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Creative writing competition standout pieces for all-island tour

Published:Tuesday | September 5, 2017 | 12:00 AM
Contributed
From Left: Joan Pinkney, (licensing and member services manager, Jamcopy); Gillian Wilkinson-McDaniel, (senior director, entertainment policy and monitoring at the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport); Arlene Daley, representing Malachi Dermot Smith, choice writer - 4th Place; Joan Francis, Outstanding Writer - 2nd Place, Rohan Facey, Special Writer - 3rd Place, Yvonne Malcom Scott, representing Gloria Malcolm Foster, Best Overall Writer - 1st Place, Juliet Johnson-Clarke, Noteworthy Writer - 5th Place and Orville Hill, Interim Executive Director of the JCDC.

The work from the top writers in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's (JCDC) Jamaica Creative Writing Competition will be on showcase across the island at all major and parish libraries.

Organised by the JCDC, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Jamaica Creative Writing Competition has been one of the best channels of providing writers with the opportunity of recognising and validating their writing talent, while showcasing and promoting writers and their original work.

The tour is expected to cover all 14 parishes and will run until April 2018. The pieces will be available to members of the public who wish to view them. They will also be featured online at the JCDC's website, www.jcdc.gov.jm.

"Each year, we use the Jamaica Creative Writing Competition and Exhibition's Award Ceremony to celebrate the best that the ever-expanding Jamaican literary fraternity has to offer," said director of marketing and public relations at the JCDC, Stephen Davidson, at the recently concluded awards ceremony. "These outstanding amateur and professional writers pour their souls into their creative works, and the JCDC stands committed to honouring that effort by unearthing, developing, showcasing and preserving their noteworthy works."

More than 70 outstanding amateur and professional Jamaican writers who entered their creative works in this year's competition in the several categories - poetry, short stories, novels, essays and plays - were awarded cash prizes, certificates of merit, medals and trophies.

 

OUTSTANDING WRITER

 

Gloria Malcolm Foster, Joan Francis, Rohan Facey and Malachi Dermot Smith were among this year's big winners. Malcolm Foster was named the Best Overall Writer, while second place went to Joan Francis, who was also named Outstanding Writer. The third-place and Special Writer awards were won by Rohan Facey and fourth-place and the Choice Writer award went to Malachi Dermot Smith. Noteworthy writer Danielle Willie was awarded fifth place.

Other top awardees at the August 15 awards ceremony included Best Intermediate Playwright - Fitsroy Randall, Best Adult Playwright - Michelle Ashwood, Best Intermediate Essayist - Jeffery Johnson, Best Adult Essayist - Joan Francis, Best Junior Short Story Writer and Best Intermediate Short Story Writer - Latoya Wakefield, Best Adult Short Story Writer - Lesley-Ann Wanliss, Best Intermediate Novelist - Robert McCarthy, Best Adult Novelist - Hugh Martin, Best Junior Poet - Marie A. Cameron Francis, Best Intermediate Poet - Gloria Malcolm Foster, and Best Adult Poet - Malachi Dermot Smith.