As plans for the staging of the 2018 Malliouhana Poetry Competition/Awards continue, the Organising Committee has announced that Playwright/Director/Actor, Mr. Felix Fleming, Educator/Artiste Mrs. Bernice Fahie-Richardson and Poet/Cultural Activist, Ms. Lena Gumbs will be recipients of its 2018 Culture Bearer Awards. The three Anguillian cultural stalwarts will be recognised at the 2018 Malliouhana Poetry Awards Ceremony slated for Thursday, 3rd May 2018 at Public Library in the Valley.
Since 2015 the Committee has been paying tribute to local poets/artistes for their contributions to the cultural development of Anguilla. Last year, as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Anguilla Revolution, the Committee honoured five Culture Bearers: Mrs. Verna Bryan, Mrs. Iona Hodge, Mrs. Olive Hodge, Ms. Carmencita Woods and Mr. Winston Harrigan, for their active role as reservoirs of oral history and their sharing of their memories of the Revolution across the generations. In 2016 the Committee honoured poet and revolutionary heroine, Mrs. Daisy “Wong” Richardson, and paid tribute to the late Educator, Poet and Cultural Activist, Ms. Linda T. Lake in 2015.
The Malliouhana Poetry Competition 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 annual literary event is part of the national Anguilla Day celebrations and seeks to encourage literacy and artistic expression, as well as to promote an ethos of social, cultural, and political awareness.
The theme for this year is “Neighbours Beyond Storms” and the Committee believes that it will attract another large number of submissions for the “On the Page” and “Performance” categories. The Winners will be announced at the Performance Round and Awards Ceremony on Thursday, 3rd May. In addition to receiving plaques and other prizes, the winners from the junior and senior categories will have the opportunity to share their work at the Anguilla Literary Festival.
The Awards Ceremony is free and open to the public and the Committee is inviting everyone to join in the celebration of the local Culture Bearers and the 2018 Malliouhana Poetry Awardees.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
