Four contributors to Bougainville Copper Limited’s (BCL) blog, Bougainville 24, have made entries to the Crocodile Prize national literary awards of Papua New Guinea.
Since last October, Bougainville 24 has featured articles about Bougainville culture and society, news on BCL activities and writing by Bougainvilleans. It is an important step by BCL to provide more information about its own activities and about Bougainville itself.
Several of the entries in the Prize were originally written as contributions to Bougainville 24.
The quartet of Eleanor Maineke, Ishmael Palipal, Leonard Fong Roka and Nigel Matte are all part of the expanding group of Bougainvillean contributors to the blog, which has now reached 19 members.
These four writers are also contemporaries at Divine Word University in Madang.
Ishmael, Leonard and Nigel are all current students and Eleanor Maineke completed her Bachelor of Arts in Social & Religious Studies last year and graduated on 9 March 2014.
Like many of her peers, Eleanor is using her education to progress Bougainville and she is now a member of the Buin District Administration’s support staff.
Eleanor’s mother, Agnes Rita Maineke – a primary schoolteacher in Buin, is also an entrant in this year’s Crocodile Prize.
Leonard Fong Roka, the autonomous region’s most prolific writer, won the Award for Short Stories in the 2013 Crocodile Prize for his story, Farewell My Bougainville Prophetess.
Ishmael and Nigel seem eager to follow in Leonard’s footsteps and make their mark on the literary scene. They have both displayed impressive eagerness to improve their writing.
The winners of the 2014 Crocodile Prize will be announced at the awards ceremony in Port Moresby, on Thursday 18 September.
BCL wishes Bougainville 24 contributors the best of luck in the 2014 Crocodile Prize.