Grounding Voices

The Walter Rodney Awards for Creative Writing were created in 2013 by the members of the Walter Rodney Foundation and a private philanthropist who funds the awards through the foundation. The competition for the awards asked students of the University of Guyana to respond to different themes in the form of poetry, short stories and essays. Over the three years, the themes changed and developed. In the first year, the subject material was left completely open; no conditions were placed on the students in terms of themes. Contestants could write either poetry, a short story or prose. In the second year, a similar approach was taken, but this time the authors were asked to incorporate the life or work of Walter Rodney in some way. The poetry competition was also dropped from the competition that year. The third year of the competition coincided with the 50th Anniversary of Guyana's Independence, so the theme was more focussed, but still had a certain ambiguity about it - 'Guyana: Life in Another 50 Years'. This allowed the contestants to focus on the future, the past or both, but they had to write about their country in some way. Following feedback from the contestants, the poetry section returned and a new dimension was added in the form of an essay competition; within each of the categories the contestants still experimented with different structures and forms. Within this eclectic collection you can savour the enthusiasm, focus, quality and humour of the winners from the first three years of the competition. Fist in the air!