By Samuel Braithwaite
Samuel Brathwaite is a lecturer in the
Department of Economics, the University
of the West Indies, Mona
Introduction
In May of this year, I was asked by Prof. Vibert Cambridge to participate, via Skype or pre-recorded video, in the Mittelholzer literary event in celebration of Guyana’s Jubilee year of independence. The following are my reflections on Mittelholzer and his works. It’s not a literary analysis. Indeed, there’s much more of his work that I’m yet to read, and I do not possess the skills of a literary critic.
In 2009, the Caribbean Beat, in its celebratory 100th issue, did a feature on Edgar Austin Mittelholzer. The same issue featured Caribbean music icon, Bob Marley. Deliberate, or not, Mittelholzer was in esteemed company, and rightfully so. Of Mittelholzer, the Caribbean Beat wrote, “Edgar Mittelholzer, born on December 16, 1909, was the earliest recorded author from the region to make a living – and a very precarious one it would turn out to be – from his pen.” In my view, Mittelholzer was a Caribbean literary revolutionary whose tenacity allowed him to overcome several barriers and pave the way for other Caribbean writers to follow.