROW UP.... 

I want to be a surgeon or a barrister or an architect. Failing that, I’ll settle for being a journalist or at the very least the Queen of England or somewhere on the continent. So what if I’m black? When I grow up, I’m going to marry a prince. 

And during my reign 

1. My word will be law. Although I’m learning that I can only be a law unto myself. 

An Excerpt from The Rainbow Window

 

I

Place and People, 1945

THE ISLAND RESTS like a gigantic prehistoric fish, tail fin stretching into the tempestuous waves of the Atlantic, head resting in the calm waters of the Caribbean Sea. On the hill at the cliff edge, where the eye of the fish protrudes, stands an ancient edifice.

Christine Barrow 2023 Frank Collymore Literary Award Winner

2023 Frank Collymore Literary Award winner Christine Barrow. Photo Copyright © 2024 by Christine Barrow.


Christine Barrow adjudged Best Entrant at the 26th FCLE Awards (Adapted from barbadostoday.bb) 

CHRISTINE BARROW was the top entrant in the 26th Frank Collymore Literary Endowment competition for her prose fiction work Rainbow Window. She was awarded the $7500 second prize, however, as the judges declined to award a first place.

A Review of Volcano

THIS SLIM VOLUME calls itself a memoir of a woman whose life was affected by the volcanic eruption of Montserrat’s Soufrière in 1995.  Weekes was born in London of Montserratian parentage and she grew up there and in Montserrat.

She describes herself as writer, performance poet, actor and educator, and all these identities take turns at directing this intensely personal narrative.

The 2024 IndyList

 

THE INDYLIST is coming bigger than ever this year.

An Excerpt from The House that Disappeared

 

Chapter Fifteen

The doorbell rang at seven, making him jump. He and Rambo went to the door. Ms Jones stood on the doorstep under the light of the portico. She had cut her hair. It was frizzed out in wild curls. Slightly more black than usual. Mr Smith stared open-mouthed at her. She was the epitome of gorgeousness.

Peter Laurie 2022 Frank Collymore Literary Award Winner

2022 Frank Collymore Literary Award winner Peter Laurie. Photo Copyright © 2023 by Peter Laurie.


Adapted from centralbank.org.bb. Peter Laurie Took Home the $10,000 First Prize at the 25th FCLE Awards

A Review of What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You

IN HER DEBUT NOVEL, What a Mother’s Love Don’t Teach You (Virago, 2022), Jamaican author Sharma Taylor explores life in the poverty-stricken area of Lazarus Gardens, going beyond the poverty and violence to reveal characters with dreams, aspirations and disappointments that speak to their humanity in the midst of chaos, corruption and danger.

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