The Signifyin' Woman (Charmaine Valere)

Seven days, seven wonderful moments

I'm back home in the US after spending seven days in Guyana, and in addition to the good times I blogged about previously, here's a capful of seven (sets of) moments that made my Carifesta experience a good one.

Wonderful moment 1.  Meeting blog friends:  Chatting with, and getting to know several members of the motley crew of hard-working professionals and the idle rich who blog about all aspects of life in Guyana and the Caribbean was truly the highlight of my week.  Unfortunately, I can't tell any more tales out of school because many of them prefer to remain anonymous.  And for you guys in Guyana reading this, guess which Guyanese blogger folks over here wanted to know about most?  No, not anybody at Living Guyana.  The blogger people here asked about most was............(drum roll)...........THE SILVER DRAGON!

So here's my attempt to answer all their questions about the Silver Dragon: no, as far as I could tell he's not gay (but what the hell does that matter?); yes, he's very good-looking and sociable (not a troll as some of you imagined); no, I didn't get a ride in his car (but is why allyuh so fast?); yes, he's funny in person as well.

Wonderful moment 2.  Conversations with Ruel at the Oasis Cafe:  I've discovered that Ruel's real genius is his ability to juggle catastrophic events in his life, and smile while doing so.

Wonderful moment 3.  Another "Ruel" moment: Listening to him read from Fictions on the day of his Carifesta launch (yes the book was there), and once again hearing him cheekily distinguish between "fraudulent" writing on Guyana and his writing that is based (honestly) in Guyana.

Wonderful moment 4.  Spur-of-the-moment dancing at Pegasus poolside on Carifesta's opening night, which managed to erase the disappointment of the opening ceremony.

Wonderful moment 5.  Brisk, orderly lines at the airport, and pleasant, smiling airport personnel.

Wonderful moment 6.  Discovering all that's been said about The Oasis Cafe is absolutely true.  Aside from where I was staying, it was the most comfortable, most warm (or cool), most inviting place I visited in Guyana.  Folks, a trip to Guyana has to include a visit to the Oasis Cafe.  I kid you not.

Wonderful moment 7.  And on my last day in Guyana, on the whim of a friend, I visited Martin Carter's home, and met his gracious, beautiful widow.  (Thanks Marcus, I owe you majorly for that one.)

****

 

 

[Note: My next posts--which may or may not include further comments on Carifesta--will feature excerpts from, and eventually a review of Jamaican writer, Lorna Goodison's From Harvey River.]

 

Two of Guyana's most notorious criminals are killed by the police

Read the newspapers' coverage of the story and of course read the bloggers--Living Guyana, Guyana360--who tell it like no other media can or dares.

Correction:  The title of this post should read, "Two of Guyana's most notorious criminals are killed by the Joint Services."

An evening at the Theatre Guild

Last night I went to the Theatre Guild to see Frank McField's (Cayman Islands, playwright) One White One Black.  Here's a synopsis of the play that I pulled from the playbill/promotional literature handed out at the theatre: 

Two artists, one a drummer and the other a writer, have hit rock bottom.  They have both failed in their respective married relationships and must depend upon each other to be the mirror that reflects their past and current condition.  As they interact, cementing a tighter bond of friendship between them and reflecting on their relationships with their wives, they discover the truth about themselves.

The play was a pretty captivating attempt at "gender-bending," which the two-member male cast accomplished by switching back and forth between male and female roles throughout the play (without the aid of drag make-up I might add).  The actors' physical appearances--one big and full of girth, the other slight--made the gender switches visually comedic at times, especially when the bigger actor played the role of a woman.  Overall, the play was a satisfying exploration of gender and racial stereotypes, as well as a thought-provoking look at how those stereotypes could help destroy a marriage. 

