The Organising Committee of the Malliouhana Poetry Competition has announced the theme for the 2017 Competition. “Malliouhana Our Rock … 50 Not Out!” follows on last year’s theme in recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution.
Now in its tenth year, the annual literary event is organised by the University of the West Indies Open Campus Anguilla in collaboration with the Anguilla Library Service, the Department of Youth and Culture and the Anguilla Community College. The goal is to encourage literacy and artistic expression, as well as to promote an ethos of social, cultural, and political awareness. It is open to all persons residing on Anguilla and features two categories: Poetry on the Page and Performance Poetry. Junior poets (those in the 8-15 age range) and the Seniors (ages 16 and up) are invited to submit their unpublished works for one or both categories. Poets in the Performance Poetry/Spoken Word category will be required to perform their submission for judging in front of a live audience at the Awards Ceremony scheduled for 3rd May 2017. Winners of the Poetry on the Page category will be invited to read their submissions at the ceremony. All the Winners also have the option of sharing their work at The Anguilla Lit Fest.
The Competition which now forms part of the annual Anguilla Day Celebration activities, has over the years attracted more than two hundred entries from over one hundred and fifty (150) poets from all age ranges. Last year Savannah Croft and Alysha Carty took first place honours in the Junior Categories, while T’arah Niles and Vanessa Croft-Thompson were adjudged winners in the two Senior Categories.
As part of the 2016 Awards, the Organisers also paid tribute to local poet and revolutionary heroine, Mrs. Daisy “Wong” Richardson. The 95-year-old “Dee”, as she is affectionately known, mesmerised the audience with her flawless recitation of her tribute to the “Father of the Nation”, Mr. James Ronald Webster.
Entry forms, as well as the rules and regulations for the 2017 Competition may be obtained from the Anguilla Library Service and the UWI Open Campus Anguilla Site at Pope Hill on the Queen Elizabeth Avenue. The deadline date for entries is 31 March 2017.
For further information please contact the Anguilla Public Library at 497-2441 and the University of the West Indies Open Campus at 497-8156 or email anguilla@open.uwi.edu.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
