A Portrait of British Guiana, 1952-1956, from an American family’s letters home. The Letters of Marian and Howard Irwin

Edited and with an Introduction by Dorothy Irwin

This startlingly detailed depiction of life in the capital city of Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), sheds light on a seminal period of the colony’s push toward nationhood. Evoking a time when letters were still the sole form of overseas communication, the book compiles the personal correspondence mailed to the United States by a young American couple during the three and a half years they made their home in Georgetown. Howard Irwin was the first of several Americans to arrive by way of a Fulbright teaching grant at Queen’s College, the colony’s leading secondary school for boys, where he taught biology. On the side, he joined a local symphony orchestra and ventured to outlying districts to conduct fieldwork that eventually led to a career in tropical botany. Confined by custom to the domestic sphere, Marian Irwin wrote about family life and the couple’s sometimes baffling interactions with neighbours, tradesmen, school colleagues, and household help.

Celebrating its fiftieth year of independence in 2016, Guyana is still in the process of healing wounds that opened during the early to mid-1950s. This unique collection of letters, annotated with extracts from historical documents and memoirs by Guyanese and others then on the scene, offers a finely textured glimpse of the capital before, during, and just after that tumultuous era, combining the quotidian with such defining events as the colony’s first free election in 1953, the surprising victory of the People’s Progressive Party, the PPP ministers’ brief term in office, and their ouster with the suspension of the constitution and the arrival of British troops. A candid, unofficial American perspective, the book presents news-making incidents as they punctuate everyday life.

“A miracle of retrieval, a mysterious package from the past that invites wonder as well as curiosity ... glimpses of long-vanished customs and attitudes ... offers a rare, firsthand view of the start of a Guianese political conundrum that still defies resolution.”  Frank Birbalsingh, Emeritus Professor of English and Senior Scholar, York University, Toronto

“Rich descriptions of life lived in British Guiana in the 1950s ... sheds new light on social, political, and everyday matters among the denizens of the colony. [The final chapter] and epilogue are gems of memory and reconstruction and the struggle of connecting past and present. Chapter 7 is a nuanced, balanced, and beautiful perspective on what Guyana represents for the author and her family and on her views of the country’s political divide, foreign intervention, and social travails up to the present.”  Nigel Westmaas, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York

• 228 x 152 mm
• 740 pages
• Paperback

Patricia Mohammed and Rex Dixon

The title of this book is a pastiche of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with a Donkey (1879) and Graham Greene’s Travels with my Aunt (1970), neither reference is literal but nonetheless some parallels may be drawn. Travels with a Husband is a journey about friendships and memories, about marriage, companionship and work, an autobiography in prose, verse and drawings, a travelogue, and an adventure in style.

The authors have journeyed as reluctant tourists rather than as voyeurs and recall their encounters from Australia, India, Namibia, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Most, but not all, of their voyages have been fitted around work related activities.

This book is also autobiographical because it records a creative and intellectual partnership of over two decades captured through essays, vignettes, poetry, doggerel, drawings and individualised postcards. Some of the verse makes no pretence at poetry but are nonsense rhyme, inscribing in memory a place, event, people or time. Because it deals with travels over two decades, it is also about a development of styles and perception over this period. Patricia Mohammed's contributions are reflective of history or social attitudes. Rex Dixon, in turn, interprets, sometimes with humour, events and situations with different artistic nuances and mediums.

Illustrated throughout with nearly one hundred original works of art

• 228 x 152 mm
• 216 pages
• Paperback

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Patricia Mohammed has lived at various times in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Jamaica, Trinidad and the United States. She is a scholar and filmmaker and currently Professor of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad.

Rex Dixon was born in London. After teaching in the New University of Ulster in Belfast for several years, he came to Jamaica in 1985 to teach at the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts. He has held numerous one person exhibitions in Kingston, Port of Spain and abroad and his paintings are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Jamaica, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and numerous private collections.

