DARYLL Goodchild, Scott Ting-A-Kee and Gabriella Mohamed are three young Guyanese writers on a valiant quest to create literature that is just authentic Guyanese goodness.
These three young writers have either used their life experiences and interactions, history or their sheer imagination as their modelling clay to create books that were on display at the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) over the past 10 days.

Twenty-one-year-old Daryll had his self-published book “Krassin the River” which aimed to spotlight the plight of the people he calls the “Invisible Poor”.

“I began the book trying to spotlight the ordinary persons and what they go through every day that people don’t see. I call them ‘We the invisible poor’– they are the normal working-class people,” the young author explained.
Daryll intended to present sober issues while crafting literature that was still fun and interactive. And his book was worth its salt since it was selected to represent Guyana at the Bocas Lit Fest at CARIFESTA.

“At the Bocas Lit Fest, it’s like you truly live and breathe words and I’ve learnt so much from everyone [from different Caribbean countries],” he said.
And he now hopes to take this experience and encourage more Guyanese writers, or just persons thinking about writing, to take the leap of faith. According to him, writers in Guyana are told that they need “side jobs” to support their creative pursuits. At the same time, however, he stressed that that could lead to persons ‘losing their spark’ or their authenticity.

Ting-A-Kee, 25, realised that many persons of Chinese descent have lost touch with their history and have become more “eurocentric”. Added to that, he lamented that there is a dearth of Chinese literature in the Caribbean.

Scott’s book “Red Hibiscus” is a mixture of poetry and prose, history and fiction. The story is set in ancient China and features clairvoyant priests and priestesses who see that indentureship and colonialism may occur, and they attempt to stop this.

“In terms of Caribbean literature, most of the texts out there focus on the Afrocentric or the Indo centric experience or even some in the indigenous peoples, but you hardly find any that deal with the Chinese Indentureship experience,” the young man said.
And it was this lack of Chinese literature, and the loss of connection to Chinese history and culture, that prompted Scott to “fill the gap”. And so he wrote Red Hibiscus. This also led him to relearn and rediscover about his own Chinese heritage and he hopes that his work could inspire other Chinese to do the same.

“In terms of Caribbean culture, the Chinese adapted instead of holding onto their distinct culture. We lost more than the other groups,” Scott said. “So I want to inspire them- those of Chinese and Japanese descent- to reconnect, to challenge received ideas and to go back to the past and rediscover parts of themselves that they didn’t know existed.”
Aside from the exposure he gained for himself from CARIFESTA, he hoped that ultimately, he could also inspire other youth to join the creative industry.

Then there’s 26- year-old Gabrielle Mohamed; the rose among the thorns. Mohamed took two books to CARIFESTA; the first is a collection of plays called “Blackout Daze” and there is her collection of poetry (which she says is her baby) called “Is you madness nah me own”.

The “Guyanese-ness” that the young woman brings is her emphasis on creole in her works.
“The creole is important to me because it’s for my people back home [in Guyana],” she explained, “Any person, from any stature in society, could pick up [my books] and be able to relate to it.”

More than that, she uses her books to shed light on social issues in Guyana. Similar to Daryll, however, she does so with her own touch of imagination, incorporating elements of history, fiction and even folklore.

At CARIFESTA, she indicated that she wanted to create a connection with those other prolific writers so that she could develop her own writing. Beyond that, she disclosed that she wants to establish a “safe space” for young writers in Guyana so that they could be able to freely share their work and refine their craft at this space.

While their common interest to create authentic Guyanese literature is a common denominator among the trio, the other factor stringing them together is their hope to push for more support for the literary platform in Guyana.

Mohamed pointed out that there are few opportunities for writers in Guyana to develop their craft. More than that, she and Goodchild- who both self-published their books- indicated that it is a bit difficult getting literary work ‘off the ground’.
Nevertheless, the two of them along with their partner in arms, Scott, hope that once home, they can help to push for increased opportunities.

On their own, they’ll be selling their books and trying to get more persons to connect. For now, their books are all available for purchase online at Amazon. The books will be sold at Austin’s bookstore as well.