Africa-Press – Mauritius. The three ex-aequo winners of the third edition of the Edouard Maunick Poetry prize 2020-2021, whose theme is ‘Renaissances’, were awarded, today, at the State House in Réduit, with a cash prize of Rs 25,000 each as well as certificates.
The award ceremony was held in the presence of the Acting President of the Republic of Mauritius, Mr Eddy Boissezon, the Ambassador of the European Union to Mauritius, Mr Vincent Degert, the director of Immedia, Mr Rama Poonoosamy, as well as other eminent personalities.
The poetry competition is organised by Immedia, a Public Relations and Event Management Agency. The three ex-aequo winners are: Neekeea Ramen for the poem entitled ‘Renesans’, Joey Jean-Jacques Sauzier for ‘L’Esprit de sel’, and Amit Parmessur for ‘Papa 2.0’.
Certificates were also awarded to those poets who received the Jury’s mention. They are Sedley Richard Assonne for ‘Monn anvi zoure’, Marek Ahnee for ‘The Boutikman’s bastard’, and Jean Lindsay Dhookit for ‘Parski mo nepli zanfan’.
In his address, Acting President Boissezon paid a special tribute to late Edouard Maunick who was a Mauritian poet, critic, and translator. He recalled that in 2003, he received the Grand prix de la francophone, awarded by the French Academy adding that in 1977, he won the Prix Guillaume Apollinaire.
He highlighted that Edouard Maunick was a talented poet who had a rich literary career and who made his native country, that is Mauritius, known worldwide. For his part, Mr Poonoosamy recalled that poetry is a way to share one’s most profound emotions through writing.
Speaking about the first edition of the Edouard Maunick Poetry Prize held in 2016-2017, he said that the theme was ‘Port Louis’ adding that the ex-aequo winners were Gillian Genevieve and Helena Lutchman while the winner for the second edition, on the theme ‘Cyclone’, was Helina Hookoomsing.
He stated that the third edition has recorded a participation of 123 Mauritians with 219 poems, including 117 in French, 69 in English, and 33 in Mauritian Creole. The jury, he added, was chaired by Ms Ananda Devi, with Ms Shenaz Patel and Mr Kavinien Karupudayyan as members.
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