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| Popular Vic Reid book |
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| Una Marson selected poems |
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| popular Jean D'Costa book |
So, a revised version of the literary competition formerly
hosted by the National Book Council of Jamaica has been launched. The Lignum
Vitae Writing Awards has been announced. (See Diane Browne's blog post at http://dianebrowneblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-launch-of-lignum-vitae-writing.html)
There are three sections: the Una Marson Award for adult literature,
The Vic Reid award for YA literature and the Jean D'Costa Award for children's literature.
I hope there are many writers both aspiring and already
established who will enter their work for these awards.
Many competitions nowadays specify that they are for emergent
writers. While it is desirable to encourage new writers, competitions also
allow those who might already have been published access to discovery of their new
material as well as compensation which many older writers welcome.
The prizes for the
Lignum Vitae competition are attractive. The Una Marson Award winner will
receive $500,000; while the winners of the Vic Reid and Jean D’Costa awards
will each receive $250,000.
Good writing is good writing whether it is coming from old
or new authors. And that is what we need. So, authors, start writing with this in
mind or brush up already existing material. I am excited to see what turns up.
(Self promotion )
My collections of short stories Ramgoat Dashalong won the Vic Reid Award in 1997
https://www.lmhpublishing.com/children/ramgoat-dashalong
