Ken Puddicombe’s Down Independence Boulevard and Other Stories was declared the winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature 2023 on September 14, 2023.
The Guyana Prizes for Literature were initially founded to promote the development of local literature by President Desmond Hoyte in 1987. Prizes were awarded biennially in categories including best book of fiction, best first book of fiction, best book of poems, best first book of poems, and best play. After a hiatus, the prize came back this year to award the best new fiction from the Caribbean nation.
The winner of the prize this year is Ken Puddicombe’s short story collection Down Independence Boulevard and Other Stories which is published under his own company, MiddleRoad Publishers. He founded the firm after trying to be published by mainstream publishers but having little success in 2012.
“It was euphoric,” said author Ken Puddicombe, who — as well as having penned the winning “Down Independence Boulevard and Other Stories” — is also the publisher of MiddleRoad. “Finally some recognition for writing my work over a number of years.”
This is the blurb for the book;
A taxi driver sees changes in Independence Boulevard after freedom from Britain. A free-wheeling spirit spends time gambling and engaging in riots. A man is sentenced to death for the murder of his lover. Two women escape racial conflict and seek a better life at home and abroad. A housewife faces the last straw with her abusive husband. A mailman is caught in the Word Trade Centre attack. These are some of the characters encountered in this engaging collection of sixteen short stories from Ken Puddicombe
Read more about the win at the following address.
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