National calypsonians Young Bill Rogers and Precious Pearl were among several persons whose poems were selected and published in this year’s edition of the Guyana Annual.
The two calysonians told The Scene recently that they were overjoyed at placing first (Pearl) and second (Rogers) in the Rajkumari Singh category of the competition, which features stories and poems for children.
Precious Pearl (Pearl Lewis) and Rogers (Roger Hinds) were presented with their prizes at a presentation ceremony convened by the organizers of the annual publication, Guy Enterprise, last week.
Pearl’s entry, entitled “Gilbert the Guinea Pig”, speaks of a guinea pig whose daily ramblings had “become a nuisance to those within his environs and eventually, the negatives of the character were turned into positives,” Lewis stated. This occurred:
One night, it was dark,
dog dozed away and did not bark
Poor Gilbert who was not asleep
Saw a fox dressed like a sheep…
And subsequently raised an alarm, as the fox ran away.
Precious Pearl said she has been submitting entries to the publication since 2001 and over the years, the singer/songwriter stated that she has expressed a desire to see the manuscripts of cartoons feature quality material for children to learn from.
Rogers, meantime seemed cool about his achievement, even though he joined his colleague in expressing satisfaction that their entries were among those selected by the organisers. His entry “Times Change”, speaks of the numerous changes which occurred in society over the years, including technological advances, the likes of the entry of the computer into the working world as opposed to the typewriter.
The former National Calypso ‘King’ told The Scene , “I just wanted to try my hand at something else”, and to “show the public that I am also gifted in other areas.”
The calypsonian, who featured prominently in this years HIV/AIDS song aspect of the National Mash Calyspo competition, told The Scene that it was the first time he had submitted entries to the Guyana Annual and said he hoped to continue to do so annually, since according to him, his material “is good quality for children to learn from”.
