BASSE-TERRE, Guadeloupe--The 5th edition of the Caribbean Writers Congress held at the Memorial ACTe ended on Saturday, April 8, with the awarding of the Grand Prix Littéraire Région Guadeloupe to Rita Indiana for her novel La Mucama de Omicunlé, published by Périférica.
Rita Indiana Hernández was born in Santo Domingo in 1977. A writer but also singer-songwriter, she started writing when she was quite young before developing a passion for music and reinventing the merengue. Her songs lyrics as well as her novels focus primarily on Caribbean social and ethical issues. La Mucama de Omicunlé (Omicunle’s Maid) cautions the reader about the undeniable and inevitable destruction of our world and portrays a clear picture of what will happen if we do not stop the process of dehumanisation and violence.
While this latest novel retains the Dominicana rhythm that characterises Rita Indiana, especially through geography, history and linguistic codes, it is also deeply Caribbean and Latin American.
Le Grand Prix Littéraire Région Guadeloupe is intended to honour and reward a literary work published in the previous three years in French, English or Spanish. It is awarded by the members of an international jury composed of major literary figures and writers from the Caribbean.
For this 5th Edition, four nominees competed for the Award: Olive Sénior of Jamaica with The Pain Tree, Cormorant books edition; Anthony Phelps of Haiti with Je veille incorrigible féticheur, Bruno Doucey edition; Roland Brival of Martinique with Nègre de personne, Gallimard edition; and Rita Indiana of the Dominican Republic, with La Mucama de Omicunlé, Périférica edition.
The international jury members were: Andrès Bansart (Venezuela), President of the Caribbean Writers Association Earl Lovelace (Trinidad & Tobago), Camila Valdés (Cuba), Patricia Donatien (Martinique), a member of the jury for the French linguistic area: Lyonel Trouillot; a member of the jury for the English area: professor Funso Aiyejina and a member of the jury for the Spanish area: Ariel Camejo.
The Congress aims to contribute to the cultural development of Guadeloupean and Caribbean citizens as a whole.
This Guadeloupe Region’s Great Literary Award initiated by the Association of Writers of the Caribbean has therefore decided, this year, to honour the Dominican Republic and a new generation of writers.
