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Elly Niland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elly Niland (born 1954) is a Guyanese-born poet, playwright and teacher.

Her first collection of poetry was nominated for Best First Book of Poetry[1] and was runner up for the Guyana Prize for Literature 2004.[2] Her second collection Cornerstones won the Guyana Prize for Literature 2006.[3][4] Her third collection, East of Centre, was funded by the British Arts Council and launched with several of the regions' leading writers at CARIFESTA 2008.

Early life and education

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Niland was born in Guyana on the Courantyne coast in 1954, and has lived in Surrey, England, with her husband and children since 1971. After studying as a mature student at Hillcroft College in Britain, she went on to read for her Modern Arts degree at Kingston University and then to take her Postgraduate Certificate in Education.[2] She is the older sister of writer and broadcaster David Dabydeen.[5][6]

Collaborations

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Elly Niland and David Dabydeen dramatised Harold Sonny Ladoo’s short novel No Pain Like This Body – depicting the terrifying world of a family brutalised by violence, poverty and nature itself. Set in a Hindu community in the Eastern Caribbean in 1905 during the August rainy season, it centres on a poor rice-growing family's struggle to survive. No Pain Like this Body was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2003.

"The Fog", a story about a sickness spreading across Malaysia, was specially commissioned for the BBC's Commonwealth Stories season and was read by Liz Sutherland on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.

Fiction

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"Market Day", from her Bone Soup collection, was shortlisted for the inaugural Guardian and 4th Estate short story prize in 2016.[7][8]

Niland is currently working on a collection of creole stories set in a fictional village in Guyana.

Works

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  • Inretrospect (Aeneas Press, 2003, ISBN 978-1-902115-31-3)
  • Cornerstones (Dido Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-902115-47-4)
  • East of Centre (Dido Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-902115-63-4)

Prizes

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  • Guyana Prize for Literature 2004 (runner up)[2]
  • Guyana Prize for Literature 2006 (winner)[1][4]
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References

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  1. ^ a b Paquet, Sandra Pouchet, "Guyana Prize for Literature: Judges Report", Stabroek News, 26 August 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Mair, John, "Kingston (Surrey) teacher in line for Guyana Prize", Stabroek News, 13 August 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  3. ^ "Guyana Prize Winners Announced", Stabroek News, 24 August 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  4. ^ a b Creighton, Al. "The Guyana Prize for Literature 2006", Guyana Review, Vol. 15, Issue No. 177, September 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  5. ^ "Reconnecting with the roots". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Selected Poems by Elly Niland". Guyana Chronicle. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Prize longlist". 4th Estate. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Guardian and 4th Estate BAME prize reaches out to untapped talent". The Guardian. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2018.