The much-anticipated 2020 Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize is open for submissions in the non-fiction genre. This is the second round of the pan-Caribbean developmental award for emerging writers.
The Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize, managed by The Bocas Lit Fest in Trinidad and Tobago and Arvon in the UK, is an annual award that allows an emerging Caribbean writer living and working in the Anglophone Caribbean to devote time to advancing or finishing a literary work with support from an established writer as mentor.
The prize is offered across three literary genres over a three-year period. The current 2020 round is for non-fiction. The fiction winner, Sharma Taylor of Jamaica, was announced earlier in 2019 at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad and Tobago’s annual literary festival. In 2021, the prize will accept poetry entries.
The Prize consists of a generous cash award, a year’s mentorship, travel to the United Kingdom to attend a one-week intensive Arvon creative writing course at one of Arvon’s internationally renowned writing houses and three days in London, which includes being featured at an event hosted by Arvon in association with the Free Word Centre. The opportunity also exists to be agented by a leading London literary agency.
Philanthropist Dr. Kongsheik Achong Low, sponsor of the prize, is a medical practitioner and Chairman of Medcorp Limited. The prize is named for his parents and commemorates their lives as hardworking citizens whose children have continued to contribute to the building of Trinidad and Tobago.
“It is a rare case of personal philanthropy for which we are all very grateful”, said Marina Salandy-Brown, founder of the prize. “Talent is not everything, it has to be honed, and this prize provides a unique opportunity to help future noteworthy writers develop their potential.”
Click here for full information and entry forms.
Submissions close on 30 September 2019.