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Guyanese Literature Junction

Nov 30, 2008 Features / Columnists, Guyanese Literature

by Petamber Persaud

Within minutes of each other, on Wednesday August 20, 2008, two new Guyanese books arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri; one was brought by its author, Sasenarine Persaud and the other found its way into the hands of its eagerly waiting author, Petamber Persaud.

Both books came off the press just in time for Carifesta X in Guyana (Petamber’s book missed Carifesta IX in Trinidad and Tobago; the publisher couldn’t produce it in time for the 2006 festival). Both books, as it were, hot off the press; for my part, I distanced myself from my companions just for a while, drinking in the smell of a new book – flicking the pages from cover to cover, over and over again, allowing the new smell to waft over me, permeating the soul of its creator.

Sasenarine’s book, ‘In a Boston Night’, came from its publisher TSAR, Canada. Petamber’s book, ‘The Balgobin Saga’, came with its publisher, Arif Ali of Hansib, UK.

It was definitely a momentous occasion for the two brothers – one sharing his experience of his sojourn in the Diaspora, the other grounded in the land of his birth recapturing stories both writers shared in their formative years in Guyana.

‘In a Boston Night’ is a multilayered collection of poems where ‘Boston, the focal point, is like a needle hole through which the poet deftly threads his reflections about places, events, histories: a conflict between Anglo- and Franco-Canadians at a Brookline art exhibition; Georgetown and Mumbai; Tampa and Toronto; the “Boston Tea Party” as a symbol of resistance to American English, subtly underlined by the description of a Walcott reading in an overflowing university hall’.

‘The Balgobin Saga’ is a groundbreaking work showing that Balgobin is an ‘elusive and often overlooked character in Indian-Guyanese folklore.

The mystery that surrounds him is curious given that his story has been in existence since the first arrival of Indians into Guyana in 1838.’

This book provides a re-introduction to this lovable character and also shows how Indo-Guyanese used storytelling (Balgobin stories) to deal with traumas and challenges of displacement.

Although both books were launched at the Book Fair in the National Park on different days, Sasenarine found himself in Petamber’s book and Petamber found his way into Sasenarine’s book; this is the tale of those two books, perhaps, the brothers were ‘writing back’ to each other.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: [email protected]

Literary Update:

• Check out the National Book Fair 2008 at Wisburg Secondary School, Wismar, Linden, on December 2 & 3, 2008. Take this opportunity to also see some of the books launched at Carifesta X.
• Coming in December: A Festival of Words, part II; please contact me for further information

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