Faith D'Aguilar does an imitation of Louise Bennett-Coverly. Right: Jodi-Ann Bowen - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer Guest Performers Jodi-Ann Bowen and Faith D'Aguilar caused laughter among the patrons at the Jamaica Creative Writing Competition Awards on a night when the judges' report on the competition had put a damper on the spirits of some of the entrants in the competition.
The event, held at the Jamaica Pegasus, and put on by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), awarded persons who had done well in the creative writing competition which included poetry, essays, novels, plays and short stories.
Bowen, a student at the St. Andrew High School for girls and an entrant in this year's JCDC Speech and Drama competition, was the first performer for the night. Her presentation was done in Jamaican patois and caused laughter from the beginning when she spoke about the life of a dog.
In her own way, she described her life as a male canine who had to deal with humans and other dogs on a daily basis. Bowen said that dogs were smart creatures and more intelligent than humans imagined. She said that 'man's best friend' were loving animals and deserved better treatment than what they got.
Laughter rang out for the most part of her five-minute long performance as she recounted experiences of how she dealt with her master and other humans.
D'Aguillar did an imitation of the honourable Louise Bennett-Coverley. The entertainer spoke about several of her childhood experiences, such as not being allowed to speak the dialect by her father or speaking English with her peers at high school when they were all using patois.
Her imitation of 'Miss Lou' drew laughter from the audience, which at times seemed unable to control themselves.
Both performers proved to be the difference on a night that was otherwise sombre due largely to the judges' report.
Highly critical
For the most part, the judges' report were highly critical of the entrants in the competition. For example, in the essay segment, Miss Cheryl Brown, who presented the judges report, pointed out that of the 12 scripts received, two were in the wrong category. which meant, they were more like short stories.
In the essay category, three persons received merit awards and one received a bronze medal. Oren O. Cousins, Jermaine Rankine and Mellissa Cooper were given merits for their efforts. Jermaine Rankine received a bronze medal in the category, while Norma Hines Brissett received silver.
The poetry section was a little less harsh. However, that did not mean that all persons in this category received prizes. The judges pointed out that only a small percentage of persons received awards in that category. Of the more than 400 entries, only 32 received awards.
The novel category was described as difficult to excel in. This description was justified since only Gweneth Harold's Secret Identities of the Rio Minho received a merit award.
The short stories saw 11 persons receiving awards. Of the 11 awards, five were merit awards, three were honourable mentions, two were in the bronze medal category and one was a silver medal.
In the play category, nine awards were given out. There was one honourable mention, two merits, three bronze medals and three silver medals.
The guest speaker for the night, novelist Colin Channer, managed to raise the self-esteem of entrants with his words of encouragement and noted that the judges had used the forum as a 'bully pulpit'. In the end he encouraged persons to work hard to achieve their dreams.
