The 4th Congress of Caribbean Writers ended on Saturday18th April, with the awarding of the Grand Prix Littéraire, by the Association of Caribbean Writers, in collaboration with the Regional Council of Guadeloupe to Simone and André Schwarz-Bart for their book “l’Ancêtre en Solitude”, published by Seuil.
Simone Schwarz-Bart. Photo courtesy www.lehman.cuny.edu
Three contenders:
Simone and André Schwarz-Bart, “l’Ancêtre en Solitude”, Editions Seuil, 2015 (Guadeloupe)
Rita Indiana Hernandez, “Nombres y animals”, Periférica, 2013 (Dominican Republic)
Marlon James, “A brief History of Seven Killings”, Riverhead, 2014 (Jamaica)
A very moved Simone Schwarz-Bart was presented with the Grand Prix of the Association of Caribbean Writers by Fély Kacy Bambuck, Chair of the Cultural Commission at the Regional Council.
Marlon James. Photo courtesy www.npr.org
In the words of Daniel Maximin, “this book shows the power of fiction in revealing history, where the heroine is none other than the daughter of Solitude. A family line that would go on to comprise the population of Guadeloupe. This is the resistance of life to the hell that is death. Literature surpassed the demise of André and the silence of Simone, with writings that remained unknown to all for 30 years”.
The members of the jury were Pierre Alix (Guadeloupe), André Bansart (Venezuela), Alwin Bully (Dominica), Patricia Donatien (Martinique), Earl Lovelace (Trinidad and Tobago), Daniel Maximin (Guadeloupe), Yolanda Wood (Cuba), Marie-Rose Lafleur (Guadeloupe), Lawrence Scott (Trinidad and Tobago) and Ariel Camejo (Cuba)
This prize is meant to honour and reward a literary work written in French, English or Spanish and published over the course of the last three years. It is awarded by the members of an international jury composed of Caribbean literary figures and writers.
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