Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
General => Entertainment & Culture Discussion => Topic started by: vb on December 03, 2012, 09:10:36 PM
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Discovered a critically acclaimed book by a Trini author here in Medellin: A perfect pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj.
Was curios as to other TT authors as I am presently working on a book myself.
Here's a list:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/countries/trinidad.htm
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http://www.bestoftrinidad.com/writers.html
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Rabindranath Maharaj wins the Trillium Book Award.
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/rabindranath-maharaj-wins-trillium-book-award/article4261476/?service=mobile
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Best selling author comes back to trinidad.
http://guardian.co.tt/news/2012-07-21/bestselling-author-back-promote-new-novel
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I read some of NEIL BISSOONDATH work. Actually enjoyed it.
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Newsday - April, 2012
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90-year-old author to present new book
Monday, April 9 2012
Ronald “Ronnie” Hinkson, at 90 years old, TT’s oldest living writer will present his new book Oil Man in the Sahara for his birthday on Wednesday.
Hinkson has worked in the oilfields in Trinidad as well as in Paris and the Sahara and the North Sea.
He is the uncle of “ Jackie” Hinkson, artist and painter.
The Writers Union of TT and The National Library will be honouring Hinkson at the National Library in recognition of his work.
The union has also presented a slide show of his photographs at the National Museum.
Despite a serious illness years ago , he says now he can “still catch a taxi and get on and about.” He remains an active, beloved and respected member of the Writers Union.
One of his other books Oil Man in Trinidad is a unique, insider history of events in the Trinidad oil industry. Another of his literary work Gemstones set in sterling silver is available at the University of the West Indies Library and NALIS. His work is also in the Aberdeen Library of Scotland.
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By Joel Julien
Story Created: May 31, 2013 at 10:01 PM ECT
Story Updated: May 31, 2013 at 11:33 PM ECT
“TRUST your voice and write what you know, even if you think no one will be interested. Believe me, they will be.”
This was the advice local author Sharon Millar had for young writers still hesitant to reveal their works when she sat down with Express reporter Sateesh Maharaj for an interview published two Sundays ago.
The Commonwealth Short Story judging panel yesterday showed their interest in Millar’s short story, “The Whale House”, by naming her co-winner of the 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
The announcement was made yesterday at the annual Hay Festival of Literature & Arts in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, United Kingdom.
Lisa O’Donnell, UK, won the overall 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize with her book, The Death of Bees, published by Random House. Millar and fellow winner Eliza Robertson of Canada were presented with the prize by British author John le Carré.
The winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize receives £10,000 ($98,000) while the prize for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize is £5,000 ($49,000).
In 1997, Trinidad and Tobago novelist Earl Lovelace won the overall book prize with Salt. Fellow Trinidadian Barbara Jenkins has also been a previous winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
It has so far been an outstanding year for Millar.
She was named the 2013 Caribbean Region winner of the Commonwealth and her short story, “The Whale House”, was published earlier this week in Granta online.
Millar was recently short-listed for the 2013 Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize, sponsored by the Hollick Family Charitable Trust and Arvon, in association with the Bocas Lit Fest.
She was also a New Talent Showcase author at the 2012 NGC Bocas Lit Fest.
Millar was short-listed for the regional prize last year but the title was won by Jamaican author Diana McCaulay for work, “The Dolphin Catcher”.
During her interview with the Express, Millar gave a synopsis of her winning entry:
“As a woman recovers from a miscarriage, an old conflict and a long kept secret are resurrected. Bush medicine, teenage sexuality and difficult moral choices culminate in this uniquely Trinidadian story—one of marriage and the secrets we keep from the ones closest to us.”
The Commonwealth Short Story judging panel was chaired by BBC journalist Razia Iqbal and included literary agent Elise Dillsworth, a fiction judge for the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize, and writer Oonya Kempadoo, a 2013 NGC Bocas Lit Fest author.
In a statement on behalf of the judges, Iqbal said: “It is a measure of the quality we had to choose from in the short-list that we unanimously settled on two joint winners. It was impossible to decide between them, though each one is quite distinctly different from the other. Both fulfilled our criteria of excellence in style, originality and tone.”
“Both these stories stay in the imagination and the heart long after they have been read,” Iqbal stated.
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http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2015-03-25/fearless-trini-author-inspires-young-writers
Erline Andrews
Published:
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Amalie Howard wrote her first book at age nine. It was written out by hand in a copybook and was about a girl with magic tattoos.
At 15, she won a Commonwealth essay competition for a story about a man who played the violin as a way to communicate with his dead daughter, whose soul was trapped in a weeping willow.
She had a vivid imagination that was nurtured at home by her mom, a secondary school French teacher, and her dad, a primary school principal.
“My parents never stifled my creative drive at all,” she recalled.
Howard has parlayed that creativity into a career as an author, carving out a niche in the increasingly crowded young adult fantasy genre, which has exploded in the last two decades, with the success of book/movie series Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games.
