14
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 5 AUGUST, 2018
BOOKS
IMMORTALISINGKITCH
B Y J A R R E L D E M A T A S
Under a barely-lit night sky,
a star was born on
stage, while a calypsonian’s legacy was re-ignited.
Trinidadian-born, UK-based writer Anthony Joseph
delivered a stellar performance as part of the book
launch of his novel
Kitch
onApril 27.The Big Black Box
was the venue for a roster of imminent and emergent
writers. But it was Anthony Joseph who stole the show.
Endorsed by theNGCBocas Lit Fest, Joseph’s novel
did more than focus the spotlight on his artistic voice,
it also redirected attention to the larger-than-life figure
who embodied the lived experience of a generation,
and whose personality invigorated a nation.
I’m referring to the late Grandmaster, the
calypsonian known as Lord Kitchener, Aldwyn
Roberts. Joseph’s text is a masterclass. I do not think
a Trinidadian novel has ever made a single artist the
sole focus of its literary illustration. It is appropriate
that Lord Kitchener is the first.
Born in 1922, Kitchener’s musical consciousness
had been unavoidably informed by the colonial
experience. He lived through colonialism, post-
colonialism, post-war independence, and was on
the cusp of early Trinidadian modernism. Kitchener
personified the rise and development of the Trinidad
and Tobago nation-state. Arima, Belmont, Port
of Spain and Diego Martin are a few of the places
captured in the novel that, together with uniquely
Trinidadian expressions such as “it have a zwill in the
madbull tail,” “jagabat,” and “vaps,” reinforce the voice
and setting that
Kitch
portrays.
This artist, who defined a generation with his
musical magnificence, was given fresh life on a night
that celebrated music as much as the written word.
Kitch
was a fitting headliner that did not disappoint.
And given the recent controversial statements made
about the Windrush generation, it was timely.
Joseph was prophetic in descr ibing the
uncertainties and insecurities faced by the Windrush
batch of migrants: “And when you land in the mother
country, who you is to the English? You don’t know if
you coming or going, you papers say England but you
born in Trinidad, and you not of the place you reaching
yet – and when you reach you is a immigrant.”
Lord Kitchener left Trinidad in 1948 aboard
the
MV Empire Windrush
to go to the UK. Joseph
paid special tribute to Kitchener’s role as part of that
generation. Describing the moment the ship docks in
England, an extract reads: “But he stands here now, on
the wooden jetty, upright in England, the land he had
imagined for so long.”
A few lines later,
‘Kitch’
delivers one of his most
famous pieces, upon request by the reporter, which
Joseph captures down to even the calypsonian’s
mannerisms:
“Now, may I ask you your name?”
“Lord Kitchener.”
“LordKitchener. Now I’mtold that you are really
the king of calypso singers, is that right?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“Well, now can you sing for us?”
“Yes.”
“London is the place for me”
(mimics the upright, wood bass)
“London, this lovely city”
(the right shoulder rises, the beat turns down)
“You can go to France or America
India, Asia or Australia
But you must come back to London city.”
Accompanied by live music and vocals of
Kitchener’s classic, “London is the place for me,” Joseph
was met with thunderous applause.
The author’s extensive craft as a poet brings a
unique rhythm and style that makes the reverence of
Lord Kitchener’s characterisation in the novel leap off
the page. This is not your typical work of fiction, or
biography. In fact, the subtitle of the novel – a fictional
biography – sets readers up for a promising journey
into the life of Lord Kitchener that is enhanced with
Joseph’s poetic prose. Interwoven in the text are lyrical
interludes which evoke the nostalgia and musical
genius associated with the almost mythological
persona of Kitchener.
Part of Joseph’s creative brilliance is that most
of what readers learn of
Kitch
is filtered from the
community of people around him. In this way the
myth-making of
Kitch
is sustained. In fact, the
calypsonian does very little speaking in the novel,
which paradoxically increases his presence and impact
further because different people all have their say on
what
Kitch
meant to them..
The novel’s chapters are divided into three broad
sections that trace the development of the legendary
calypsonian: “Bean,” “Lord Kitchener” and “The
Grandmaster.” Each sub chapter is a personal account
of the impact Kitch has had on the people describing
him. The calypsonian’s influence through music is
summed up in the section titled “Centipede, June
1948:” “Fellas does feel sweet when Kitchener open
he throat to sing. Long as he singing, we feel safe; we
eh go dead.”
“The Road” describes him further: “But
Kitch
,
like he put something else in that song. What it is? I
don’t know much about Africa, but if you listen you
could hear like people beating big African drum with
bone in there.”
As a child of the nineties I did not understand how
significant the life and career of Lord Kitchener was to
Trinidad in particular, and the Caribbean in general,
but Anthony Joseph’s performance that night was
something special.The entire audience, young and old,
was captivated by the gravity of Joseph’s literary project.
I myself was so overwhelmed with pore-raising, lump-
in-throat, emotions following the performance that I
was compelled to give Joseph a standing ovation (as did
other members of the audience). For a brief moment,
Lord Kitchener was reincarnated on stage and I was
able to share in the legendary individual who will
forever be immortalised by
Kitch
.
Anthony Joseph has hit a gold mine as it concerns
in-depth biographical explorations of Caribbean icons
through fiction. It is my hope that similar writings
will be undertaken to shine light on other artists who
shared the generation with our very own
Kitch
.
Jarrel De Matas is a postgraduate student, M.A. Literatures in English, at The UWI St. Augustine campus.
Anthony Joseph
