Created through the collaborative efforts of JAMCOPY and the Jamaican Writers Society (JAWS), the Awards seek to stimulate and celebrate excellence in Jamaican literature. JAMCOPY provides financial support through the JAMCOPY Cultural Fund.

 

Awards

The Una Marson Prize

Awarded for adult fiction or adult creative nonfiction

The Vic Reid Prize

Awarded for Young Adult fiction

The Jean D’Costa prize

Awarded for children’s fiction

The Una Marson and Vic Reid Awards were previously administered by the now dormant National Book Development Council (NBDC) and were staged biennially from 1993 through to 2006. The NBDC published at least two of the winning entries: Pam Mordecai’s Ezra’s Goldfish (Vic Reid Award, 1993) and Garfield Ellis’ Flaming Hearts and Other Stories (Una Marson Award, 1993). The last winning title of the Una Marson Award, Kei Miller's novel ‘The Last Warner Woman’ has also been published.

1. Become the pre-eminent national awards with international recognition.
2. Reward and promote excellence in creative writing.
3. Raise the stature of writers and writing in Jamaica, highlighting the value of literature to the continued development of the nation’s cultural landscape and its citizens.
4. Discover and promote new Jamaican writing from new, emerging and established writers and provide a mechanism to support existing writers and uncover new ones.
5. Become a fecund source for indigenous literature that will serve to enrich the lives of all Jamaicans.
6. Honour great Jamaican writing of the past by maintaining the Una Marson and Vic Reid nomenclature.
7. Support the further development of the literary sector’s contributions to the nation’s economic development

For more on the Awards: https://www.facebook.com/lignumvitaeawards/