Howard is about to release her sixth novel and is even in talks to have one of her books made into a television series.
Howard’s success is especially important to T&T because she was born here 40 years ago as Reshma Amalie Gosine. She migrated to study and work, spent time in Boston, New York and France, before settling in Colorado with her Australian husband.
Howard’s mom, Nazroon Ramsey, a retired French teacher, said she knew her daughter was special when at three, the little girl had a battle of wills when an aunt offered her juice in a plastic cup when Howard wanted a glass.
“She said, ‘No thank you. I don’t want the juice’. That showed me that she had a mind of her own,” said Ramsey.
Howard recently returned to T&T for the first time in ten years. The trip was a brief vacation and to celebrate her mom’s birthday, but she took the opportunity to hold a book signing at Mohammed’s Bookstore in La Romaine, which carries her books, make TV and radio appearances, and to visit her alma mater, St Augustine Girls’ High School.
She gave a classroom of wide-eyed teen girls advice on writing and on life.
“Dare to be different. Be the exception not the rule. Your differences are what’s going to make you you,” she said.
“Don’t be afraid to take chances or try anything new because you’ll never know if you’ll be able to do it or not,” she added. “Believe in yourself and you can’t fail. Be resilient.”
She was swarmed afterwards by eager students wanting her to sign books and bookmarks and answer more questions. Her presence gave hope to those with ambitions to write. “It made me realise I can do it,” said 13-year-old Amba Mohammed. “I shouldn’t stop writing.”
Howard always dreamed of writing. But she deferred it in favour of a corporate career until five years ago. A fan of fantasy novels and the young adult genre—she admires JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien and Anne Rice—she thought she could do better than Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.
“My biggest problem with Twilight was that Bella was so weak,” she said, referring to the series’ teen protagonist.
“I wanted to write about girls that inspired other girls,” she said.
She wanted to send the message to young readers that “no matter if you’re born with a disability or other problems you can surmount that.”
She wrote her first book, Bloodspell, got an agent, who got her publishing deals for that and subsequent books.
Bloodspell is about a 17-year-old girl who discovers she’s a witch and faces a curse. Waterfell and Oceanborn are a series about a mermaid hiding in the human world and seeking to reclaim her lost birthright from enemies. In Alpha Goddess, the human avatar of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi has to fight to save the world from an evil god.
The fearlessness of the characters is reflective of Howard herself.
On her Web site she boasts of extensive travel, bungee-jumping 765 feet in China, and attending a Halloween party at the Playboy Mansion.
St Augustine Girls economics teacher Pearl Balgaroo remembers Howard as a “brilliant student” with “an inquiring mind.”
“She challenged what you had to say. She didn’t take anything as is,” said Balgaroo.
Howard hopes her success can send another message: Race and gender shouldn’t keep back any author. Neither should being from a small island.
“You write a novel, if you believe in it enough, you get an agent, they send it to a publisher and you get published. You can totally do that from here,” she said.
“I’m an international writer. One of my publishers is British. That didn’t stop them from publishing me,” she added. “Publishers are looking for a good story.”
In fact, Howard said, her Trinidadian heritage has helped her work.
“Growing up in a place that is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious is phenomenal. It gave me an appreciation for different cultures, different stories,” she said.
“There’s so much folklore and imagination, richness and diversity,” she added.
“It was a huge contribution.”
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http://www.guardian.co.tt/arts/2016-08-28/savanoy-three-popular-tt-series-gets-third-instalment
Savanoy by three: Popular T&T series gets third instalment
Paula Lindo
Published:
Sunday, August 28, 2016
(http://www.guardian.co.tt/sites/default/files/field/image/Untitled-7_105.jpg)
T&T-born author Nathalie Taghaboni. Photo courtesy Dominic Iudiciani
Fans of the Savanoy series by T&T-born author Nathalie Taghaboni are rejoicing at the publication of the long-awaited third book, Side By Side We Stand.
The story, set mostly in Trinidad, centres around the fates of the Savanoy family—Jeneva, Carlton, Helene, Gloria, Remy, Vijay and Kenneth, characters that became dear to readers of the first two books, Across from Lapeyrouse and Santimanitay.
Taghaboni, who left Trinidad when she was 14 and now lives in the US, said readers have told her that not only the scenery but the characters are real and they see them walking the streets every day.
“There’s quite a bit of Book Three actually that only West Indians and specifically people who are familiar with Trinidad will notice.” She said the T&T of the books is an idealised version of the country.
Taghaboni said her muses wouldn’t allow her to be anything less than true to life, so a traditional happy ending may not be in the cards.
“Everyone tells me that the story feels so real, and Book Three reminds you that life is not a fairytale, sometimes there is no happily-ever-after. You may escape while reading a book but after the book closes, you still have to face life.”
