Al Creighton (Stabroek News 05/31/09):
There is no quick, simple way of defining what is Guyanese literature, what constitutes it and exactly when we should say it began. Should it be confined to works of the imagination, that is to say, fiction, poetry and drama; or should it rightly be extended to a more comprehensive coverage of what is truly literature? This would then make it possible to include some non-fiction with all those accounts like Ralegh’s; great works of travel and scientific writing which would admit the likes of Schomburgk, Vincent Roth and Walter Roth. Then who is to qualify as a Guyanese writer? How far should we take nationality and citizenship, and do those in ‘exile’ ever cease to be Guyanese regardless of how many decades overseas, foreign passports and alien subjects? What then of second generation Guyanese in the diaspora and even ‘diasporal’ writings by Guyanese overseas? More here.
