Writing a New Caribbean: Under the Surface
Seriously...
BBC
4.1 • 885 Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2017
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A picture of the Caribbean, as seen by a new generation of writers and poets.
Elisha Efua Bartels talks to Trinidadian writers Sharon Millar, Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw, and Andre Bagoo about the sense of place in their work.
For Sharon Millar, author of the short story collection 'The Whale House', the landscape and colour of Trinidad is always the anchor, and she often explores the cultural interaction and foot traffic between the island and Venezuela, only 7 miles away. Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw delves under the surface of Trinidadian society in her novel 'Mrs B', set during the 1990 coup in Port of Spain and inspired by Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary'. In Andre Bagoo's poetry, locations in the city become symbolic of the state of the nation, both in their beauty and disgrace.
Elisha looks at the ways in which these writers capture Trinidadian landscapes and cityscapes in their work, and how they address what lies beneath.
Featuring readings from: Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw - 'Mrs B', Peepal Tree Press Sharon Millar - 'The Whale House', Peepal Tree Press Andre Bagoo - 'Burn', Shearsman Books Elisha Efua Bartels - 'Woman is Boss' from 'Trinidad Noir' - Akashic Books Sonia Farmer - 'The Best Estimation in the World'.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box. |
| 0:05.0 | The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from. |
| 0:09.0 | And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.0 | The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.5 | The IRA inmates who found a way. |
| 0:14.5 | I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path |
| 0:19.5 | through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history. |
| 0:25.0 | The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them. |
| 0:28.5 | Escape from the Maze, listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:34.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:40.0 | Is it true? |
| 0:41.0 | Is it true? |
| 0:42.0 | It's maybe the most asked question right now in the swirl of alternative facts fake news post truth |
| 0:51.2 | How do we get to what's real? It was already a slightly sweaty but otherwise perfect |
| 0:57.0 | beach day. Maybe we can find truth in fiction. |
| 1:02.1 | I took St Lucian to Maduba Cross Road and over the hill |
| 1:04.8 | towards Maravale, past the maxi taxis turning around at the wider but still too small |
| 1:10.1 | bend in the shaded road. I'm Rhiana Dillon and today's seriously interesting story comes from the shores of the |
| 1:16.4 | Caribbean from Trinidad and the Bahamas where a new wave of writers are figuring |
| 1:21.5 | out how to capture the land and cityscapes and address what lies beneath. |
| 1:27.0 | This is the first in a series called Writing a New Caribbean. |
| 1:30.8 | I'll let you know how to catch the others later but for now let's go under the surface. |
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