One of the most stunning elements of the new book is the cover, which features a white-faced moko jumbie draped in white. The portrayal is by Jha-whan Thomas, whom Taghaboni met in 2014 while launching the first two books. She had previously been in awe of his 2008 Pandemic Rage performance for Brian MacFarlane and asked him to be on the cover in 2015, even before his 2016 Dying Swan portrayal.
Dying Swan designer Roland Guy James also did the moko jumbie's cover costume, with make-up by Mervyn de Goeas.
“My photographer Errol John went out five o’clock one morning to Lapeyrouse Cemetery and shot the cover for me. I’ve never met these folks but I’ve been working with them. Technology has helped me to remain connected in a very real way.”
Taghaboni’s lifelong fascination with pan and mas are evident in her writing, with the Savanoy family being famous for bringing an award-winning band every year. Her descriptions of the costumes are detailed and vivid, and have led to non-Caribbean readers being drawn to the festival, if their reviews are to be believed.
She shares these reviews on the Facebook page she runs under the name Queen Macoomeh, and the fans who gather there have been dubbed the “Studients of Commess University.” Taghaboni said her “studients” have contributed to her growth as a person and a writer.
“I truly enjoy people and in order for me to do what I do, I need to be receptive to them. This ‘university’ has so many different kinds of characters. I cull some of their attributes and use some of the interactions to create my own arsenal of characters for my writing.
“The only demand that I have on my Facebook page is that respect be shown to and by every person there, and if that can’t be done, then later.”
The folklore elements in the books are a result of stories Taghaboni’s grandmother told her as a child.
“I remember a painting on the wall of her house where all the local folklore characters were depicted: Papa Bois, La Diablesse, Mama Glo, all of them. She would point to each one and tell me their names and their characteristics and it stuck.
“I have pulled everything that has happened in all three books from a memory. The folk characters have always fascinated me, especially the moko jumbies. They terrified and excited the mind of the child within at the same time.”
Taghaboni said it would be a shame for T&T to lose these folklore characters to technology.
“I think today’s children don’t care or don’t know about Mama Glo or a La Diablesse. They want to hear about Friday the 13th or go catch Pokemon. I wanted to remind us of ourselves, of things we knew as kids, and for people to tell their children.
“It’s shameful that Twilight and those other characters are in the front row of our bookstores in T&T as opposed to our own. If I am a visitor, the last thing I want to see is more of the same, I am coming to your home and I would like to see how you live. So I try to bring it out in my books.
“In Trinidad and the Caribbean, we seem to dismiss ourselves and hold on to foreign while foreign has nothing better than we do, and often wants to take our stuff and re-purpose it. Witches and warlocks, we have La Diablesse and douens and Papa Bois and to me just the sound of those words is so evocative, and I think it’s time for us to step into our own shoes, they fit nicely.”
Side by Side We Stand will shortly be available at the Paper Based Bookshop at the Hotel Normandie in St Ann’s.
Arts
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Congrats Nathalie (former forumite).
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Trini author in deal with Netflix
https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/trini-author-in-deal-with-netflix-6.2.798965.e74686aa5b
Netflix has snapped up the television rights for the as yet to be published debut novel of T&T national Caroline MacKenzie, which tells the tale of a Venezuelan family living in this country illegally.
The publishing rights for MacKenzie’s novel “One Year of Ugly”, have been purchased by Borough Press for the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth excluding Canada, while 37 Ink has bought the publishing rights for the novel in the United States.
Ann Bissell, publicity director at HarperCollins, acquired “One Year of Ugly” for Borough Press from Sue Armstrong at C&W Agency.
TV rights were immediately snapped up by Netflix, handled by Luke Speed at Curtis Brown, and US rights were acquired by Dawn Davis, v.p. and publisher at 37 INK, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, from Zoe Sandler at ICM Partners.
The business magazine of the book industry, The Bookseller, announced the three-way auction for MacKenzie’s novel in an article last week.
Hardcover publication of the book is scheduled for March 2020.
MacKenzie, a freelance translator living in T&T, has described the deal as “a dream come true”.
“Through my daily translation work, I’ve been noting the influx of Venezuelans in response to the political and economic crisis for years, and have been both fascinated and disheartened by the local reaction to it,” MacKenzie is quoted as saying in The Bookseller.
“I knew there was a story to be told of the Venezuelan migrant experience in Trinidad, and I’m so happy I was able to tell it through Yola,” she said.
Yola Palacios is the protagonist and narrator of “One Year of Ugly”.
“One Year of Ugly is an immigration story exploring exile, belonging and exploitation with hilarity, verve, and compassion. In Yola Palacios, Caroline has created a character unlike any other I have met: she is brilliantly witty and brutally funny in her observations. I absolutely love her and I hope many readers will too,” Bissell is quoted as saying.
“Having escaped crumbling, socialist Venezuela, Yola Palacios hopes she and her family can finally settle into a peaceful new life in Trinidad,” Borough Press explained.
