Michael Castello publishes new collection of Indigenous folklore

Sep 24, 2018 News

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– ‘Twice Upon 2’ launched in Heritage Month

By Feona Morrison

Already known for his books chronicling Guyana’s folklore, local writer, Michael. E. Castello has now launched Twice Upon 2 to coincide with Indigenous Heritage Month.
According to the author who hails from Region One, Twice Upon 2 is the sequel to Twice Upon A Time. He said that his objective was to produce narratives that would hold the attention of both young and old. .
“These are of course original, never-told-before tales (except the Janacree incidents, which actually occurred),” Castello said.
“It is a cosmopolitan mix, which keeps the reader leaping into different worlds at supersonic speed.”
“After the script was completed, a few randomly selected stories were exposed to my chosen test audience consisting of teens and over. The whole document was requested. Word got around, and live narrations for juniors now acquiring reading skills also became a part of the assessment mode.”
Castello hopes readers will enjoy each of the 10 short stories. He added that the stories were inspired by happenings in his community.
Twice Upon 2 consists of ‘Janacree’, ‘The Hassa Hunt’, ‘Monkey-Boy’, ‘The Man-Kite’, ‘The Yam Deal’, ‘The Stowaways’, ‘The Trawler- Trip’, ‘ House Across the River’, ‘The School Leaver’, and ‘The Manicole Hut’.
‘The Manicole Hut’, Castello confessed, is of significance to him. He revealed that Manicole Huts existed at the Barimani River, Region One in the early 1980s. He recalled that there was where persons went during the dry season to fish and hunt for animals.
Like his previous book, ShadoWalkers, a collection of indigenous short stories inspired by historical and other real events, digital copies are also available of Twice Upon 2.
ShadoWalkers is a 101-page collection of adult fictional stories dedicated to the late Minister within the Ministry of Education, Dr. Desrey Fox, who died on December 11, 2009, three days after she was involved in a car accident.
His inspiration for chronicling this collection came from working in the interior and listening to the experiences of villagers and following up with serious research.
“During my research for folk history data in Guyana, I was fortunate to meet and hold dialogues with the late Dr. Desrey Fox (then junior Minister of Education) who had conducted an in-depth exploration of the Kanaima Cult in the south of Guyana.”
Castello recalled that when Dr. Fox was questioned about the dangers inherent in such an undertaking, she responded, “If one throws a pebble in a pond, there are sure to be ripples.
He said that she then paused, smiled absently and continued, “Like the Leopard Men of West Africa these Kanaimas, ‘Jaguar-Men’ locally known as ‘Turn-tigers’ have an outer circle, an inner circle and a centre. The outer circle could be revealed without consequences, the inner circle only if one knew how, the centre however, has its price.”
Castello began his writing career years ago by writing short stories for children.
The most well-known are Mezee and the Moco-Moco Tree (an Ol’ Higue story and Hard Times All Round (A Kanaima story). His first adult short story, ‘Write it Off to Experience’ was bought by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for its World Service Programme.
Castello is remembered for producing the North Western Region’s first news magazine, The Samborah (message drum), which highlighted the amalgamated lifestyles of the Warraus, Lokonos (Arawaks) and the Karinyas (Caribs).
This former teacher, NIS Inspector, Social Worker and then radio broadcaster, said he quit his day jobs to take up full-time writing. Like any other writer, he reads extensively and is also a singer and song writer.
Apart from writing, he dabbles with studio software, home recordings and pursues photography. On the lighter side, Castello is a lover of physical fitness and has a thing for motorcycles. Added to that, he believes in the A3T principles of accomplishing today’s task, today.
Another thing this writer confesses is that he developed a love for writing as a little boy, “I read because I wanted to write,” he proudly said, adding that he has never experienced the so-called condition of “writer’s block.”
“As soon as I am finished with a book, I move on to the next one.” His main focus is on getting material to print his novels. Castello prints several copies of his novels, which are sold or given away to persons in his community.
He added that a situation like this usually happens when you are being pressured to meet deadlines by agents and/or publishers. He spends about eight to 10 hours daily writing “with maybe a short break or two.”
With Guyana not having active copyright laws, Castello still hopes that the relevant authorities will help in promoting local writers by establishing a publishing company on the lines of the defunct Caribbean Press.
Other books written by Castello include CloudWarriors (prehistoric saga of the Warraus), Devildoer (contemporary stories based on real life incidents in North West Region, Riptide (cosmopolitan short story collection) and Twice Upon A Time (stories for juniors).
Be on the lookout for Castello’s upcoming novel, The Golden Sheriga—a collection of folk stories.

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