In early April, Guyana's writing enthusiasts and hopefuls will have the opportunity to participate in a special workshop to further hone their literary skills and energies.

Scheduled for April 9-10, 2001, young, successful Caribbean author, Colin Channer, truly one of the voices of now, will be conducting a workshop under the theme "Writing the warm easy and easy way". The workshop will be conducted under the auspices of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Guyana (UG).

Channer, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1963, became the first Jamaican author to pen a best-selling novel in the United States, with the publication of his novel WAITING IN VAIN. The Washington Post Book World selected the work, set in New York, London and Jamaica, as a 1998 Critic's Choice. Time Out, New York also selected it as a 1998 Book of the Summer.

In December 2000, Channer produced another best-seller with I'M STILL WAITING (which he is quick to point out is not a sequel) that gained him the credit of yet another US bestseller. His critical and commercial success is partly credited to his use of reggae as a literary model, which has resulted in wide academic interest in his work. In addition, his short stories and other works have become required reading at many tertiary institutions, including the University of the West Indies, New York University and the University of Maryland. In fact, Channer was recently selected writer-in-residence at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.

It is hoped that participants in the Guyana Workshop will come away with skills, including how to find a story, the keys to building memorable characters, powerful ways to begin a story, what to do when you are stuck, and how to look for agents and publishers.

Persons interested in registering for this intriguing workshop can contact the Faculty of Arts of the University of Guyana for further information.