“Life for the Palacios is never quiet, and when Yola’s formidable Aunt Celia dies, the family once again find themselves living on the edge. For Celia had been keeping a very big secret – a local criminal called Ugly to whom Celia owes an awful lot of money. Without the funds to pay him off, Ugly forces the entire family to do his bidding until Celia’s debt is settled. What Ugly says, the Palacios do, otherwise: big trouble,” it stated.
MacKenzie is a former national scholar who speaks four languages and holds a Masters in technical translation from Imperial College London.
She was shortlisted for the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for “The Dying Wish”, and was the winner of the 2018 Small Axe Literary Competition short fiction category for her satirical short story ‘The Chicken Coup: A Distinctly Masculine Adventure for Distinctly Manly Men”
Tagged in:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfaU4HFZJZo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfaU4HFZJZo
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Interesting. I will take a read.
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Discovered a critically acclaimed book by a Trini author here in Medellin: A perfect pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj.
Was curios as to other TT authors as I am presently working on a book myself.
Here's a list:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/countries/trinidad.htm
Well after years of procrastination, finally finished the book back in April. All 61 chapters of it. Have been editing and getting the Letter of Query ready. Today I start approaching agents. Fingers crossed. ;-)
VB
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:thumbsup: Looking forward to reading it.
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Trinidadian Ian Williams wins Canada’s top literary award for fiction
By Stabroek News November 19, 2019
(https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2019/11/ian-williams3-1200x1066.jpg)
TORONTO, (Reuters) – Writer Ian Williams won Canada’s top annual literary award for fiction for his book “Reproduction,” the prize’s sponsor said yesterday.
“Reproduction,” published by Random House Canada, explores the bonds between family and how they are formed, through individuals in a Toronto suburb.
“You have no idea how special this is to me,” Williams told the audience while accepting the Scotiabank Giller Prize. The award carries a cash prize of C$100,000 ($75,901.33) while each of the other five shortlisted finalists takes home C$10,000.
The Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch, a Montreal-born real estate developer, in memory of his late wife Doris Giller, a literary journalist. Notable Canadian writers including Alice Munro and Mordecai Richler supported its creation, and Scotiabank began backing the award in 2005.
The six shortlisted finalists were chosen from a list of 117 submissions.
Williams’ family emigrated to Canada from Trinidad in the late 80s, according to an interview he gave to the National Post newspaper in 2013. Williams, who is an assistant professor of poetry in the University of British Columbia’s creative writing program, is based in Vancouver and grew up in Brampton, Ontario.
Notable previous winners of the award include Canadian literary giants such as Munro, Richler, Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje. Atwood and Munro are both on the prize’s advisory board, which is separate from the jury.
Atwood’s most recent book, “The Testaments,” a sequel to her popular 1985 dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” was long-listed for the award this year.
In selecting Williams’ book for the prize, the jury called it “an engrossing story of disparate people brought together and also a masterful unfolding of unexpected connections and collisions between and across lives otherwise separated by race, class, gender and geography.”
Williams thanked Atwood, who was present at the gala, and said the first book he bought with his own money was one of hers. He also thanked Rabinovitch, who died in 2017, for his support of the arts.
“If you’re wealthy and got tons of money… support whatever moves you,” Williams told the audience.
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Discovered a critically acclaimed book by a Trini author here in Medellin: A perfect pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj.
Was curios as to other TT authors as I am presently working on a book myself.
Here's a list:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/countries/trinidad.htm
Well after years of procrastination, finally finished the book back in April. All 61 chapters of it. Have been editing and getting the Letter of Query ready. Today I start approaching agents. Fingers crossed. ;-)
VB
Would you believe finishing a second book this weekend.
No I don't work in the kitchen.
My memoirs based on my three years working in war torn Afghanistan.
Covid 19 slowing yuh boy down. But hope to have both books published in 2021.
VB
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Good Luck, Blessing, vb
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Discovered a critically acclaimed book by a Trini author here in Medellin: A perfect pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj.
Was curios as to other TT authors as I am presently working on a book myself.
Here's a list:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/countries/trinidad.htm
Well after years of procrastination, finally finished the book back in April. All 61 chapters of it. Have been editing and getting the Letter of Query ready. Today I start approaching agents. Fingers crossed. ;-)
VB
Would you believe finishing a second book this weekend.
No I don't work in the kitchen.
My memoirs based on my three years working in war torn Afghanistan.
Covid 19 slowing yuh boy down. But hope to have both books published in 2021.
VB
Should be out on March 13, 2021. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.
Web page to go up on Jan. 1, 2021.
(https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e1f0ce_769756c26f7e4baca35d6ec1db1dac0f~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_778,h_582,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/veersen.webp)
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Congrats, VB. Much success on the purcha$e end. :applause:
Please share what the writing process has been like and what your challenges in bringing it to publication have been. And why you regard it as important to share the narrative.
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Asylum,
actually this is my second book, the first, TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS was finished first but will come out later around Oct.
I am hoping to use the more international flavour of Afghanistan to get people's attention and then use any fame from that as leverage for the second book which is all Trini, sort of Biswas meets Miguel Street meets Angela's Ashes.
