Two staff members of the University of Guyana have earned recognition for their literary work, bringing distinction to the University while adding their voices to Guyana’s evolving literary landscape.
University of Guyana staff members Scott Ting-A-Kee, Lecturer in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Education and Humanities, and Makeda Braithwaite, Editorial Production Officer at the UG Press, both shared third place in the Poetry category at the 2025 Guyana Prize for Literature competition for their respective collections, marking another achievement in their continuing journeys as writers and researchers.
The competition brought together established and emerging writers, with awards spanning the country’s major literary genres and youth categories.
For both writers, the recognition represents more than a place in a national literary competition. Their work reflects sustained engagement with history, culture, identity and the experiences that have shaped Guyanese society. At the same time, their journeys demonstrate how academic life and creative expression can intersect within the University community.
Ting-A-Kee, a newly appointed lecturer at the University’s International Centre of Excellence for Modern and Indigenous Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (ICEMILLL), received
third-place recognition for “The Way Indentured”, a collection that explores Chinese Guyanese
history through poetry, while Braithwaite also copped third place for her collection “Mud Psalms”.
According to Ting-A-Kee, “The Way Indentured” emerged from an exploration of history, identity and the largely overlooked experiences of Chinese indentured labourers in British Guiana and the wider Caribbean. The collection is divided into three sections: The Way, The Indentured and The Cat’s Eyes, and draws on influences ranging from Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching to historical accounts of Chinese indentureship.
The second section examines aspects of Chinese Guyanese history, including the story of O Tye Kim and the practice of foot-binding, while the final section adopts the unusual perspective of a cat aboard ships transporting Chinese indentured labourers.
Ting-A-Kee describes his writing as closely connected to his exploration of history and identity. “My writing journey is closely tied to my journey of exploring history; they feed each other. It is a journey of mapping the yellow threads within the Golden Arrowhead,” he explained.
His creative work, he said, grew partly from a desire to reconnect with his Chinese heritage and explore a history in which he had previously felt a sense of absence. “Writing for me is from a place of difference and rootlessness…The Way Indentured comes from the same place since I wanted to bring to life what the Indentured Chinese may have felt,” he said.
His work as a lecturer at UG has also strengthened the relationship between his academic and creative pursuits. Ting-A-Kee credits his own experiences as a student of English at the University with helping to shape his interest in Chinese Guyanese history, particularly through his studies in West Indian Literature and Postcolonial Literature.
For Ting-A-Kee, the University has also provided an environment in which curiosity, research and creative exploration can flourish. He credits UG with giving him opportunities to pursue research and attend conferences, experiences which have contributed to his development.
For Makeda Braithwaite, the recognition for “Mud Psalms” represents her first win in the Poetry category of the Guyana Prize for Literature. Her earlier recognition came in Fiction, where she received third prize for the 2022 Prize, held in 2023. “It’s a great feeling as it’s the first time I’ve won in the Poetry category,” she said.
Mud Psalms is rooted in Braithwaite’s love for poetry, her family’s creative tradition and her cultural identity. Drawing on rural Guyana, family history and experiences of adulthood, the collection seeks to communicate a strong sense of community.
According to Braithwaite, her relationship with the University of Guyana extends beyond her current role as an Editorial Production Officer at UG Press. A former Literature student at UG, she credits her experiences at the University with nurturing the curiosity that would eventually contribute to her development as a writer.
She recalled the openness of her lecturers and the encouragement she received to engage with them beyond the classroom. “My time as a student has greatly influenced my literary journey. I think FEH [Faculty of Education and Humanities] was a faculty that did not make me fearful of questioning and communicating with my lecturers outside of class time, within their office hours for advice. They were always warm and ready to be of assistance, which nurtured my curiosity and interest in their courses; ultimately, unbeknownst to them, it included an interest in being a writer,” she said.
As a member of the University community today, Braithwaite believes UG can play an important role in encouraging young people to pursue creative expression. She points to greater emphasis on the humanities, creative programmes and initiatives that help young people recognise the possibilities within the arts. “Literature is one of the foundations of a country’s culture. It immortalises its identity and captures the experiences of the common man. If Guyanese do not tell our stories, we do not have the right to complain when others do,” she said.
Both writers view creativity as extending beyond competition or recognition, with literature serving as a means of exploring experiences, making sense of the world and contributing to Guyana’s cultural identity.
Together, their recognition reflects the breadth of talent within the University of Guyana community and the continuing contribution of its staff to Guyana’s literary and cultural life.
The University of Guyana congratulates Scott Ting-A-Kee and Makeda Braithwaite on their literary achievements and celebrates their continued contributions to Guyanese writing, scholarship and creative expression. (Feature by the Department of Events, Conferences and Communication (DECC), University of Guyana.)
