By Yunus S Saliu
The Young Writers’ Association of The Gambia (YWAG) has unveiled his latest award ceremony called The Gambia Prize for Literature (GPL), to honor the author of the best Gambian books in the last 10 years.
The annual literary prize is awarded by the Young Writers’ Association of The Gambia (YWAG) in tandem with its vision of creating the Gambia firmly rooted in culture and values through the art of creative writing and storytelling.
This year’s award with the theme ‘Reading Gambian Literature’ is the maiden edition of the award and it is in different categories include The YWAG Prize for Gambian Literature, Poetry, Drama, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Spoken Word Poetry, History, and Young Gambian Writer
Dilating on the award, Modou Lamin Age-Almusaf Sowe, the founder of the event explained that over the last few years, the Gambia Prize for Literature has become one of YWAG’s flagship projects and aims to create an annual literary festival in The Gambia. “The book festival is an annual literary, artistic, cultural, and creative arts event that was founded in 2019,” he disclosed.
According to him, it brings together new and established writers from across The Gambia to promote, develop and celebrate creativity on the African continent in various genres.
“Unlike the Open Mic Festival and the Janjanbureh Kankurang Festival, the book festival is The Gambia’s biggest annual gathering of literary writers, book lovers, artists, fashion designers, actors, editors, critics, and readers. The project targets the youth, art educators, spoken word artists, writers, publishers, editors, booksellers, critics, book enthusiasts, children, youth-led organizations and youth leaders, community-based organizations, the media, and creative minded people,” he explained further.
Age-Almusaf Sowe noted that the festival scheduled for October 2022 will include an exhibition of Gambian books, a hall of fame for Gambian literature, autographing of books, keynote addresses, spoken word poetry, dramas, fashion, and musical performances.
In addition, he said the book festival is a project to further invest in Gambian youth and women and marginalized communities.
Further on these awards, he said “Gambians are doing great things wherever they are, home (in The Gambia) and abroad. This must not go unnoticed! The Young Writers Association of The Gambia has come up with the book festival to recognize and appreciate the efforts of Gambians in national development. The event is meant to recognize individuals and organizations for their achievements and commitment to society as part of celebrations to mark The Gambia’s 58 years as a nation.”
For more information about the YWAG 2022 Awards click on this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IxZYP574xXTGSLfS15O0gntEppUn2QlbRquT6ArhtcE/edit?usp=sharing