SUNDAY 4 MARCH, 2018 – UWI TODAY
11
CAMPUS LITERATURE WEEK – MARCH 19-23
Why do you need to write?
When you find something that you do better
than anything else and it doesn’t feel like work
– it’s better than work – that’s, to me, your gift,
something that you can use to addmeaning to your
life. It’s the best tool that you can use to make an
impact, to communicate, to contribute to where
you’re living. And, if you realise that skill or tool,
why not?
How important is literature to a
society and to the individual?
To me, apart from non-fiction, literature
documents our journeys, our connections to the
invisible, mixed with our past, our culture, our
heritage. It’s [such] a wonderful form of art that,
like I can’t imagine the world without paintings
and visual art, I can’t imagine the world without
literature. We naturally tell stories, whether in
song or in praise, and that’s where it came from.
We have a need to communicate with others, [to]
entertain each other, [to] tell significant tales, [give]
warnings, provoke significant thoughts, project
ideas … It really does more than just increase
the skill of literacy. It makes us see how human ...
spiritual … creative we are. It reflects us in all the
magnificent ways that we exist. And what reading
does, that’s so different fromTV, film [or] visual art,
is that when you read, you create the scene in your
head. Each person reads the same thing and you
each have a different visualisation … [and] voice
in your head while you read it. And that’s based
on your own experience … whatever you’ve seen,
whatever you can imagine. So, the individuality of
literature and how that’s appreciated by individuals,
for me, is a fantastic thing and that’s why I still
love reading. I’ve always enjoyed sharing that joy
with others … so I’ve always collected books and,
through collecting books, I’ve started a little library
in Grenada, with a Pentecostal church and a youth
collection.
Can you share more about that?
There’s no national library, so with the Mount
Zion Full Gospel Revival, and Groundation
Grenada, [which is] a social action collective
and LGBTQ activist organization, we started The
Grenada Community library. That serves as the
public library in St. George’s in Grenada. Seeing
people coming together seeking books, sharing
great experiences about books, forme, is my biggest
joy right now.
Do a lot of people come into the library?
Yes. We now have close to 3000 members,
which is against what we assume – that young
people are not interested in reading. It shows that
there is still a demand for physical books and I
think what the young people – it’s 70 per cent
teens and children – really enjoy about the library
is the contact with other people who like books
… the community. We just received a wonderful
West Indian collection. We’re going to launch it
in March.
Is having an MFA degree helpful?
Yes, if you want to teach. Many [writing-related]
teaching positions are asking for a PhD in writing. So
the qualification, the level of it, is increasing as we have
more and more tertiary educated people on the market.
Actually, the MFA growth has changed and impacted
some of the publishing structure as well. Publishers now
scout directly from MFA programmes.
Would you recommend an MFA to
aspiring writers who can access it?
I think if you can afford it and, particularly, if you
intend to support yourself by teaching or in a position
that values that MFA, yes. I would like to be able to ignore
the significance of certificates, argue that artists should
not have to comply with that systemof education…[But]
if the work itself speaks, then that voice should be heard.
I am a strong advocate for people who are disadvantaged
in any way and don’t have that opportunity, and there are
many who are very creative. So I don’t think it makes you
a better writer but it definitely gives you an advantage.
For some people, it helps, because of the structure
[and] the discipline … the discussion, community and
support to exercise how you’re processing stuff, how you
can edit, how you canmake something better, what works
what doesn’t work. I did not seek that support while I
was writing. I remember going to my first workshop,
which was [with] Wayne Brown, in Jamaica. He was
doing some workshops with some students there. I was
visiting as a guest writer and I thought … it’s nice to have
the community, the support and the exercise that helps
with the discipline.
How important are events like
Campus LiteratureWeek and Bocas?
I think they’ve done a huge amount for Caribbean
literature and for readers, in terms of the awareness of
literature and the joy of reading. I see Bocas as significant
and relevant. For many young people, to meet a writer,
to connect a book to a person, a possibility of something
that they can do, is really important – in the islands,
particularly, because books have often been foreign …
disconnected from people we know or something that
you could aspire to. So the festivals, the literary events,
readings [or] anything that brings more people into
contact with books and the appreciation of literature, I
support and I really enjoy. I’ve gone to quite a few festivals
throughout the Caribbean and just for local people to
realise that we have writers, locally, regionally [and]
internationally, and [make] the connection [that it’s] a
possibility or just something that is just more accessible,
is a tremendous contribution.
Can we look forward to a new novel
in the near future?
I do have a non-fiction narrative that I’ve been
working on for a while. I keep putting it down and
picking it up again, because it is, not just challenging in
the content itself – it’s a woman’s story of abuse – but in
terms of supporting myself as a writer and what I choose
to work on next related to income, and how much time
it will take. So I’m more focused on [my] multimedia
project than writing another novel right now, but that
will come.
Now, writers have the opportunity
to pursue their craft as an academic
qualification with the MFA degree. Some
argue that a degree is not necessary to
become a successful writer. What are your
thoughts on that?
I feel a little kind of hypocritical, almost,
accepting this residency. I’m just going on record
saying that, and I hope to have this discussion
with my students. It’s for a reason to do with
tertiary education and the disproportionate value
of that compared to [the issue of], how do we
prepare as a sustainable state or island? What is
our future? Yes, you can learn the craft of writing.
You can be trained and you can nurture that in the
environment, with the structure and the rigour of
the study of writing. I don’t think it’s absolutely
necessary to be a writer at all, but it helps some and
if you have that opportunity, if that is accessible
to you, then fine.
If it’s not I don’t think that you’re less of a
writer because you did not have that training. And
all the countries where this is not available still
can and do produce fine writing. So it’s, I think, a
mixed blessing. But the whole education system
and structure is such a part of our hiring system.
Therefore if the actual degree will help you, in
terms of making a living as a writer, then fine.
OONYA KEMPADOO:
When you find something that
you do better than anything
else and it doesn’t feel like
work – it’s better than work
– that’s, to me, your gift,
something that you can use to
add meaning to your life.
