ROME, Ga. - A Berry College government and  international studies professor was recently awarded the 2012 Guyana Prize for  Literature.
Government and International Studies Professor Chaitram  Singh’s novel “The Flour Convoy,” won Best First Work of Fiction. Guyana  President Donald Ramoutar presented the prize which included a $3,000 check to  Singh Sept. 15 in Georgetown, Guyana. The Prize Committee selected Singh to give  the acceptance address on behalf of all prize winners in which he read an  excerpt from his award winning novel.
Another of Singh’s novels, “The  February 23rd Coup,” was runner-up for the Best Work of Fiction prize. Singh  said his work was facilitated by travel grants from Berry’s Department of  Government and International Studies and that he worked on his novels during his  sabbaticals.
Singh has taught at Berry since 1984. A West Point graduate,  he received his M.A. and Ph. D.  in political science from the University  of Florida.  He is the author of four books, including two novels and is  the associate editor (Latin America) for the Journal of Third World  Studies.  His research interest centers on civil-military relations in the  Third World.
Born in Guyana, Singh was an officer in the Guyana Defense  Force and a Foreign Service Officer.  He taught mathematics briefly at  Berbice High School and at Corentyne High School before re-migrating to the  United States.  For more information his web site is http://theflourconvoy.wordpress.com.