The Guyana Prize was established, in 1987, by President Hugh Desmond Hoyte to recognize and reward outstanding work in literature of Guyanese authors at home and abroad, to provide a focus for the recognition of the creative writing of Guyanese and to stimulate interest in, and provide encouragement for, the development of good creative writing among Guyanese in particular and Caribbean writers in general. Initially, prizes were offered in the two categories of Poetry and Prose Fiction. Drama was added to the list in 1989. A Special Prize was awarded in 1987 and again in 1992 while a Guyana Prize Special Award, has been awarded since 1998.

The first Guyana Prize, in 1987, attracted some 30 entries. The works were of a very high quality reflecting the strength of the Guyanese creative imagination at the time. However, all of the winners were located in the Guyanese Diaspora, Janice Shinebourne, Marc Mathews, Fred D’Aguiar and Wilson Harris and this has been the pattern, more or less, ever since. In the same year, the first Special Prize was awarded to Mr Rooplall Mona. This was a very special dispensation outside the original intention of the Management Committee and arose out of the perceived excellence of the local effort which called forth a unanimous recommendation from the distinguished panel of judges.

Since then, bi-annually, the Prize has attracted the very best in Guyanese literary contributions, local and overseas. More importantly, it has consistently attracted large numbers in each category even though these entries have not always won the favour of the panel of judges. Since 1987, there have been some 34 winners of which 23 were overseas based and 11 resident. Five of them have been multiple winners.

The 8th Guyana Prize Award Ceremony was a successful accomplishment. The writers short-listed for the Prize evoked the usual expectations and emotions. For the first time there were more local artists than overseas based ones among those short-listed and there was an air of eager anticipation that the local artists would dominate the list of eventual winners. On the down side, two categories, Prose Fiction and Drama, had not measured up to the expectations of the judges and so prizes were not awarded in these categories. The Chairperson of the jury was at pains to explain that while the works submitted were in some cases of exceptional quality they were not sufficiently expert to merit an award. This was indeed the first time that an award had not been made for the Best Book in Fiction

The Guyana Prize has not been without its problems and these have been mainly in the drama and poetry categories where on a few occasions the entries have not been of a sufficiently high quality to warrant the award of the prize. Others have noted a similar deficiency in the Prose Fiction category, (First Book in Fiction) but generally the high standards envisaged have been rigorously maintained. Evidence of this can be found in the fact that many of the entries have received international literary recognition. For instance, several of the winners, have done exceedingly well when they entered the prestigious Commonwealth, Booker, Whitbred or IMPAC-Dublin prizes. Pauline Melville and David Dabydeen have won the Commonwealth Prize, Melville and Fred D’Aguiar, the Whitbread Prize while Dabydeen was once short-listed for the IMPAC-Dublin Award. Further evidence of the high international recognition accorded The Prize can also be gleamed from the fact that Al Creighton, serving Secretary of the Management Council, has served as a member of the panel of judges for the Commonwealth Prize and now sits as a full member on the Commonwealth Prize Advisory Committee.

But for all this there are some pressing concerns which hopefully will be addressed immediately. While there can be no doubt that The Prize has stimulated interest in literature, there are concerns that it has not offered sufficient encouragement to the creative spark in our local writers. Critics see the Prize as a one-off bi-annual event and not as a sustainable enabling process. Increasingly, they have demanded a more committed, involved and proactive management arrangement which can be relied upon for a variety of ongoing services. They would be happy to see greater emphasis placed on training and international exposure, access to professional editing, the creation of a sustained local literary forum and the staging of The Prize winning plays locally.

The Committee is as aware of the many criticisms as it is of its own major limitations and strives tirelessly to improve on its capacity to satisfy the expectations of the literary community. So far it has not delivered enough but it remains optimistic about the future of the Prize and of its own ability to measure up to public expectations.

In spite of everything else, the international recognition and popular local appeal of The Prize remain secure. What is more comforting, interest continues to grow with each succeeding year and The Prize is still the envy of the Caribbean. Furthermore, there is nothing to suggest a waning of the determination to preserve the all-important criterion of excellence. There can be no doubt therefore that with the right kind of support The Prize will, in the fullness of time, realize in its entirety, the dream of the former President, Mr Desmond Hoyte.