To be honest, I never thought of this as a book. I kept a journal when I was in Agh. because I thought it was historical. Some of my friends raved about it and thought it could be a book or even a movie. I never really saw what they saw. However, when I was about to finish Trials, my cousin encouraged me to make the journal into a book "it could be a bestseller," as he put it.
Only because of their enthusiasm I did so. However, I read excerpts of someone else's memoir re Afgh and found myself going from paragraph to paragraph without taking a break. So then I began to understand what they might have been referring to.
This is a different perspective, that of a civilian in a war zone not a soldier but in addition to putting up with the Taliban, you also had to put up with certain challenges from within, i.e., the very people with whom you worked and many times because of the colour of your skin or race despite very high ranking ID. If you can read the blurb on the back of the book you can see how crazy the life was. Also like in any huge organization, you have to deal with a host of characters some, rude/lazy/incompetent, etc.
Most people spend about six months there, I spent three years.
Additionally, how many Trinis give an account of what it was like to live in a war zone.
The writing process was easy as I simply had to edit my journal. The writing style is laid back as I simply expressed my feelings from day to day.
I did some research into self publishing as getting an agent for Trials had been tedious.
I discovered a company called Tablo which is supposed to be pretty good in terms of handling logistics etc., I will say they decreased my stress level considerably. I am still in the process of getting it published so I will have more to say about them in the next few months.
VB
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Congrats vb. Did not know You was a superstar. Looking forward to reading it.
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Congrats vb. Did not know You was a superstar. Looking forward to reading it.
Deeks,
you really didn't know! ;D
VB
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Asylum,
actually this is my second book, the first, TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS was finished first but will come out later around Oct.
I am hoping to use the more international flavour of Afghanistan to get people's attention and then use any fame from that as leverage for the second book which is all Trini, sort of Biswas meets Miguel Street meets Angela's Ashes.
To be honest, I never thought of this as a book. I kept a journal when I was in Agh. because I thought it was historical. Some of my friends raved about it and thought it could be a book or even a movie. I never really saw what they saw. However, when I was about to finish Trials, my cousin encouraged me to make the journal into a book "it could be a bestseller," as he put it.
Only because of their enthusiasm I did so. However, I read excerpts of someone else's memoir re Afgh and found myself going from paragraph to paragraph without taking a break. So then I began to understand what they might have been referring to.
This is a different perspective, that of a civilian in a war zone not a soldier but in addition to putting up with the Taliban, you also had to put up with certain challenges from within, i.e., the very people with whom you worked and many times because of the colour of your skin or race despite very high ranking ID. If you can read the blurb on the back of the book you can see how crazy the life was. Also like in any huge organization, you have to deal with a host of characters some, rude/lazy/incompetent, etc.
Most people spend about six months there, I spent three years.
Additionally, how many Trinis give an account of what it was like to live in a war zone.
The writing process was easy as I simply had to edit my journal. The writing style is laid back as I simply expressed my feelings from day to day.
I did some research into self publishing as getting an agent for Trials had been tedious.
I discovered a company called Tablo which is supposed to be pretty good in terms of handling logistics etc., I will say they decreased my stress level considerably. I am still in the process of getting it published so I will have more to say about them in the next few months.
VB
Stellar stuff and insights, VB. Thanks for sharing.
Spoke recently to another Trini who is trying to be published in 2021 with Peepal. It's a deliberate process.
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You know I submitted Trials & Tribulations to Peepal about two months ago.
they said it was under review.
Your post reminded me of them. Went to the site, couldn't log in, said my email is incorrect despite contacting me on it when I registered in October.
Not a good sign. ;-)
EDIT My mistake, they had an alternative site for submission. It is STILL being reviewed.
VB
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https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/no-i-don-t-work-in-the-kitchen
Pre orders for Kindle and paperback are available on Amazon.
the book is also available on Barnes & Noble and many of the other usual outlets.
VB
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You may be familiar with the work of Anjan Sudaram. If you are not, I think you may find it of interest.
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Kindle and paperback pre orders here:
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=veersen+bhoolai&ref=nb_sb_noss
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Kindle and paperback pre orders here:
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=veersen+bhoolai&ref=nb_sb_noss
Please go here and check out the video promoting the book.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/no-i-don-t-work-in-the-kitchen
VB
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With the web page being up for only a week and the Release Date March 13,
the book jumped up 214 000 spots on Amazon.ca rankings today (paperback) and 209 000 spot (Kindle).
In amazon.ca rankings of the Hot New Releases - with both peraprback and Kindle mixed in, it stands at number 2 and 3.
Amazon.com has it ranked as the number one ranked upcoming Canadian Biography.
And it has been fluctuating between Number 10 - 20 in Can. Bios.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/no-i-don-t-work-in-the-kitchen
VB
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https://www.facebook.com/100138052024696/videos/403878080875417/ (https://www.facebook.com/100138052024696/videos/403878080875417/)
the link above is a video I posted on FB about my book. I hope you guys can see it.
