Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

The launch of “16: A Collection of Short Stories” drew a packed-to-capacity crowd to the Kaiso Blues Cafe on April 25. The book features authors such as Elspeth Duncan, Judith Theodore, Ty N. Batson and June Aming.
Editor Jeanne Mason said the unifying factor shared by the 16 authors is that their stories are characteristic of the Caribbean genre.

She said the 16 voices create a symphony and, in addition to entertaining, bridge the traditional and the contemporary and are a wonderful addition to Caribbean literature. Mason said the turnout for the launch far exceeded expectations. She gave special thanks to Tye N. Batson, Carolyn Mair, Judith Theodore, Betty Peter, Colleen Selvon-Rampersad for their various inputs and especially to Elspeth Duncan, who came up with and followed through with many creative ideas.
Various authors read excerpts from their stories. June Aming’s vivid portrayal of a first Carnival experience in “Carnival Baby” was in stark contrast with Elspeth Duncan’s nostalgic remembrance of a sleepy village in “Sending Letters.” Stephen Brown’s excerpt from “The Funeral of Samdaye Perez aka Rosie,” clearly portrayed the sorrow of at least one of the onlookers. “The Stone Speaks” by Carla Seereeram-Harnanan spoke of how life continued almost as normal for the planter class after Emancipation. She also read excerpts from “One for the Other” by Nadrah Mohammed which detailed some of the pressures facing Indo-Trinidadian teens who are sent abroad to study, as well as Andrea Algalith’s “Land of the Dead,” a bone-chilling account of two girls fighting against being raped and Darby Maloney’s “De Man,” about a pair of youths up to no good.
“Crochet Doll Unravels,” read by author Colleen Rampersad, was a heartwrenching tale of a young girl being informed of her upcoming marriage, but not daring to voice any dissent for fear of being shunned or “accidentally killed.”
Tye N. Batson’s excerpt of “Mrs. Wilson” had the audience laughing as it described a meeting between an insurance investigator and a woman accused of murdering her husband. Betty Peter’s story “Storm Clouds” was a nostalgic remembrance of the innocence of life and memories of First Communion.
“It’s My Space” by Judith Theodore gave a harrowing account of the kidnapping of a woman and the bucolic response of the police. A.S.F. Andrews’ “Mango Tree” explored the nuances of relationships between women and men, while “Lessons at Palo Alto” by Ian F. Ali looked at one woman’s decision to dress as she pleased, regardless of the disapproval of the men around her.
The last story shared, “Playing With Fire” by Kamla Williams, described a village’s distrust of the outsider, whom the children called “Soucouyant Susie.”
UTT Professor Kenneth Ramchand, who wrote the introduction to the book, said the collection represents the fusion society which is T&T, which is created out of the meeting of peoples and cultures. He said the uniqueness of “16” lies in the range of writers, voices and settings which represent all the ethnic groups and mixtures in these culturally diverse islands, as well as non-citizens who have found a connection here. Ramchand said one of the things which makes the collection unique is the use of the Trinidadian language and especially the Trinidadian tone of voice. Another unique factor is that the collection shows T&T as a place where violence against women and children and disrespect for life has always been and continue to be quite routine. However, he said the most unusual thing about the book is that all the stories, whether written by the 11 female authors and five male authors, have women and children as the main characters.
“When you finish the last story, you may realize that 16 can be seen symbolically as an allusion to the confusion and uncertainties of an energetic society that has not grown up after more than 50 years of Independence, a society in which corruption, decadence, and crimes against the person are major failings.”
Ramchand also made an appeal to the authorities to revive the UTT Press, “which will publish books that will express the variety of life, intellectual effort and cultural expressions in T&T, to show how rich and intersecting the different areas of our lives and intellectual activities are.” He lamented the fact that “16” was not published by the UTT Press.
Royards Publishing Company Director, Dwight Narinesingh said the collection was created by 16 very talented authors. “It’s worth people having a read if they want to expose themselves to literary work that is being produced that is very relevant to our country at this time. I would say it’s a very good read and I’d have people to have a look at it.”