Using funds from the Blank Tape Levy, they had invited people in the “Creative Industry” to submit applications, but after nearly a year of waiting, a single, terse line dismissed my submission as “outside the scope of the Creative Industry”.
Well, it was not for lack of trying. Unable to obtain detailed guidelines, I had checked, from the outset, and was assured by officers, that my intended submission lay well within the scope and guidelines. I also believed my pioneering dictionary to have emerged through a “creative” process, and that my intended software to newly interpret – and retranslate in bulk – ancient Sumerian texts according to a Setswana unlocking key would result in “intellectual property”. Mostly, I was sure that taking Setswana to new heights was the desired “tangible” contribution to culture. Ultimately, though, being disinclined to argue over definitions and to harangue an evidently disinterested panel, I’ve decided to let it all slide.
