JCDC Launches Electronic Version of Winning Short Stories

The electronic version of ‘Gold Anthology’, a collection of gold medal winning short stories from the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Festival was launched on July 22.

This collection, which was launched in book format in November last year, features top entries from 1999 and 2006, with contributions from Dionne Jackson Miller, Rudolph Wallace, Michael Record and Carroll Edwards, among others.

The event took place during the staging of the JCDC Jamaica Creative Writing Competition and Awards Ceremony, held at the Knustford Court Hotel in New Kingston.

Speaking at that previous launch last year, Speech, Drama and Literary Arts Specialist at the JCDC, Andrew Brodber, said the product is of great quality and “will stay with us for a very long time.”

“This feast of gold award works will provide new material for leisure, academics, as well as provide Jamaica with a billboard of creative works, which may be considered for films and other creative outlets,” he said.

During the ceremony, amateur and professional writers were honoured and recognized for their outstanding literary pieces submitted for the competition.

According to JCDC Board Chairman, Aston Cooke, creative writers have important roles to play in national development as they record history, culture and customs of the nation.

“Our writers give readers the knowledge for nation building and enhance the quality and development of this island,” he said.

Individuals entered their creative works in poetry, short stories, novels, essays and plays and top entries were awarded cash prizes, certificates of merit, medals, trophies and other prizes.

The competition has been one of the best channels of providing novelists, short story writers, essayists, playwrights and poets with the opportunity of recognizing and validating their writing talent, while showcasing and promoting writers and their original work.