We Thing...West Indian Authors

Courtesy www.wookmark.com

Neil Bissoondath – This Trinidad-born author has a unique way of becoming his characters and bringing them to life in an exceptional way. His book Doing the Heart Good tells the story of Alistair, a seventy-year-old widower, father, grandfather and retired professor. After his house burns down, circumstances cause him to have to move in with his daughter and her family. Alistair has to come to terms with the fact that his prior independence is now gone and this new journey leads to a new future with his daughter and grandson. It is a story that is relatable to all of us as we grow older and have to adapt to a new life, as we now have to depend on others and realise how much we need our loved ones.

Dionne Brand – is a Trinidadian author. Her book At the Full and Change of the Moon is a Caribbean neo-slave narrative. It tells the story of a Trinidadian slave, Marie Ursule and encapsulates the African Diaspora of the nineteenth and twentieth century. The plot involves a mass suicide of plantation slaves in 1824, led by Marie. Her daughter Bola is entrusted to the sole survivor. Bola experiences two world wars and has to come to terms with a horrible legacy of oppression. 

Will Chen – his book, Chutney Power tells both the good and bad of East Indian life in the form of short, witty stories. The stories focus on the simple lives of the rural East Indian community in Trinidad – the joys, tragedies, passions and quarrels. 

Rosyln Carrington – Candy Don’t Come in Gray is a story by this Trinidadian author that addresses the issue of race and identity. Mattie is the product of her African mother’s love affair with a white man. Mattie’s father never acknowledges her as his daughter. When he dies, he does not even mention her in his will. While she does not want anything, she has to deal with the hurt of seeing her half-sister, her father’s legitimate child, enjoy so much. 

Other authors and book titles to read:

• Michelle Cliff – Abeng
• Edqidge Danticat – Breath, Eyes, Memory
• David DAbaydeen – Molly and the Muslim Stick

Phelie Sookhan - this list is especially for you...