Shades of Ebony: an intriguing debut novel by Brooklyn-based, Guyanese writer, Selwyn Collins

Jul 28, 2024 News

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By Darren Hinds

Kaieteur News – Shade of Ebony is an intriguing debut novel from the unorthodox mind of Brooklyn-based, Guyanese writer, Selwyn Collins, which explores an array of themes related to blackness, womanhood, and tragedy. It is a work that is complex in a particularly enjoyable way, as it utilizes its characters and concepts to project certain themes onto the reader and progress the storyline and narrative. This complexity may be indicative of the writer’s own multifaceted nature, as he writes not only from the perspective of a writer/author/poet, but also of a motivational speaker, philanthropist, coach, entrepreneur, and media host; these experiences are all relevant and add something valuable to the novel.

Collins, a former student of both Queen’s College and The Bishops’ High School, was one of the pioneers of co-education in Guyana. While his time at those institutions, especially the latter, cultivated in him a sense of determination and pride, these skills were not applied to the writing profession until much later in life.

Nevertheless, he explains that literature played an important role in his life from very early on; there was no television at the time, so children at the time would read and discuss what they read, and that would be their entertainment. For Collins, that hobby served as a “gateway to adventure”, and he lived vicariously through the books, he read.

Writing, however, was a completely different beast, one that he never imagined he could do or master when he was a child. It wasn’t until 1996 that he says he began writing poetry, to overwhelmingly positive reviews from friends and family. He recalls writing a poem called “I Am” and reading it to his mother in 2001, and how impressed she was by it. At this point, he still was not truly focused on writing, as he was very much occupied with the ebbs and flows of life for the time being. Nevertheless, 2001 is the year that Shade of Ebony initially came to be.

In the time between its conception and release, however, Collins released two motivational books, The eartHeart Knows and The eartHeart Knows Who You Are. As an individual who is very much in touch with his spirituality and has a strong relationship with God, as well as a skilled writer, works of this kind align well with his general purpose and direction in life.

Shade of Ebony was originally released in August of last year, is an episodic form to an email audience, and Collins strategy was to stop releasing episodes at about the halfway point of the book and then release a complete novel including the other half. That novel, which was released last year, is the first installation in the Shade of Ebony trilogy. The novel follows Jacques Bouvard, as he navigates the dark and twisted reality that he is faced with when he discovers the true circumstances behind the death of his wife. On his search for justice for his wife, Bouvard experiences dangerous and life-threatening interactions, attempts to tread the waters of new love–with the ex-wife of his brother, at that, and becomes involved in something much more impactful than he could have imagined.

An aspect of the novel that is notably interesting and powerful is the MaKofa organisation, which is essentially a holistic empowerment programme for young, black women. This is a very unique concept that adds another layer of nuance and diversity to the storyline, and progresses one of the major themes of the novel, the empowerment of black women.

All the elements of the novel come together to create an experience for the reader, in which every sentence and paragraph, it will draw them in. Collins did not write this novel with the intention of having his reader be plagued by boredom and resort to skimming through the text; rather, he aims to make them fully immersed in the words, concepts, and ideas to the point that they forget they are even reading. This is what writing, at its core, is about for him, and Shade of Ebony embodies that fully.

Shade of Ebony is available on all major online platforms such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads, in both paperback and digital forms.

At the moment, Collins is engaged with a number of initiatives, including Brand YOUth Global Inc., the platform for entrepreneurs that he founded in the interest of developing mindsets and transforming lives for the better. Regardless of the packed schedule he has due to his many roles, he promises that the next volume in the Shade of Ebony trilogy is forthcoming, as he is currently working on it.

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• Brooklyn-based, Guyanese writer, MaKofa organisation, Queens College, Selwyn Collins, The Bishops High School

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