Dear Editor,
In the wake of the Minister of Culture, Dr Frank Anthony’s recent call for help with the Caribbean Press, I have indicated via e-mail to Permanent Secretary Alfred King my willingness to meet with the ministry in the company of other stakeholders to discuss the way forward, an e-mail which was acknowledged as received by Mr King. I look forward to this engagement considering the many outstanding issues related to the Press and its management.
I’ll ignore John Mair’s characteristically inane and transparent intervention on behalf of Dr David Dabydeen (SN, May 31), except to correct two key things: one, that his glib remark about what has been done ‘right’ by the Press, conveniently ignores the issues of what is blatantly
wrong as raised not only by yours truly but several other citizens of Guyana including Barrington Braithwaite, Nadia Sagar, Gideon Cecil, fellow Guyana Prize winner Ryhaan Shah and respected parliamentarian and intellectual Dr Rupert Roopnaraine.
Secondly, no one is disputing the usefulness of some of the publications under the Guyana Classics series – but what was supposed to be only 36 titles (originally 30), as promised by Drs Dabydeen and Anthony, has expanded into an unknown number that all we know is less than 60. This is glaring in the context of what has been an utter failure to stick to even their own shifting goalposts on publishing emerging local writers, the original raison d’être of the Press in the first place.
In the months leading up to Carifesta 2008, the Ministry of Culture under Minister Anthony invited submissions for a special anthology of poetry to be released at the event – this publication is yet to surface, with no explanation given.
Three years ago, in March of 2010, we learnt via Stabroek News that “while the Publishing House was currently republishing works which belonged to the Guyana Classics Series, the intention was to publish fresh works written by local writers. Dr Dabydeen noted that in the past there had been limited opportunities for young writers to showcase their work, but that this would change with the establishment of this new publishing entity.” (SN, March 10, 2010)
In May of 2010, a handing over of eleven Guyana Classics books to secondary schools was the occasion for a launch of a short story and poetry competition. We were informed that
“The closing date of submission of entries is July 15 and must be submitted to Petamber Persaud c/o Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. The stories and poems will be published in an anthology by the Caribbean Press.” (SN, May 15, 2010)
In September of that year, with no reference whatever to the results of the previously announced competition, we were to learn that a “[young writers’] workshop is being held at the Carifesta Sports complex and at its close outstanding pieces produced would be published in the Caribbean Press.” (SN, September 4, 2010)
In May of 2011, about ten writers (not “a broad call” as disingenuously claimed by the Minister) were sent an e-mail by Petamber Persaud asking for submissions to be considered by Dr Dabydeen for inclusion in a national anthology of poetry to published later that year. I was the person, not Dr Anthony, who insisted that any national anthology had to have benefited from a wide public call for submissions and workshops with those selected, something which was never undertaken – I have all the e-mails saved in case the Minister’s memory needs further refreshing. I offer an excerpt of one that I sent to the group:
“I haven’t ruled out engagement ‒ what I have done is conditioned my engagement, as a matter of personal moral policy, upon a process which sees as wide as possible a casting of the net to include poets who are out of the present network and who are awaiting discovery, and a mechanism which allows for the development of their work. This would ensure that any
anthology coming out of this effort would not only have the best of contemporary poets, but also their best possible work. I don’t believe that’s a tall order.” (May 17, 2011)
None of this was done, and nothing came out of any of those promises. On the contrary, in May of 2013, five years after the initial commitment to publish local writers, four years after the Press was launched, two years after the poets met with the Minister, and 24 titles after the scheduled
36-book limit on the Guyana Classics, only two emerging resident writers have had books published, both without any history of (exemplary) publication, and both of whom have direct ties to the Press.
When I first raised the issue in January of this year, the Minister’s initial response was to send me a lawyer’s letter threatening to sue me for libel. I have held my ground and from that time to now, not a single additional title has been launched, and especially none of the books that
we were assured since January were at the printers, the anthologies of short fiction and poetry by resident Guyanese writers and poets. Indeed, neither Dr Anthony nor Dr Dabydeen has offered a definitive timeline for the launch of these books, although I recently received from Dr Dabydeen a list of the names of the poets said to have been published; the vast majority of them needed the workshops and editorial guidance that I have campaigned for time and time again. We still don’t know who the fiction writers are.
As a country, we are now faced with the particular embarrassment of a great deal of taxpayer money having been committed five years ago to establish a press to publish resident emerging writers and nothing to show for it at either at the Inter-Guiana Cultural Festival (French Guiana) in July, or at Carifesta (Suriname) in August.
So, it is not that the ministry has not been offered engagement, nor that good, sound ideas have not been proffered – it is simply that Minister Anthony has chosen to play politics instead of instituting a national cultural policy. Now that he seems finally open to good advice, and considering that I have made clear my intention to assist, I hope that the Minister’s offer has been made in good faith.
Yours faithfully,
Ruel Johnson