Foreword by the Prime Minister of Barbados

Introduction by the Rt. Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers

Guy Hewitt

Barbados acquired the reputation of a country that punches above its weight. Ranked highest in the Caribbean and one of the highest globally as a developing country in the UN Human Development Index, this island paradise is the birthplace of The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers, The Honourable George Lamming, and the multitalented Rihanna. It is also the ancestral home of Walter Tull, Shirley Chisholm, Irving Burgie, and Eric Holder Jr, among others.

It is also the birthplace of both the sugar cane industry in the then British Empire, then the most valued commodity, and rum, with the island producing some of the finest quality blends internationally.

The only country that George Washington, the first President of the United States, visited outside of the North American mainland; through its 1651 Declaration of Independence and 1652 Charter, Barbados is credited with influencing the Founding Fathers and the framing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.

On 30 November 1966, this phenomenal heritage was given focus and direction by The Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow, the first Prime Minister and a National Hero of Barbados. Proclaimed the “Father of Independence”, it was said that this close friend of the leaders of his era including Michael Manley, Pierre Trudeau, Lee Kuan Yew, and Seretse Khama, “found Barbados a collection of villages and transformed them into a proud nation.”

In this, the 50th year of Barbados’ Independence, this publication, with contributions from national, regional and international leaders and key speeches by Barrow himself, is a tribute to this extraordinary man who gave Barbadians the ability to hold their heads high and proud in this world, as a people worthy of respect. Like George Washington, he, and his name, are revered for his fathering a nation.

This is a must read for citizens of the modern Caribbean and those interested in leadership and the history, economics, politics and international relations of small states.

• 215 x 152 mm
• 428 pages
• Hardback

Guy Hewitt has spent his entire career working in the public sector in Barbados, the Caribbean and internationally. Passionate about the development of Barbados, within a CARICOM context, he currently serves as the High Commissioner for Barbados to the United Kingdom and is also the Permanent Representative to the United Nations International Maritime Organisation and a Governor of the Commonwealth Secretariat. A graduate of the University of the West Indies and the University of Kent at Canterbury, this minister of religion has previously co-written and edited three books. He is married with two children.

Rituals and Festivals in Trinidad compared with selected counterparts in India, 1990-2014

Satnarine Balkaransingh

Trinidad and Tobago reflects the dynamic rhythm of a cosmopolitan mix of cultures where the Indo-Trinidadian contribution is significant. This has its genesis in the 19th and early 20th centuries when more than 500,000 contract workers, from various regions of India, were shipped to the Caribbean to arrest the labour crisis in these plantation economies. These Indian indentured immigrants brought their religions, languages, rituals, festivals, cultural practices and other performative traditions and planted them in its fertile soil.

The Shaping of a Culture: Rituals and Festivals in Trinidad compared with selected counterparts in India, 1990-2014 uses a multidisciplinary approach to examine the changes being simultaneously experienced within these rituals and festivals in Trinidad and their counterparts in the respective geographical areas in the ancestral country, at the turn of the 21st century. It also examines the Indo-Trinidadians’ influence on other festivals which they encountered in the local landscape.

The rituals and festivals examined are Ramleela, Divali, Christmas, Carnival, Shivaratri, Phagwa (or Holi), the observance of Muharram (or Hosay) and the Jhandi (or prayer flag) in its many manifestations and symbolic meanings. It identifies aspects of cultural persistence, assimilations, internal innovations and syncretisms taking place within these cultures. It presents for the first time, in a consolidated, integrated framework, multiple layers of fascinating images of some of these performative traditions as they contribute to the shaping of the cultural diversity of Trinbago and the Caribbean. It is a guide to understanding the ethos and collective consciousness of the Trinbagonian lifestyle and the Indo-Caribbean diaspora, now scattered across the globe.

“A work of scholarly distinction, this book sets a new benchmark in Indo-Caribbean scholarship.”  Clem Seecharan, Emeritus Professor of History, London Metropolitan University

“... unique and original ... .”  Bridget Brereton, Emeritus Professor of History, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

• 240 x 164 mm
• 404 pages
• Paperback

Influences of Indentureship, Evangelisation and Education

H. Joy Norman

Around thirty-five per cent of Trinidad and Tobago’s population are of Indian descent. From 1845 to 1917, indentured labourers from India arrived in the former British colony to address the labour shortages following the abolition of slavery in 1838.

