A five-day, Creative Writing workshop, hosted by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), an agency of the Ministry of Youth & Culture, will see top local writers at the helm. The workshop series entitled “How to Write a Winning Work” is a precursor to the JCDC’s annual Jamaica Creative Writing Competition and will run from Saturday December 5 to Friday December 11, covering the five areas of the competition: Essay, Novel, Play, Poetry and Short Story. The workshop series will be held at the Louise Bennett Garden Theatre at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, starting at 9:00 a.m.
The Play writing workshop will be held on Saturday, December 5 and instructed by famed Jamaican theatre practitioner, Keith Noel. On Tuesday, December 8 the Novel writing workshop will be led by accomplished Jamaican author, Dr. Erna Brodber while the Essay writing workshop, which will be held on Wednesday, December 9 will be taught by achieved educator, Violet Edwards. The Shorty Story writing workshop to be held on Thursday, December 10 will see accomplished Jamaican author Velma Pollard at the helm, while famed Jamaican poet, Tanya Shirley will be leading the Poetry writing workshop on Friday, December 11.
Registration will take place at the workshops, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and will be at a cost of $2,000 per participant per workshop, inclusive of lunch and hot and cold beverages. Interested persons may also contact JCDC parish offices or the head office to register beforehand.
The Jamaica Creative Writing Competition has been one of the best channels of providing Jamaican writers with the opportunity of recognizing and validating their talent, while showcasing and promoting writers and their original work.
The competition is divided into three levels: Junior, Intermediate and Adult and awards are given to the top writers in each level of the five areas. Entrants are encouraged to write about the Jamaican experience.
Entries for the competition are now open, and will remain so until April 29, 2016. Persons can access entry forms, rules and competition guidelines from the JCDC website, www.jcdc.gov.jm, its Head Office at 3-5 Phoenix Avenue in Kingston or Parish Offices across the island.