Possible over-arching message(s) about the artist, his work, and his life?  The men are artists whose abilities to create have been destroyed along with (or by) their marriages.  It is possible to see how the desire to create solitude--a condition Walcott spoke of as being necessary for the artistic creative process--can destroy a marriage.  The major message is about the ability of the arts to redeem and heal broken spirits.  The play begins with the men in isolation and despair, and ends with some sense of renewal--renewal of their friendship, and renewal of the role of art in their lives.

About the Theatre itself... I generally like a small intimate setting where I can watch a play and hear the whispered responses of the people sitting next to me.  More often than not, those responses are funny and enlightening.  But the seats were so close I could feel the hair on the arm of the man sitting next to me.  Now admittedly, if the man were mine, then that may have been part of some elaborate foreplay, but he wasn't.  Not pleasant at all.  But other than the hair-brushing, it felt good to sit there in the Theatre Guild almost three decades after my first and only other time there...One monument to Guyana's arts...still standing.

Writing, reading, and self-promoting: the multi-tasking Caribbean writer

Well as it turns out, Ruel is not the only writer who should probably never read his work out loud to an audience, or ever again attempt to promote his own work.  Last night, a few other writers made it clear that good writers are not always the best promoters of their work.  There were a few writers who read well of course, and I'll mention them in a bit, but first back to Mr. Ruel.

His private book launch scheduled for last Saturday was aborted because the actual book wasn't there (printer screw-up I was told).  Now if Ruel had a professional agent or publisher responsible for promoting his work, the fact that the actual book wasn't there would have been a minor problem.  As it turned out, the book's absence resulted in the entire event being squashed.  A professional agent or publisher would have salvaged the evening by finding alternative ways to celebrate the completion of five long hard years of work.  Ruel's failure to launch (as he described it) pointed once again to a glaring need for better representation for the arts and artists in Guyana (and as Dabydeen pointed out, for the entire Caribbean).

(The truth is I've never heard Ruel read his work out loud, and who knows...he may actually be a wonderful reader of his own work, but he is desperately in need of a publisher or agent who can professionally promote his work.)

Last evening's reading event at the Umana Yana was an overall success, despite the few poor readers.  I got there a little late and missed Karen-King Aribisala's reading, and I'm truly sick about that, but I did get to hear from some of the other major writers I'd heard would be there. 

It went smoothly with each writer/poet following the other in immediate succession, and each one of them was prepared and enthusiastic about sharing his or her work with us there in attendance.  Some of the best readers were Berkley Semple, whose Lamplight Teller won the Guyana Prize for best first book of poetry in 2004; Guyanese award-winning writer and actress Pauline Melville; Barbadian writer, Austin Clarke; a Bahamian poet whose name I didn't get; and a Trinidadian poet whose name also eluded me.  I didn't get the names because there was no complete list of the people who were to read, since names were not quite decided on prior to the start of the event.  Nevertheless, for an impromptu-like affair, it went rather well.   

The major part of the success for me was that I left the event with a new list of books to read.   

Guyana Times reporter fired (allegedly) for not writing positively about the Carifesta opening ceremony

According to Living Guyana, Guyana Times reporter, Neil Marks has been fired for his report on the Carifesta opening ceremony, which he (correctly I might add) described as disappointing.

Derek Walcott says, "tell them to build hotels AND museums"

Last night I attended the event I've been anticipating for months now--the Derek Walcott event.  I call it that, but I must acknowledge that there were other writers there who are heavyweights in Caribbean writing and well worth mentioning.  David Dabydeen, Ian McDonald, Cynthia McLeod, Kenneth Ramchand, and Edward Baugh were all panelists at the event.  But, it was definitely the Derek Walcott show. 

It was a well-organized evening of reflection on the topic "Caribbean Culture at The Crossroads,"  and as expected, the topic generated both bright and gloomy views of the current state of the Caribbean and about its past and future. Here's a thimble-ful of the best (my opinion) of what the panelists gave us last night.

