Two get Derek Walcott prizes

News

Zion McNeil, centre, and Derek Walcott Estate co-executors Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw, left, and Anna Walcott-Hardy attended an awards ceremony in April at UWI, St Augustine campus. - Photo courtesy the Derek Walcott Estate

TWO writers have copped prizes from the Derek Walcott Estate.

In a news release on November 15, the estate said it was pleased to announce the winners of two prizes: Zion McNeil has been awarded the Derek Walcott Theatre Arts Scholarship (2023/2024) and Antonella Anedda the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry.

The Derek Walcott Theatre Arts Scholarship is presented annually to a Caricom student enrolled in the theatre arts programme at UWI.

Co-executors of the Walcott Estate Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw and Anna Walcott-Hardy presented the award to McNeil at a ceremony at UWI, St Augustine campus in April.

In November, Arrowsmith Press, in partnership with the Derek Walcott Festival in Port of Spain/Walcott Estate, announced that Anedda had been chosen by Diane Mehta as this year's winner of the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry for her book Historiae, translated from Italian by Susan Stewart and Patrizio Ceccagnoli, published by the New York Review of Books.

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The prize, the release said, was established from a generous donation by Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott (1930-2017) in 2014.

It said the estate remains committed to supporting the award.

The Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry is given annually to a full-length book of poems by a living poet who is not a US citizen (green-card holders are eligible) published in the previous calendar year. The book must be in English or in English translation and may have been published anywhere in the world.

Anedda, the release said, is an Italian poet, short-story writer, essayist, and translator. She was born in Rome to a Sardinian family in 1955. She is the author of nine books and the recipient of the prestigious Viareggio Prize for her 2012 collection of poetry, Salva con nome.

Anedda will receive a US$2,000 cash prize, shared by the poet and the translators.

Established in 2019, the annual prize is for a book in English or English translation by a living poet writing in any language who is not a US citizen published in the previous calendar year.

Submissions for the 2025 Walcott Prize are now open, the release said.

PAST WINNERS

Derek Walcott Theatre Arts Scholarship award(regional award)

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Chelsea Ramjit (2014-2015)

Tasha Frank (2015-2016)

Nickose Layne (2018-2019)

Rachel Henry (2019-2020)

Curtis Bachan (2021-2022)

Sabrina Mohammed (2022-2023)

Zion Mc Neil (2023-2024)

Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry award (international award)

Julia Copus (2020): Girlhood (United Kingdom)

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Sehiry Zhadan (2021): A New Orthography (Ukraine)

Canisia Lubrin (2021): The Dyzgraphxst (St Lucia)

Saddiq M Dzukogi (2022): Your Crib, My Qibla (Nigeria)

Mosab Abu Toha (2023): Things You May Find Hidden (Palestine)

Antonella Anedda (2024): Historiae (Italy)