On Wednesday, March 11, the winners for Best Book and Best First Book in the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize will be announced at the Philip Sherlock Centre, University of the West Indies, Mona campus, at 6:00 p.m. There are 12 Canadians shortlisted in the two categories, in addition to the Grenadian writer, Jacob Ross, whose Pynter Bender is shortlisted in the Best Book category. The announcement of the winners will be made by 1989 Commonwealth Writers' Prize winner, celebrated Jamaican writer Erna Brodber.

Open to the public

In addition, Brian Heap will direct a dramatic staging of Olive Senior's Hurricane Stories, a movement of poems from Gardening in the Tropics. Musical selections will be provided by CARISMA (Caribbean Islands Musical Artists). The event is open to the public.

For more information about the event contact Mary Gray at 927-2217

The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, an increasingly valued and sought-after award for fiction, is presented annually by the Commonwealth Foundation. It aims to reward the best Commonwealth fiction written in English, by both established and new writers, and to take their works to a global audience. The Prize is now in its 23rd year. It is organised and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation with the support of the Macquarie Group Foundation across all four regions.