Renowned Guyanese playwright and author Harold Bascom to launch Love & New Road and Other Stories September 26

By Andrea Hendricks

AFTER a career spanning illustration, theatre, painting and five Guyana Prize for Literature wins, Guyanese creative Harold A. Bascom returns with LOVE & NEW ROAD and OTHER STORIES, a collection that brings his many artistic titles back to the literary form.

Born in Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, Bascom spent his formative years moving among Best Village, New Road in Vreed-en-Hoop, Pouderoyen and Linden. Those communities gave him a broad view of Guyana’s social worlds, a perspective that continues to animate his fiction and drama.

Now living in Georgia, USA, Bascom remains closely connected to Guyana. The country continues to shape his stories and plays.  Recently, Bascom discussed all things literature in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle Pepperpot Magazine, including details of LOVE & NEW ROAD and OTHER STORIES, scheduled to be launched on September 26.

Pepperpot Magazine: For readers who may be discovering you for the first time, who is Harold Bascom, and how would you describe yourself as a writer and storyteller?

Harold A. Bascom: I am a Guyanese creative. And yes, I am a writer-storyteller. Before I left Guyana in 1996, my first novel, APATA: The Story of a Reluctant Criminal, was published by Heinemann Educational Books of London, so I became a Heinemann Caribbean Writers Series novelist, which was quite an achievement for me. Added to that, I became the second Guyanese writer to have a novel published in a foreign country without leaving the shores of Guyana. Berbician writer, the late Edgar Mittelholzer, was the first.

Then I became a leading Guyanese playwright, producer, and director of popular plays which I staged at the National Cultural Centre. Plays like Tessa Real-Girl & the Old Fool, The Barrel, Cockle House, The Visa Wedding, and many more. Before that, I was a book illustrator employed by the Guyana Ministry of Education, and my work appeared in supplementary readers such as Our First Village, Balram’s New Home, Bound for Guyana, Cumfa Drums are Calling, The Moco-Moco-Tree: Ol’ Higue Story, and others. I am also a five-time winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature, as well as an artist-painter

PM: What first drew you to writing, and what experiences have most influenced the writer you have become today?

HAB: I was first drawn to writing because I wanted to become a film director—and still do. This surprises many interviewers: I didn’t set out to be a writer, but a film director. I used writing as a means to become a film director. Then I became a playwright to become a film director. Now, I’m a full-time writer and playwright, but I still hope to become a filmmaker.

PM: Your stories draw from life and society. What usually sparks an idea for a story, and how do you transform those observations into fiction?

HAB: My philosophy as a creative, whether I’m in artist mode, writer mode, or playwright mode, is to be an antenna for the society I live in. I feel my role is to reflect the way we live—the way we relate to one another, and especially our values. You asked what sparks an idea for a story, and I will give an example: As a Guyanese, I kept thinking about how many people buy their driver’s licences, and the thought of the practice appalled me. So I decided to say something about it as a writer and wrote a story about a young woman who wants to be seen behind the wheel of an expensive car, even though she lacks the eye-and-hand coordination to steer a motor vehicle safely. So, she buys her licence, her “Sugar daddy” buys her a car, and she kills a child on the road. My stories come from being part of our society.

PM: You are preparing to launch your collection of short stories on September 26. What inspired you to bring these particular stories together in one collection?

HAB: The inspiration was in my belief that Guyanese people need to be cognizant of the many stories that can come out of the Guyanese everyday experience and our mythology and make books. The inspiration came, as well, from my determination to record our mindset and our memories, be they filled with traumas or pride. My inspiration came from my determination that the average Guyanese needs to accept the country’s past as a way to influence our way forward. The inspiration also came from the need for stories of how we fare in the Guyanese Diaspora.

I was determined to put together a collection of Guyanese stories to show that stories about Guyanese are as good as stories about other countries. I needed to show our young writers that they need not look outside of Guyana for inspiration. Bottom line: I was inspired to say, through LOVE & NEW ROAD and OTHER STORIES, that culturally, we are a unique people and that we need to stop imitating the Jamaicans, the Trinidadians, and the style of every other country, and shout our own stories from the rooftops.

PM: Is there a central theme, message or thread that connects the stories, and what do you hope readers will discover as they move from one story to another?

HAB: I’d say the central message might well be: Your existence as a Guyanese is as meaningful and important as any other nationality! Celebrate it!

PM: Was there a particular story in the collection that challenged you, surprised you, or holds a special personal meaning for you? What makes it stand out?

HAB: With the craft of writing, every piece in this collection was a challenge, in that the art of writing is rewriting.  The Vat, the last story in the collection, took some more out of me, however, because it can be called a novella. As such, it took longer to write and had more moving parts to synchronise. The story Love & New Road holds something special for me, however, since in more ways than one, it is heavily autobiographical.

PM: How has your writing evolved over the years, and in what ways does this new collection reflect the writer you are today?

HAB: You get better by writing consistently over the years. A true writer never stops learning. I’m hoping that this collection shows that my range, in terms of different subject matter that I tackle as a writer and artist—and I say this since there is an illustration for each story—reflects the man I am today, and since experience teaches wisdom, maybe this collection will say that I’m much more aware and much more conscious of life, as a Guyanese and as a citizen of the world.

PM: What does the September 26 launch mean to you personally—not simply as the release of a unique collection, but as a milestone in your journey as a writer?

HAB: For me, I see it as the resurgence of myself as a fiction writer. For many years I’ve been regarded -remembered, as a playwright, even though I am a published novelist. So, this book launch says, as a fiction writer, “I’m back!”

PM: What are you hoping readers will feel, question or take away after reading the collection, especially Guyanese readers who may recognise aspects of their own lives and communities in your stories?

HAB: I’m hoping the takeaway will be as it was when I staged my first Guyanese play, The Barrel, at the National Cultural Centre back in 1987: Guyanese were proud as hell to see their simple, yet significant lives reflected on a stage, after so many years of seeing foreign characters there. I’m hoping that it will be the same with this collection. I’m hoping most will be able to show their book and say, “Guyanese stories! In a Book! We rankin’!”

PM: As you celebrate this new chapter, what is next for Harold Bascom?

HAB: I have myriad projects in the pipeline: On the heels of LOVE & NEW ROAD and OTHER STORIES, there will be another book, a play, entitled THE AFRO-GUYANESE ODYSSEY, from the failed GoFundMe project of the same name. That will hopefully be out by December this year.

PM: Are there more stories, books or literary projects already taking shape?

HAB: Yes. I’m currently working on a horror novel based on a Guyanese jumbie story, though set in the US. There’s also a collection of my Guyana Prize-winning plays, as well as an autobiography. I’m getting there. Aren’t I?

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Taken together, Bascom’s work makes a sustained case for Guyanese identity and for stories told in their own voices. He leaves younger writers with a clear direction: begin with Guyana, its people and its communities, and trust the material close to home.