Arts on Sunday

[David Dabydeen, Sweet Li Jie, Leeds, UK, Peepal Tree Press, 2024.

“The When Time” is the title of a poem by West Indian poet Martin Wylde Carter (June 7, 1927 – December 13, 1997) from the collection Poems of Succession (New Beacon Books, 1978). 

There was a period between the 1960s and early 1970s that was an age of super-heroes in film – specifically in the cinema and television. 

On October 10, 2024, it was announced that the distinguished and prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature 2024 was awarded to South Korean fiction writer Han Kang. 

At the present time in Guyana, among the most anticipated annual dance productions on stage is Greens & Golds, produced by Kreative Arts and directed by Jonathan and Esther Hamer.

Sita and Jatayu                      It was Jatayu who tried to pursue Rawan (1) to save Sita, his treasured King’s wife, as she prayed to her Rama to free her from Rawan’s clutch, squeezing tight her spleen.

In the Programme Notes for the recently performed KFC Link Show 37 it is written that the director and producers Ron Robinson and Gem Madhoo-Nascimento, when they founded the show, were the first to pay performers and were responsible for the introduction of the practice of fees being paid for work in theatre in Guyana.

Link Show 37 returns to the National Cultural Centre for a repeat performance on October 26 at 8 pm.

Be it jade, it shatters.                    Be it gold, it breaks. Be it quetzal feather, it tears apart.

It is generally not easy to get reliable information about cultural performances early in the previous century in order to reconstruct historical records.

Last week we addressed the proposition that popular theatre is killing off serious theatre because its direct appeal to laughter and light entertainment has dominated the audience and serious drama is struggling to survive.

It is universally acknowledged in western societies today, especially among theatregoers, that popular theatre is killing off serious theatre.

Introduction [We are honoured to present today a short analysis of the life and work of Caribbean calypsonian, musician, playwright, dramatist, comedian, band leader and cultural administrator Dave Martins written by former President of Guyana Donald Ramotar. 

We are pleased to present a small sample to give a picture of the poetry of Edgar Mittelholzer (1909 -1965), the prolific Guyanese writer best known for his several novels.

[Makeda Braithwaite, Go Fish: Go In De Pack,  Bamboo Talk Press, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, 2024. 

In the fading light of an ill-fated afternoon, at 5 pm on December 9, 1994, the peace and quiet of Buxton and Friendship on the East Coast Demerara in Guyana were tragically shattered when 34 year-old Hubert Headley, known to everyone as “Baby Arthur” ran berserk with a cutlass through the streets of the communities slaughtering six people and a dog and injuring two others.

Introduction [Today we are privileged to reprint another priceless archival treasure from the past. 

The book  Iris de Freitas Brazao, Legal Luminary and Trailblazer: Caribbean, Canada, Wales, England 1896-1989  was the winner of the Third Prize in the Guyana Prize for Non-Fiction 2023.

[We are privileged once again to have the opportunity to present another priceless archival document from 1966, the year of Guyana’s Independence. 

By Alim Hosein [In a follow-up to his essay last week on the 2024 Joint Conference of the Society for Caribbean Linguistics and the Society for Pidgin Languages set for August 5 – 9 at the University of Guyana Turkeyen and Berbice Campuses and hosted by the Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Alim Hosein looks at the study of these languages and oral literature at UG and the further relevance of the conference.