This book examines the lives and work of two descendants of Indian indentured immigrants who lived and worked in the north of Trinidad. Samuel Ramsaran and Leslie Sankarsingh – father-in-law and son-in-law respectively – were raised in the Christian tradition, but each made different life choices in their careers.

The colonial rulers were unconcerned with the welfare of, first, the enslaved Africans and, later, the indentured Indian labourers. It was, therefore, fortuitous that the Canadian Presbyterian missionaries intervened to improve the lives of, in particular, the subjugated East Indian population. Baptism into the Christian faith, however, was a requirement in order to receive a formal education, and it was this directive that provided the first steps towards a better way of life.

Reverend Samuel Ramsaran believed that relating the Christian Gospel to the local culture had to be redefined. He was aware that the Gospel should be communicated in a meaningful way to the East Indian community.

Leslie Sankarsingh, on the other hand, was opposed to a teaching career imposed upon him by the Church authorities. Instead, he turned to the world of business and was also a prolific writer of poetry in the vein of the Romantic English poets.

The work of these two Indo-Trinidadians and, indeed, many of their contemporaries, was to be a significant contribution to an emerging independent nation.

• 228 x 152 mm
• 284 pages
• Paperback

Tony Talburt

Foreword by Lord Herman Ouseley

Today, seeing Black footballers playing the game at the very highest level is considered very normal. This, certainly, was not the case one hundred and forty years ago, and this is what makes the story of Andrew Watson so remarkable.

It seems hard to imagine that a Guyanese-born Black man could head the Scottish national football team in 1881 in a game against England. Not only was he captain, but he also led them to a 6-1 victory in London – an achievement that still ranks as England’s heaviest ever defeat on home soil. If this were all that Watson had been able to accomplish, most people would agree that he should be commended for being the world’s first Black person to captain a national football team. But there was so much more. He was the world’s first Black football administrator, as well as the first Black player to win three national cup winners’ trophies.

During the 1870s and 1880s, when Watson played, he was regarded as one of the finest players in Britain. The word ‘pioneer’ is often used to describe certain players, but this would certainly be a most fitting expression to encapsulate the remarkable achievements of Andrew Watson.

This book reflects upon the legend, legacy and pioneering endeavours of a truly great Black British football superstar.

• 216 x 138 mm
• 136 pages
• Paperback

Zita Holbourne

A collection of poetry, quotes and art by award winning and inspiring London based poet, artist and activist Zita Holbourne. The book is a journey through struggle and resistance, a story of strength, determination and love used to challenge discrimination and injustice, documenting important historical and current struggles from the Haitian Revolution to the Black Lives Matter Movement. This is combined with Zita’s personal journey as an activist, mother and artist.

Some of the poems in the book have won awards and others have been performed at awards ceremonies, some are dedicated to those who have inspired the author and others written in the hope of inspiring others. Zita performed ‘A tribute to Nelson Mandela; Now You Are Free’ at the official UK Memorial Service for Nelson Mandela after he passed away. Progression is an autobiographical account of Zita’s personal struggle against race and gender discrimination. Dare to Dream - a tribute to Martin Luther King - was written to support a year long campaign entitled MLK50; Equality in Our Lifetime, marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington initiated by Zita’s campaigning organisation BARAC UK.

All illustrations in the book including the front cover are original artworks created by the author who uses art, poetry/ spoken word and activism to strive for equality, justice, freedom and human rights.

This is a book not just for lovers of poetry but all those who want to make the world a better place and who stand for social justice and equality, combining the poetical with the political. It is a story of survival, empowerment and healing, embracing roots, culture and identity being a key part of this. From historical events to Blue Plaque Unveilings, childhood to motherhood, stories of lost love and gained values, lives lost through racism and campaigns won through determination there is something in it for everyone to relate to. Themes include roots and identity, embracing our cultures, standing up against racism and injustice, understanding our pasts, growing spiritually, strength and determination.

• 216 x 138 mm
• 184 pages
• Paperback

Reynold Burrowes

This is the story of one man’s return to Guyana, the land of his youth. His return was thirty-five years in the making, back to the country he never expected to leave; a place he thought would always be home.

