(Seychelles News Agency) - The winners of the Antoine Abel Prize, a writing contest that encourages the production of literature in the Seychellois Creole language, were rewarded on Friday at the International Conference Centre of  Seychelles  (ICCS).

Marie Clarisse, Aneesa Vel, Rita Julie, Lourra Barra and Marie Hoareau produced the best works this year, while Robert Mondon received his prize posthumously.

The prize-giving ceremony allowed the authors to sign copies of their books on sale in local book outlets.

The Antoine Abel Prize is named after Seychelles' renowned poet and writer Antoine Abel, who passed away in 2004. The literary contest was first launched by Seychellois artist Leon Radegonde, as a regional competition in 1997, promoting literary works in the Indian Ocean region.

The competition encourages Seychellois writers to submit work in various categories, in the native Seychellois Creole language. The fourth edition of the literary contest saw the participation of writers in five categories: short story, poetry, novel, translation and play.

The prize-giving ceremony allowed the authors to sign copies of their books on sale in local book outlets. (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

This year the prize-giving ceremony coincides with the 39^th edition of the Creole Festival, a month-long event, which is an annual celebration of the various aspects of the country's culture.

An assistant researcher at the Literature Unit at the Creole Academy, Jenny Saminadin, told SNA that the quality of work received this year has been very good.

"Usually the literary contest is held every two years, however, we launched this one last year as we are catching up with the delay caused by COVID," she said.

While all the given categories open to prospective writers had submissions, Saminadin explained that it was only for translated works that they did not receive enough submissions.

The winners received monetary prizes for their efforts - SCR 20,000 ($1,500) for the first prize, SCR 15,000 ($1,100) for the second, and SCR 10,000 ($700) for the third.

The entries for the sixth edition of the Antoine Abel competition have already been submitted to the Creole Academy, while Saminadin explained that they have already launched the seventh.