--Ian McDonald (writer/poet with multiple claims to Caribbean origins) talked first about the "dangerous crossroads" at which the Caribbean region stands.  Some of those dangers he said include political falterings, economic crises, and problematic relationships between countries in the region.  He ended on a cautiously optimistic note that was full of poetry, which I suppose signaled the importance of the artist as the guiding light / navigator leading the region out of those dangers.

--Cynthia McLeod (Surinamese writer) was next, and pointed to the Caribbean's long history of unity despite diversity, and the resilience of its people who have been enslaved, tricked, and ransacked.  She concluded by declaring that the region's true riches--its natural resources, its mixed ethnicities, its mixed cultures--defy its "third world" classification as poor.

--Kenneth Ramchand (Trinidadian--literary critic and English Professor) then brought most of the gloom, which had an awakening effect from the lulling of McLeod's rosy optimism.  The applause and mutterings in agreement from those seated around me sounded like "Well is high time somebody talk the ugly truth."  Ramchand described the current condition of the Caribbean as "a society in a state of collapse," and didn't suggest much that would redeem it from its state.

--David Dabydeen (do I really need to tell you who he is again?) followed with excerpts from letters between an influential publisher--Henry Swanzey--and several writers during the 1950s, and between writers from the Caribbean who were trying to get published and trying to start writing careers outside of the Caribbean.  The correspondences showed their reliance on each other for critique and support.  They also helped Dabydeen emphasize the importance of a publishing company.  He made a valiant, long-overdue plea for a Caribbean press.

--Edward Baugh (Jamaican--poet and English Professor) introduced Derek Walcott and tied him to the topic for the evening.  He described Walcott as the "crossroads / threshold" man who from the inception sought to transcend history and say something new with his writing.

DEREK WALCOTT BAITS PRESIDENT BHARRAT JAGDEO

President Bharrat Jagdeo was at the event last night and was baited into an exchange with Derek Walcott who announced (or reiterated) his displeasure with Carifesta almost as soon as he got to the podium.  Walcott explained that since Caribbean governments don't support artists and the arts, they really have nothing to celebrate in a festival of arts.  The statement that Jagdeo felt he had to defend was Walcott's castigation of the huge monuments, particularly hotels, that are being constructed around the Caribbean by outsiders in an effort to accommodate tourists.  Walcott said (with some exasperation) he's not really against the building of hotels, but it is important to build a museum or a theatre along with the hotel.

Walcott's statement was received with loud applause from the artist-laden room, but Jagdeo (probably feeling attacked) decided to respond with lots of talk about the cost of building roads, etc., which take priority over museums and theatres.  Walcott proceeded to berate him like a child pointing out that he could well be his child since he is at least 30 years his junior, and that as his elder, he has heard all that before.  (I have to admit it was quite entertaining to finally be a witness to Walcott's well-reputed griping.)

Needless to conclude, but I'll say it anyway...I had a good time folks.

On a seriously discordant note though...during the question and answer period, a young Trinidadian writer POLITELY asked why younger writers were not invited to be panelists, and was told by Cynthia McLeod that maybe one had to be of a certain age to talk about the subject.  I could not believe my ears!  And she was quite serious too!  Well, I'll say here what I wanted to but did not say there:  Cynthia McLeod is an ass for saying that.  Since when was old age a requirement for an intelligent discourse on the subject of where you live?  McLeod's response was unbelievably stupid and disrespectful to the young woman, and somebody on that panel (maybe Al Creighton, who chaired the panel) should apologize to her. 

Anyway, on I go.  Tonight I'm off to the Umana Yana for some readings.

 

On the fringe

I'm in Guyana and I'd love to tell you that the opening ceremony for Carifesta (which I watched on TV last night--I actually had a ticket to go, but decided not to at the very last minute...went club-hopping with some old folks instead) was a show of money well spent. It was not.  But I'm having so much fun otherwise, I'd rather not dwell on the negatives right now.  Maybe later.