Reynold Burrowes travelled to Guyana with several former classmates who, like him, were Guyanese expats hoping to reconnect with family members and old friends. The visit exceeded all expectations and was both eye-opening and overwhelming.

They witnessed with great pride how the former British colony had made much progress. There was a dynamic tempo to daily life and an air of industriousness and optimism. But, despite their best efforts to re-engage, they felt increasingly like outsiders, desperately trying to envision their former selves in this now unfamiliar land.

This memoir tells a familiar tale of those who dream of returning ‘home’ some day, but whose nostalgic voyage of discovery isn’t always what they hoped it would be.

“My old friend Reynold Burrowes is a Guyanese who, like so many, left his home country in search of something new. This is a soul-touching and sometimes tearful memoir of his return home decades later, with all the happiness and guilt to be found in a Prodigal Son.”

Michael Dobbs, Lord Dobbs of Wylye, Author and British politician

• 216 x 138 mm
• 156 pages
• Paperback

Frank Birbalsingh

Guyana: History and Literature examines Guyana’s growth as a nation over three hundred and fifty years. Sixty-four reviews of works of history, biography, memoirs, fiction, even a play and an interview, discuss politics, ethnicity, culture, African slavery, Indian indenture, and fortunes of the two best known Guyanese politicians – Dr Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham. The volume offers the variety and scope of an anthology, perceptions and insights of a literary critic, elegance and style of fine writing, and the thrill of fresh revelation and discovery.

From travelogues by Dr George Pinckard and Henry Bolingbroke to books by James Rodway and the Roths, father and son, Guyana: History and Literature encompasses wide facets of Guyanese experience and specific studies such as Juanita de Barros’s spectacular evocation of Guyana’s capital city in Order and Place in a Colonial City: Patterns of Struggle and Resistance in Georgetown. African-Guyanese contributions by Eusi Kwayana and his wife Tchaiko also match a ground-breaking exposé of sexist violence against Indian indentured women by Giautra Bahadur, while a revealing biography of A.R.F. Webber confirms him as Guyana’s major political pioneer. Comments on Fred D’Aguiar’s fictional portrait of “Jonestown,” or novels by Sharon Maas and Ryhaan Shah exploring Hindu metaphysics, enhance Guyana: History and Literature, as do perspectives on diasporic fiction by Brenda Chester DoHarris and Barney Singh, one in New York and the other in Toronto, and unforgettable memoirs by Roy Heath and Charlotte Williams, daughter of Denis Williams.

• 216 x 138 mm
• 352 pages
• Paperback

Clem Seecharan

This is the first volume of a major study of the social history of cricket in Guyana from 1865 to 1966, when the country became independent. It is a legacy project to mark the 150th anniversary of one of the great institutions in the region, the Hand-in-Hand Fire Insurance Company. The year 2015 is also the 150th anniversary of first-class cricket in the West Indies: Barbados v British Guiana in February 1865.

This volume pursues the gradual evolution of the game from 1865 to the late 1890s, in the context of the colony’s ethnic and social diversity. It explores the origin of the Guyanese-Barbadian rivalry which enriched West Indies cricket for more than a century, and the emergence of the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and its famous Bourda Ground in 1858 and 1885 respectively. It encompasses the GCC’s seminal role in inter-colonial cricket; its instrumentality in the first West Indies tour overseas, to North America in 1886; and its hosting of two English teams in the 1890s, notably Lord Hawke’s in 1897. The latter was a watershed for black cricketers. Yet the GCC was enmeshed in the race and class prejudices of the age, and (unlike Trinidad) tardy in engaging with or selecting non-white cricketers in the colony’s team. Consequently, the game’s potential was stifled, although non-whites throughout British Guiana took to cricket with passion, celebrating it as a vindication of their credentials as creoles – authentic English colonials.

“… a unique scholarly study”  Mike Atherton

“A work of scholarship that, in the manner of his mentor, C.L.R. James, goes deftly beyond the boundary crafting a superb portrait of Guyana in the late 19th century.”   Mike Brearley

• 228 x 152 mm
• 488 pages
• Paperback