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https://www.facebook.com/100138052024696/videos/403878080875417/ (https://www.facebook.com/100138052024696/videos/403878080875417/)
the link above is a video I posted on FB about my book. I hope you guys can see it.
Excerpts can be read here
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/afghan-memoir-excerpt-1-2
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Link to an article by the TT Express on my book.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/bhoolai-author-book-afghan-war
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https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/bhoolai-author-book-afghan-war (https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/bhoolai-author-book-afghan-war)
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https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/bhoolai-author-book-afghan-war (https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/bhoolai-author-book-afghan-war)
Excerpt 3
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/excerpt-3-4-afghan-memoir
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My paperback was released today.
On March 1 no store was carrying the book. By March 12, nine in the US and one chain in the UK.
One bookstore bought 59 books on March 10. I get my figures on delay so no idea how the first day went but I am expecting about 130 sales for the first 24 hours.
There are many options for a paperback, your local store can order it for you and it should arrive in seven business days.
You can also check Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Walmart.
Numerous e book options including Kindle.
https://www.amazon.com/dont-work-kitchen-Surviving-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B091YKT6ST/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1619284491&sr=8-2
VB
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My paperback was released today.
On March 1 no store was carrying the book. By March 12, nine in the US and one chain in the UK.
One bookstore bought 59 books on March 10. I get my figures on delay so no idea how the first day went but I am expecting about 130 sales for the first 24 hours.
There are many options for a paperback, your local store can order it for you and it should arrive in seven business days.
You can also check Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Walmart.
Numerous e book options including Kindle.
https://www.amazon.com/dont-work-kitchen-Surviving-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B091YKT6ST/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1619284491&sr=8-2
VB
I got rid of my publishers and put up my own Amazon page.
The old page is still up as Amazon tries to sell off some issues the bought in advance.
MY NEW PAGE has a Second Edition with four extra photos.
The link above has been updated.
CANADA https://www.amazon.ca/dont-work-kitchen-Surviving-Afghanistan/dp/177768160X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1619316623&sr=8-1
UNITED KINGDOM https://www.amazon.co.uk/dont-work-kitchen-Surviving-Afghanistan/dp/177768160X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1619316763&sr=8-2
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please not from this weekend until 11:59 pm Monday, the ebook and the paperback will be discounted 57 percent and 38 percent respectively.
Great chance to take advantage. Also not a bad gift item. ;-)
https://www.amazon.com/dont-work-kitchen-Surviving-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B091YKT6ST/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1619284491&sr=8-2
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Kevin Jared Hosein's Devotion earns major UK, US book deal
PAULA LINDO FRIDAY 30 APRIL 2021
Kevin Jared Hosein. Photo by Mark Lyndersay
Kevin Jared Hosein. Photo by Mark Lyndersay
https://newsday.co.tt/2021/04/30/kevin-jared-hoseins-devotion-earns-major-uk-us-book-deal/?fbclid=IwAR0GBN2oSMTzMJL4E8WFomtxfp6M7YmARXAYOEi0RWCp0d2g5tzqtz1v9SU
THE acceptance of Kevin Jared Hosein’s latest novel, Devotion, by publishing giant Bloomsbury brings a boost of confidence to Trinidadian and Caribbean writers.
His success hasn't come easy. He said between 2012 and 2020, he was rejected at least 30-40 times by different publications and competitions.
Devotion is set in 1940s central Trinidad and tells the stories of the Changoors and the Saroops, Hosein said.
“The spotlight shifts between an estate farm, home of the wealthy Changoors, and an old barrack, where the impoverished Saroops live. After Mr Changoor mysteriously disappears, ransom letters start appearing, and their dogs start getting viciously killed, Mr Saroop is tasked to act as a watchman for the Changoor house.
"In the meantime, Mrs Changoor tries to solve the mystery of her husband's vanishing. The two families soon become hellishly intertwined as motives and the truth are slowly revealed.”
The novel was inspired by the 32-year-old writer’s conversations with his grandfather as research.
“I was commissioned by Commonwealth Writers to do an article on some aspect of Trinidad, and I chose to do one on the village I was born in, La Paille Village in Caroni. Him talking about his own experiences as a young man working for the sugarcane industry sparked something in me. I talked to some other people for information, including Angelo Bissessarsingh. There are, of course, other elements that come into play in this story, such as the American occupation in Chaguaramas, Boysie Singh, the notorious Poolool brothers in Trinidad, stories within the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and Harold Sonny Ladoo's novella No Pain Like This Body."
Hosein said he’s drawn to writing because he likes to explore downtrodden and beaten-down characters who are usually "othered" or made into caricature.
“Several situations in Trinidad try to villainise certain people or types of people, or we are led to scorn them – I like to try to understand their desires, pasts, failures. A good deal of it usually stems from a single character or personality that I want to place into unfamiliar scenarios."
