A Life Lived

 Shivanee Ramlochan, Rajiv Mohabir, Ishion Hutchinson and Safiya Sinclair The searing discussion entitled ‘Caribbean poetry’s New Wave’ unraveled on the final day of the NGC Bocas Lit Fest. The audience was seasoned with: writers, lecturers, poets, reporters, editors and even politicians. The programme read, “A new generation of thrilling Caribbean and diaspora poets is on the rise. Ishion Hutchinson, author of House of Lords and Commons , Rajiv Mohabir, author of the The Taxidermist’s Cut , and Safiya Sinclair, author of Cannibal (winner of the 2017 OCM Bocas Prize, poetry category), read from and discuss their highly acclaimed books; chaired by Shivanee Ramlochan.  The ideas expressed in their combined, titanic body of work range from: the strength of heritage, brokenness of history, existence of a Caribbean people, religion, unique rhythm of Caribbean poetry, elemental aspects of life as well as music and history among many others. Ramlochan ignited the f...

An indistinct scent marches throughout the Port of Spain Prison as we are lead inside after being signed in, searched and approved by Prison officials. The eye of every visitor searches the compound, taking in every detail. The cream tall walls with the little barred windows with eyes peering through them are not an everyday sight. “I expected something raunchier- like graffiti on the wall or something. It’s actually a lot more normal than I thought,” I overhear a neighbouring conversation as seats are taken and glances are tossed furtively from the visitors to where the incarcerated men sit at the back. Of course, she is right. For many of us, the most we’ve seen of prison is a couple episodes of Orange is the New Black or between the crooning of Jah Cure’s melodious voice in his video Reflections . However, this is real. This is Voices from the Inside , an exploration of the prison system through the eyes of prisoners with readings by celebrities Machel Montano, Kees Dieffenthaller...

Being a professional in the field of Education takes a lot of courage, patience, planning and kindness. As for me, I've realized that being a new teacher entrusted with the education of 19 Standard Four students is daunting to say the least. It's like walking around with Category 3 disasters around you permanently. It's like having a persistent surge of adrenaline. You are always in a state of 'fight or flight.' I've been a full-time teacher for almost 5 months and these are a few of the lessons that I have learned.   1. Teacher Envy Students have just spent a full year with a teacher. This teacher may have had more experience than you, had more time to get to know them and create good memories with them as well. They may come to you with a great attachment to their last teacher and, being children, can carelessly crush your spirit with a statement like. "I wish we were still in Ms. Smith's class." What can you do to win the battle a...

I had never lived apart from my family when I left three months ago. I wanted to be on my own and so, when a friend's roommate moved out, I jumped at the opportunity to move in with her. This made the transition into being on my own easier and harder at the same time. It was easier because this is someone that my mom knows and so it was not hard for her to not challenge my decision. It made it a bit harder because this arrangement did not work out too well. I realized that I was not going to stay there after a week and started looking elsewhere. I decided to leave before any conflict developed. I was pretty stressed out because I did not plan as well as I should (make sure and PLAN and SAVE before moving) however, I eventually got a small place and moved on my own three weeks after moving in with my friend. Without further ado, these are the five main lessons I've learned since living on my own. LESSON NUMBER 1 Loneliness You are going to get lonely. It do...

    Quickened pulses, raised voices, shouts of dissent and nods of agreement are the reactions that conversations on masculinity are usually met with. Suffice to say, masculinity is a hotly debated topic. The Oxford Dictionary defines masculinity as , “ a set of qualities, characteristics or roles generally considered typical of, or appropriate to, a man ” (796). Masculinity, whether we agree or not, has always been present in Caribbean discourse. Men and women alike have ,unintentionally or otherwise, given their own definition of masculinity by their words. Earl Lovelace’s The Dragon Can’t Dance and Samuel Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners imply that masculinity in the Caribbean can be characterized by one’s reaction to women, one’s ability to get a woman and men as providers.   Earl Lovelace implies that masculinity is hinged on a man’s reaction to a woman as well as his ability to acquire a woman in the first place. In the first instance, Lovelace presents, in T...