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Guyanese literature covers works including novels, poetry, plays and others written by people born or strongly-affiliated with Guyana. Formerly British Guiana, British language and style has an enduring impact on the writings from Guyana, which are done in English language and utilizing Guyanese Creole. Emigration has contributed to a large body of work relating the Guyanese diaspora experience.
Roy Aubrey Kelvin Heath was a Guyanese writer who settled in the UK, where he lived for five decades, working as a schoolteacher as well as writing. His 1978 novel The Murderer won the Guardian Fiction Prize. He went on to become more noted for his "Georgetown Trilogy" of novels, consisting of From the Heat of the Day (1979), One Generation (1980), and Genetha (1981), which were also published in an omnibus volume as The Armstrong Trilogy, 1994. Heath said that his writing was "intended to be a dramatic chronicle of twentieth-century Guyana".
Arthur James Seymour, or A. J. Seymour, was a Guyanese poet, essayist, memoirist, and founding editor of the literary journal Kyk-Over-Al.
David Dabydeen FRSL is a Guyanese-born broadcaster, novelist, poet and academic. He was formerly Guyana's Ambassador to UNESCO from 1997 to 2010, and was the youngest Member of the UNESCO Executive Board (1993–1997), elected by the General Council of all Member States of UNESCO. He was appointed Guyana's Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinaire to China, from 2010 to 2015. He is one of the longest serving diplomats in the history of Guyana, most of his work done in a voluntary unpaid capacity.
Edgar Austin Mittelholzer was a Guyanese novelist, the earliest novelist from the West Indian region to establish himself in Europe and gain a significant European readership. Mittelholzer, who earned his living almost exclusively by writing fiction, is considered the first professional novelist to come out of the English-speaking Caribbean. His novels include characters and situations from a variety of places within the Caribbean, and range in time from the early period of European settlement to the 20th century. They feature a cross-section of ethnic groups and social classes, dealing with subjects of historical, political, psychological, and moral interest. Mittelholzer is "certainly the most prolific novelist to be produced by the Caribbean". Mittelholzer committed suicide in England in 1965.
Peter "Lauchmonen" Kempadoo was a writer and broadcaster from Guyana. He also worked as a development worker in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. He moved in 1953 to the UK, where he built a career in print journalism as well as radio and television broadcasting, and published two novels, Guiana Boy in 1960 — the first novel by a Guyanese of Indian descent — and Old Thom's Harvest in 1965, before returning to Guyana in 1970. He died in London, aged 92.
Michael Arthur Gilkes was a Caribbean literary critic, dramatist, poet, filmmaker and university lecturer. He was involved in theatre for more than 40 years, as a director, actor and playwright, winning the Guyana Prize for Drama in 1992 and 2006, as well as the Guyana Prize for Best Book of Poetry in 2002. He was also respected for his insight into and writings on the work of Wilson Harris.
Oonya Kempadoo is a novelist who was born in the United Kingdom of Guyanese parentage, her father being the writer Peter Kempadoo. She is the author of three well received novels: Buxton Spice (1998); Tide Running (2001); All Decent Animals (2013). She is a winner of the Casa de las Americas Literary Prize.
The Wordsworth McAndrew Awards celebrate Guyanese who have made important contributions to the country's cultural life. Awardees' talents include broadcasting, cultural promotion, drama, music, painting, theatre, and writing. The awards, founded in 2002, are presented by the Guyana Folk Festival, a Brooklyn, NY, USA-based organization.
The National Library of Guyana is the legal deposit and copyright library for Guyana. Unlike many national libraries, it is also a public lending library and the headquarters of Guyana's public library service, with branches extending throughout the country. Founded in 1909, the National Library of Guyana is situated on the corner of Church Street and Main Street in central Georgetown. In 2007, the library recorded a collection of 397,893 books and a total of 22,058 members. Its collection includes the papers of A. J. Seymour and Ian McDonald.
Citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose origins lie in Guyana are a part of the country's British Caribbean community. Guyana was a former British colony, British Guiana, responsible for moving large numbers of Africans and Indians for labour in the sugar industry. British Guyanese are notable for their contributions to literature and music.
Elly Niland is a Guyanese-born poet, playwright and teacher.
George Simon was a Guyanese Lokono Arawak artist and archaeologist. He was the founder and mentor of the Lokono Artists Group, a group of Lokono artists from Guyana, based primarily in his hometown of St. Cuthbert's Mission. Simon was widely regarded as one of the leading Guyanese artists of his generation, and his paintings are notable for their explorations of Amerindian culture and the Guyanese environment. He was also recognized for his achievements as an educator, his efforts to develop opportunities for Amerindian artists in Guyana, and for his work as an archaeologist.
Edward Rupert Burrowes was a Guyanese artist and art teacher who founded the Working People's Art Class (WPAC), the first established art institution in Guyana. The E R Burrowes School of Art, an undergraduate institution accredited by the University of Guyana, is named after him.
St. Cuthbert's Mission is an Amerindian village on the Mahaica River in the Demerara-Mahaica region of Guyana. It comprises approximately 200 households. St. Cuthbert's is regarded by many people in Guyana as the "cultural capital" for Amerindians.
Castellani House is a large nineteenth-century building in Georgetown, Guyana. It is on the corner of Vlissengen Road and Homestretch Avenue. It was designed and constructed by the Maltese architect, Cesar Castellani, between 1879 and 1882. Originally serving as a residence for colonial government officials, Castellani House has been the home of Guyana's National Art Gallery since 1993.
Angus Percy Bain Richmond was a Guyanese writer who spent most of his life in Britain.
Cécile Nobrega, née Burgan was a Guyanese-born British teacher, poet, playwright, composer and community activist. She led a 15-year campaign to establish a monument in Stockwell Memorial Gardens, Bronze Woman, the first public statue of a black woman to be on permanent display in England.
Egbert Martin, writing under the alias Leo, was a 19th-century Guyanese poet.
Shana Yardan was a Guyanese poet and broadcaster, whose work contributed to wider understanding of experiences of Guyanese women, the impact of British colonialism and the natural world.
References
- 1 2 3 Al Creighton, "A brief look at Guyanese Independence literature", Stabroek News , 29 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 Petamber Persaud, "Winners at a glance", Preserving our literary Heritage | Literary Corner, Guyana Chronicle, 29 July 2007, p. IV.
- ↑ Petamber Persaud, "Preserving Our Literary Heritage: Small Presses and the Guyana Prize", Guyana Chronicle, 29 November 2015.
- ↑ "Berkley Semple", Guyana Prize for Literature.
- Al Creighton, "A brief look at Guyanese Independence literature", Stabroek News , 29 May 2016.
- Petamber Persaud, "Winners at a glance", Preserving our literary Heritage | Literary Corner, Guyana Chronicle, 29 July 2007, p. IV.