June 30 deadline for Lignum Vitae awards
Published:Friday | June 26, 2015 | 1:54 PM
The June 30 deadline for submissions for the Lignum Vitae Writing Awards, Jamaica's first major literary awards, is fast approaching. Recently resuscitated and expanded under the Jamaican Writers Society (JaWS), in association with the Jamaican Copyright Licensing Agency (JAMCOPY), the Lignum Vitae Writing Awards now boasts a cash purse of $1 million.
The awards are open to all Jamaican nationals, at home and abroad, and permanent residents of Jamaica. There are three categories - the Una Marson Award for Adult Literature, the Vic Reid Award for Young Adult Literature, and the Jean D'Costa Award for Children's Literature.
Entries in the adult category must be no less than 50,000 words and can include novels, creative non-fiction - such as memoirs, biographies and autobiographies - as well as essay and short-story collections. The young adult and children categories are geared towards novels and short-story collections of no less than 30,000 and 15,000 words, respectively. All entries must be submitted electronically as a pdf document to lignumvitaeawards@gmail.com.
Sweetened by the attractive purse being offered through the JAMCOPY Cultural Fund, the Una Marson Award offers $500,000 while the Jean D'Costa and Vic Reid prizes each offer $250,000. The Lignum Vitae Writing Awards is aimed at becoming Jamaica's premier literary award and will promote and celebrate new Jamaican writing.
"We're building on the solid foundation left by the National Book Development Council," said JaWS president Tanya Batson-Savage.
PAST WINNERS
"Professor Mervyn Morris, Pam Mordecai, Garfield Ellis and Kei Miller are some of the esteemed Jamaican writers who have won the Una Marson and Vic Reid Awards. We are looking forward to receiving an encouraging number of entries of this continued high quality come June 30."
The 2015 Lignum Vitae Awards is supported by Nucleus Creative, Scarlett Beharie & Associates, and the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, which supports the Jean D'Costa Award. Additional information about the awards can be found on its Facebook page and website, respectively: www.facebook.com/lignumvitaeawards https://jamaicanwriterssociety.wordpress.com