Pat Hoyos journalism and arts awards launched

An award for journalism and the arts in the name of acclaimed journalist and publisher Patrick Hoyos was launched Thursday on the first anniversary of his death.

The Pat Hoyos Awards for Journalism and the Arts will not only hand out five annual cash awards of $2,000 each to outstanding journalists and publishers but also to vocalists and guitarists from the island, said the late journalist’s brother, Tony Hoyos.

Hoyos said that the only tertiary schools eligible for the awards will be the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill and the Barbados Community College but there are plans to expand eligibility in 2022.

“Next year we will expand the eligible tertiary institutions from BCC and UWI, and we will bring in more institutions that run relevant programs that we are aiming to reward,” he said. “The awards will be made in early September, I know the students would like the cash to go back to school with, buy their laptops and pay their fees and so on, so in the media you will start to see soon how persons can become eligible.”

Journalists will be invited to apply for the award by submitting examples of their published pieces, while students will be nominated by the faculties of BCC and UWI, with a panel of Hoyos, Caroline Reid, Vic Fernandes, John Walcott, Corrie Scott, Amanda Hoyos-Cummins and Mahmood Patel tasked with choosing the final recipients. (SB)