Some of his inspirations are Cormac McCarthy, “for the way he incorporates landscape into the mood of his books; Harold Sonny Ladoo, for writing unapologetically; and lately, Bernadine Evaristo, for the way in which she explores character and reworks the very idea of grammatical structure to allow them to resonate.”
Hosein began writing in Form One at Presentation College,Chaguanas.
In a Facebook post chronicling various points – high and low – in his writing career to date, he said he had a short story published in the Sunday Guardian’s Sunshine Magazine in 1995, while at Enterprise Government Primary School. In Form Four, he completed his first 400-page novel. He tried to apply to do Literatures in English at UWI St Augustine, even though he hadn’t done literature in school, but ended up in natural sciences, "naturally.”
After leaving UWI, he began teaching science at Upper Level Educational Institute in Chaguanas in 2010.
Hosein said he learned one of his most important lessons at 19 when he attended a workshop at UTT hosted by Trinidad-born, US-based author Elizabeth Nunez.
“The crazy plan in my head is to wow her with my writing, so much that she’d recommend me to her literary agent or editor or publisher or whoever. She hands me back my writing with critiques, semi-impressed, but very willing to help. There’s a lot of red ink on it – which is something you should always be grateful for, by the way, as you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who’d take that kind of care with your work.
"But at this time, it feels like she has taken a bloody knife to it. The idea hits me and hits me hard. Now, if I want to learn anything, I must accept that I know almost nothing.”
In 2006, during VS Naipaul’s visit to Trinidad, Hosein overheard him giving a fellow student a writing tip – you shouldn’t bother to write any more, as most stories have already been written.
He entered the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the first time in 2012 out of a total of seven times, and got a rejection e-mail. After several more rejections, he decided to semi-self-publish his first book, Littletown Secrets, in 2013.
“I decide that if I want to traditionally publish and get attention, I need to make a plan and get something out there. Anything – but something good. 'Semi,' because the publisher, Lyndon Baptiste, is helping me get the books into stores and some readings.”
Photo by Mark Lyndersay
In 2014, Hosein submitted his novel The Repenters to Peepal Tree Press, shortly after his story The King of Settlement 4 was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, which it won later that year.
It was in March 2016 that he wrote his non-fiction piece, Children of Straw, for Commonwealth Writers’ platform adda.
A month later, The Repenters was published and was longlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction.
In March 2017, his The Beast of Kukuyo won second place for the Burt Award for Caribbean Literature. He said the difference between the final product and the initial manuscript is almost embarrassing.
Hosein won the regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize again with Passage in 2018. It was published by Granta Magazine, a year after the magazine had rejected the story under another name.
He travelled to Cyprus to meet the other regional winners.
“I sit with the writer Sarah Hall in a cafe, who offers to put up my name for Wylie Agency. We converse at moderate length about the many ups and downs of this 'business' aspect of writing, sales expectations, agents who'll cast you aside for their bigger clients, and the fact that you need to cast all those fears aside to produce your best work. Concentrate on writing a good story, above all things, above all fears.
"I’m being interviewed by Theo Panayides at the Cleopatra Hotel and he asks me if I’ll leave Trinidad to explore publishing opportunities. I hesitate a little. My answer is no.
“On my way back home, I have one last stop in London at BBC World Service. Publicist Daniel Kramb, who's helped get the word out, meets me there, even though he doesn’t need to. Many people at the station have read Passage and comment that it’s a story like nothing they’ve ever read before.
"Naipaul’s response comes to mind as I head into Gatwick, as well as the great unread plethora of Caribbean stories. Shouldn't bother to write? Write more!”
Hosein was signed up with agent Chris Wellbelove from Aitken Alexander Agency in September 2018. He began working on a novel, but scrapped it in 2019 and started over. He later decided to expand Children of the Straw, as he thought it would make a good novel.
An editor from Ecco (Harper Collins) messaged him on Facebook in 2019 to say she had been following his career for a while and he should contact her when he had a manuscript ready.
During the lockdown in 2020, he would stay up until 2 am working on the novel – and doing lesson planning.
His agent finally decided the manuscript was ready.
"Two days after it’s sent out, several editors have already read it and made offers. I meet with each editor over Zoom and we speak for about an hour each on average.
“I had eight offers, five from the UK and three from the US."
Hosein didn’t expect so many.
“From speaking to all of the editors, most of whom knew next to nothing about Trinidad, they were deeply moved by the characters and the setting. Our Trinidadian Creole and jargon have never been an issue, which almost all of the dialogue in this novel is written in. "I never intended to write a 'high-demand' novel, but then again, I know very little about marketing. But it solidified the fact that the literary industry is hungry for these untold stories, once there is a universal theme and characters that reflect on those themes.”
As a result of the interest in the novel, Hosein received a large advance – a payment to the author and agent when a publisher acquires a manuscript.
He hopes his accomplishment feeds other Trinidadian and Caribbean writers, the same way he was given a boost when Jamaican novelist Marlon James won the Booker Prize in 2015.
