Teachers nominated for top writer's award

Caribbean Today
07-31-2002
Talk with Geoffrey Philp long enough and he'll want your whole life story -
asking questions such as what's your family background, how did your
parents meet and did sparks fly when they first saw each other?

He's not being nosey. He's just looking for material for his next book.

A professor of English at Miami-Dade Community College's north campus,
Philp, along with fellow M-DCC English professor Preston L. Allen, have
both been nominated to receive a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer's
Alliance (BWA).

An Internet-based literary arts association, the BWA serves as a
cybercenter of information, education and support for writer's of African
descent.

For the past three years, the BWA has lauded the efforts of black writers
by honoring them with a Golden Pen Award during their annual Black Writers
Reunion & Conference. There are seven distinct categories. Philp was
nominated in the category of Best Poetry Collection for Xango Music, his
fifth published work.

MYSTERY/THRILLER

Allen, whose work appeared in Brown Sugar which won last year for Best
Short Story Collection, was nominated in the category of Best
Mystery/Thriller for Hoochie Mama. A story of the murder of an M-DCC
college professor and a young attractive female detective who solves the
murder, Allen got the idea after he had investigated the effects of
childhood abuse.

"The actual impulse to write the book came about from my theories on what
childhood abuse leads to in adults - and that's the key that solves the
mystery," said Allen.

Xango Music is a rhythmical expression of what it's like to be a Caribbean
man.

"The Caribbean god Xango combines the lover and the warrior and the
collection looks at all of the relationships that Caribbean men have as a
son and as a father, and how it impacts these various roles that we play,"
said the Jamaican-born Philp.

CURIOUSITY

Both professors possess a driving curiosity about life and what makes
people tick.

"I'm interested in human nature and why people do what they do," said
Allen. "I've been writing books since I was a kid and they help me to
understand the world."

The Golden Pen Awards is the first literary awards program to honor
multigenre black literature. To be eligible for a 2002 a book must have
been written by a black author or be otherwise considered black literature
with an original publication date between March 2001 and February 2002.
Past honorees include Bernice McFadden, Sharon Ewell Foster, Carol Taylor,
Brandon Massey, Joan Morgan, and Randall Robinson. This year's winners will
be announced this fall.

Article copyright Caribbean Today.
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