Ivan A. Khayiat’s ‘Msiba, My Love’ has
won the first prize for poetry in the adult section of Suriname’s Tagore Art
Competition.
The competition, which was launched in
May 2011 by the Suriname Tagore Celebrations Committee, attracted more than 135
entries from students and adults in Suriname. Judges for the national
competitions included members of the Schrijvers Group'77, Art Vibes United, and
the University of Suriname.
The prestigious Tagore Art Competition
was launched to mark the 150`" Birth Anniversary of
Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European and person of color to win a Nobel
Prize (1912). Born in 1861, Tagore was a prolific writer, dramatist, poet,
artist, philosopher, and international humanist. Across the world, national and
international competitions are being held to uphold values in creative
excellence in celebration of Tagore.
Milton Drepaul in his foreword to the upcoming published edition
describes the poem in this way: ‘Msiba,
My Love is not only a unique collection of poems but also a deeply moving plea
for respect for mother earth, Suriname and its people…. It is a symphonic poem
in three movements which profoundly explores the many layers of an economic and
ecological crime that was committed in Suriname in the 1960s. In the name of progress a multi- national
company together with the Dutch colonial government forcibly removed thriving Maroon communities from their
ancestral homes to create the Afobaka hydro electric dam.”
Ivan A.
Khayiat, B.S., M.A., is an educator, media specialist, avid environmental
observer, and a published writer.
Ivan was
born in Guyana and attended Queen's College. He later studied in the US doing
undergraduate and graduate degrees in Communications and Literature.
Ivan Khayiat is a
passionate writer on environment issues. He lives in South America near to the
rain forest. His books of poetry include "Quest by Day”, “Forest
Tears" and” Msiba-My Love".
