“I believe natural, everyday stories are not necessarily mundane, but still go untold,” says Daryll Goodchild, 21, the writer of ‘Old Mr. Greaves,’ which won the Guyana Annual 2019’s A.J Seymour Prize for Open Short Story. “And as an avid reader myself, I don’t like the idea of having stories untold. For me, it is an itch under the skin to know there are all sorts of gaps and loopholes through which many stories have slipped, and have become obscured and unreachable.”
With “Old Mr. Greaves,” Goodchild features what he calls Guyana’s “strange reality” of grandparents, and in some instances, great-grandparents, raising the younger generation. “The generation gap can be a roadblock to effective communication, but in “Old Mr. Greaves,” there is an important bridge played in the role of Julian’s father, (Mr. Greaves’ Grandson, Benny). In that middle ground we see an educated single parent dad taking care of his elderly grandfather while raising his son. It’s a situation rarely seen, but not at all implausible, as Benny manages to understand the culture and courtesy of the older generation, while marrying this to the technological advancements of the young world,” he explains.
Though there are only a few characters featured in the story, each is richly drawn. Goodchild attributes to this to him spending a lot of time developing characters simply by observing people during their usual activities, and occasionally engaging them in conversation.
According to Goodchild, who is a writer of both prose and poetry, his love for reading and writing led him to keep and regularly update a journal of his childhood years and his experiences eventually resulted in him writing short stories. His adolescent years, he says, brought an “insatiable need for expression,” which drove him to new avenues. He adds that his love for poetry progressed and he became drawn to writing and performing slam poetry, while his short stories of a few hundred words expanded into several pages.
Goodchild says he grew up on many foreign stories before developing “a taste for local literary fruit” in his teenage years. He mentions Ian McDonald, Sir Wilson Harris, Martin Carter and A.J Seymour. “They were pioneers of the literary arts, and they shattered ground with pen and paper, documenting the culture that has for many years been Guyana’s reality; sad, true and humorous, all at once. Their words still echo and beckon for writers today to take up the mantle. It is necessary to do so,” he says.
He is doing his part and will officially launch his new book, “Crassin de Rivvah,” next month in Trinidad. It includes “Old Mr. Greaves,” and some of the characters featured in the story also have their own entry.
The book, which is self-published, is already available for purchase online through Amazon. Goodchild says he chose self-publishing in order to circumvent the roadblocks here in Guyana. “I needed this content out there and it was an avenue open and with few risks,” he says.
A launch is planned for Guyana when he returns from Trinidad.
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