“Having done every aspect of this from Trinidad, down to my own education, is something I am quite proud of.
"I'd encourage writers from Trinidad to keep working on their big thing. Set ego and fears aside and just do the work. My own road was potholed with rejections and self-doubt and impostor syndrome. Just work on your big thing and see about getting it out there in a smart, patient way.”
Devotion is scheduled to be published simultaneously in August 2022 in the UK and US, backed by a significant marketing and publicity campaign.
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Italian journalist, Alberto de Filippis interviews Veersen Bhoolai (VB) about his first book, No, I don't work in the kitchen: Surviving war-torn Afghanistan for three years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYKHEtNDkpc&t=695s
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Italian journalist, Alberto de Filippis interviews Veersen Bhoolai (VB) about his first book, No, I don't work in the kitchen: Surviving war-torn Afghanistan for three years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYKHEtNDkpc&t=695s
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/bhoolai-author-book-afghan-war
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Trinidad Express asks me my views on Afghan war as a follow up to my book.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/veersen-bhoolai-afghan-war
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In addition to the TT Express, the greatest tribute of them all Fatima College Magazine. ;-)
https://www.foba.fatima.edu.tt/interview-with-veersen-bhoolai/
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My latest book: Trials and Tribulations: A Young Boy's Coming of Age.
Paperback out on Oct. 1.
Kindle preorders available on Amazon now.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/trials-and-tribulations-bhoolai
Very proud of this particular effort. It did take a bit of time and I believe with the proper exposure it could be a Caribbean classic, sort of like Biswas meets Miguel Street meets Angela's Ashes.
VB
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My latest book: Trials and Tribulations: A Young Boy's Coming of Age.
Paperback out on Oct. 1.
Kindle preorders available on Amazon now.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/trials-and-tribulations-bhoolai
Very proud of this particular effort. It did take a bit of time and I believe with the proper exposure it could be a Caribbean classic, sort of like Biswas meets Miguel Street meets Angela's Ashes.
VB
Share a word regarding your thoughts on Afghanistan.
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My latest book: Trials and Tribulations: A Young Boy's Coming of Age.
Paperback out on Oct. 1.
Kindle preorders available on Amazon now.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/trials-and-tribulations-bhoolai
Very proud of this particular effort. It did take a bit of time and I believe with the proper exposure it could be a Caribbean classic, sort of like Biswas meets Miguel Street meets Angela's Ashes.
VB
Share a word regarding your thoughts on Afghanistan.
All in this line here:
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/veersen-bhoolai-afghan-war
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My latest book: Trials and Tribulations: A Young Boy's Coming of Age.
Paperback out on Oct. 1.
Kindle preorders available on Amazon now.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/trials-and-tribulations-bhoolai
Very proud of this particular effort. It did take a bit of time and I believe with the proper exposure it could be a Caribbean classic, sort of like Biswas meets Miguel Street meets Angela's Ashes.
VB
Excerpts 1 and 2 can be read here.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/trials-and-tribulations-excerpt-1
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My latest book: Trials and Tribulations: A Young Boy's Coming of Age.
Paperback out on Oct. 1.
Kindle preorders available on Amazon now.
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/trials-and-tribulations-bhoolai
Very proud of this particular effort. It did take a bit of time and I believe with the proper exposure it could be a Caribbean classic, sort of like Biswas meets Miguel Street meets Angela's Ashes.
VB
Excerpts 3 and 4
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/excerpt-3-and-4
Excerpts 5 and 6:
https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/trials-and-tribulations-excerpts-5-6
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Trials and Tribulations - paperback - was released early on Sept. 28. In less than 24 hrs, its hit number 4 in Canadian Biographies for Amazon. These rankings don't last but it was nice to have an impact so early.
For those of you who prefer to deal with bookstores, they will be happy to order it for you, just give them the title and the name of the author.
https://www.amazon.com/Trials-Tribulations-young-boys-coming-ebook/dp/B09BQ6J8G5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1633136631&sr=8-3
VB
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Seven best new books on the Afghan War.
Looks like I just made the cut. ;-)
https://bookauthority.org/books/new-war-in-afghanistan-books
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Pleased to announce that my book Trials and Tribulations: a young boy's coming of age has received Honourable Mention at both the New England Book Festival and the London Book Festival in the Biography/Memoir Category.
http://www.newenglandbookfestivals.com/
http://www.londonbookfestival.com/
VB
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Pleased to announce that my book Trials and Tribulations: a young boy's coming of age has received Honourable Mention at both the New England Book Festival and the London Book Festival in the Biography/Memoir Category.
http://www.newenglandbookfestivals.com/
http://www.londonbookfestival.com/
VB
A few weeks ago Trials and Tribulations: A Young Boy's Coming of Age, received Honourable Mention at the San Francisco Book Festival.
http://www.sanfranciscobookfestival.com/winners_2022.htm