Barbadian writer Brian Franklin emerged as the top awardee at the Central Bank of Barbados’ 28th Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Competition (FCLE), receiving a prize of $10,000.

Retired university lecturer Professor Jane Bryce won the $7,500 second prize with her fiction prose “How to Find Your Way in the Air,” while Akim Goddard’s “Is Only We Know: Where the Cane Grows Wild” took third place, earning him $5,000.

Two other finalists, Randicia Kellman and Kemar Doughty, received developmental
scholarships valued at $4,000 each for “In the Company of Women” and “The Hanging Tree – A Short Story Collection,” respectively. These scholarships will allow them to further hone their craft by working with experienced editors.

During his opening remarks, Deputy Governor Elson Gaskin highlighted the importance of Barbadian literary work to our national identity: “Each literary work produced by a Barbadian adds another thread to our cultural fabric. Together, these works form a living archive of who we are: our humour and heartbreak, our contradictions and convictions
and our capacity for beauty even in the face of adversity. Literature allows us to preserve these truths and pass them forward, ensuring that future generations inherit lived experiences and not just history books.”

The Bank began the FCLE’s literary competition in 1997. It subsequently introduced a spoken word category, which is now in its third year. The endowment and its competition form part of the Bank’s long-time commitment to supporting the arts and culture in Barbados, which also includes sponsorship of the Crop Over Visual Arts Exhibition and the broader Crop Over Festival.