The Malliouhana Poetry Competition Committee has announced the date for its annual poetry awards ceremony. The ceremony, that was previously scheduled for May 12, 2021 and postponed due to the mandatory lockdown in relation to COVID-19, will now be held on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 6:00 p.m., at Roy’s Bayside Grill, Sandy Ground.
At the ceremony, the awardees will come from various age groups. The theme for the 2021 Competition is “If Only…” and according to the Committee, it is a theme befitting the last 18 months of our lives in Anguilla and the world.
Additionally, the Committee will pay tribute to three local authors and artistes at the ceremony. The 2021 honourees are Dr. Oluwakemi Linda Banks, a Clinical Psychologist by profession and an avid author. She has composed songs, poems, and narratives for schools, and for various shows and organisations. Dr. Banks is the author of Starfish: A Journey in Healing, a collection of poems, which was published in 2017; Mr. Kenneth Richardson, a gifted Anguillian artist who is well known for his song writing, skilled guitar and banjo playing, and his locally made thatch brooms, and other crafts from coconut and fibre. He has played with the Mayoumba Folkloric Theatre and many local string bands, including the Happy Hits; and Mr. George Hodge, affectionately known as “Tr. George”. Tr. George has been a lover of words from a very early age. Throughout his years, he has developed his writing skills – having written various literary pieces in the form of short stories, plays and poems – and founded publications, The Light Newspaper and What We Do In Anguilla.
These three outstanding artistes will receive the Malliouhana Culture Bearer Award, an award that celebrates persons who have actively contributed, and who continue to contribute, to the cultural development of Anguilla.
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 Awards Ceremony on 23rd June, 2021 is free and open to the public. Roy’s Bayside Grill will be open for purchases. The Committee is inviting everyone to join in the celebration of the local Culture Bearers and the 2021 Malliouhana Poetry Awardees.
– Press Release
