The Guyana Prize for Literature reveals an interesting mix of some of the leading writers and previous winners and a wave of very new writers among the contenders, according to the shortlist recently released. This suggests the continuing importance of the prize on two levels: one – that it attracts the established authors who continue to find it, and literary prizes in general, important and worth contesting; two – that the prize has developmental functions: it still contributes to the advancement of the literature since it heralds the passage of new works by the foremost writers into Guyanese and West Indian literature in addition to the introduction of new and up-coming artists.
For the Best Book of Fiction in the Guyana Prize there are three contenders who are all established