On a really positive note, Ruel and others have organized a set of fringe events to run alongside the main Carifesta events.  His private book launch today will be the start of those fringe events.  I'm anticipating it will be a legitimate space for some of the angry or excluded artists to showcase their work, or to just meet and talk.  I'll tell you how that goes.

And here's a lil bit for those of you who like to know who say what look at who look like what (you know who you are).  I met up with some of the blogger folks here in Guyana the other night and I must say they are an impressive group...good-looking, smart, what not. But (here's the juice) Ruel mumbles!  Yes chile, that same Ruel who writes so eloquently and whose prose flows so effortlessly.  That same Ruel.  I can barely understand a frikking thing he says.  But he's sweet though.  Nice person.  And Bakannal is a short man.  Yes meh dears, he short.  And he sweet too.  Short and sweet.  Nice nice people.  Oh yes, and Nicholas Laughlin...brilliant, quick-witted, funny as hell. 

I'm having a good time time folks.  So stop worrying okay.

What "Caribbean" can mean

A few posts ago, I linked to an excerpt from a trenchant and wonderfully sentimental essay on Caribbean identity written by Trinidadian writer and editor of The Caribbean Review of Books, Nicholas Laughlin (who also has the honourable distinction of being the only Trinidadian in the world to admit having some Guyanese blood in him).  Definite (and questionable) distinctions aside, the essay--"What 'Caribbean' can mean"--is not only worth reading in its entirety, but the questions Laughlin raises in it should be included in any serious discussion on what a Caribbean identity may / can mean for those who live in the region, as well as for those of us who live outside the region, but claim belongingness to it.

CARIFESTA must be seen as deeper than a Jagdeo PR machine

The Media Critic's commentary on Guyana's State of Affairs is usually dead-on, but I'm hoping he's off the mark here.  Come on, the rest of the Caribbean and beyond would have to be blind, deaf, and reeeeeaaallll sllllllooooowww to see Carifesta as a successful attempt by Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo to put a good face on political party relations in Guyana, or to put a positive spin on the overall condition in Guyana.  Not gonna happen.

Hopefully, Carifesta will be a chance for those who live in the region and those who claim belongingness to the region to (again) enjoy their commonalities and differences in a relatively relaxed and fun atmosphere.  I would like to think that would be the focus wherever in the Caribbean Carifesta is held.

And so as I make my way there very conscious of Guyana's problems, and still very irritated by the lack of information available about Carifesta goings-ons, I nevertheless will take every opportunity offered to revel in the arts.  It is the arts after all that make us knowledgeable of who we are, from whence we came, and where we might be headed.  That, I hope, will be the grand outcome of it all--all of which will be paramount to any paltry attempt (supposedly) at political profiteering.   

An invitation from a beautiful, fat black woman

 

Invitation

1

 

If my fat

was too much for me

I would have told you

I would have lost a stone

or two

 

I would have gone jogging

even when it was fogging

I would have weighed in

sitting the bathroom scale

with my tail tucked in

 

I would have dieted

more care than a diabetic

 

But as it is

I’m feeling fine

feel no need

to change my lines

when I move I’m target light

 

Come up and see me sometime

 

2

 

Come up and see me sometime

Come up and see me sometime

 

My breasts are huge exciting

amnions of watermelon

your hands can’t cup

my thighs are twin seals

fat slick pups

there’s a purple cherry

below the blues

of my black seabelly

there’s a mole that gets a ride

each time I shift the heritage

of my behind

 

Come up and see me sometime

 

 

Beauty

Beauty

is a fat black woman

walking the fields

pressing a breezed

hibiscus

to her cheek

while the sun lights up

her feet

 

Beauty

is a fat black woman

riding the waves

drifting in happy oblivion

while the sea turns back

to hug her shape

_____________________

Other posts on Grace Nichols:

http://signifyinguyana.typepad.com/signifyin_guyana/2010/05/giving-her-tongue.html