Learning to write with Stabroek News

Stabroek News 16 June, 2007 

Letter to the Editor 

"Is who you really think you is?" was the only reaction I ever had to the first letter I wrote to Stabroek News way back in the 1990s. The letter was sent via fax in those days. I was happy that at least one person read the letter. 

Many people have paid tribute to Stabroek News since news of their closing hit us. Many people have talked about the letters to the editor section especially. 

Stabroek News has published many letters which I have written. 

Many people have told me that they read the letters. Others said they hear I write some letter and I would then send the link to them.

Stabroek News has also not published a few letters - at one point I thought they were not publishing the letters I wrote about the alcohol industry and its contribution to our alcohol problem in Guyana.

I wrote in the third person, or sometimes, in the first person plural 'We' not as in the royal 'We' but hoping that I could include myself in the community of readers of the letter.

But the closure though, had me drafting a letter in which I was going to navel gaze, to pay tribute to Stabroek News by talking about the 'I' and how much Stabroek News has done in pushing me to think about things, research and then do the difficult things of finding words which I hoped at least an editor would find meaningful to publish. 

 But I can't write letters using the singular first person.

'I aint see you write a long time'

A man at the chowtaal session said "I aint see you write a long time', he remembered a letter about the alcohol culture which he thought was good. 

Two senior politicians in the country from different political parties told me 'keep writing'. 

Others have said they thought I was older, a man on the road 'you look like de man who does write nuff letters' and a woman going home from church 'like you get friken now, you aint writing no more'. 

Trouble is after 30 years, when composing words on the same thing, gotaying (Indian origin word meaning to stir as in gotay dhal) without moving anything and realising that is the same thing you are writing twenty years on. And so less letters written.

A senior and much respected creative messages me "hope to see more critical interventions in the press.. some things need to be said over and over again.. lots of hard heads around"..

Learning to write

Some letters take 10 minutes or so to write, others could take five , six hours as difficult to find words to cuss people without cussing them. 

I drafted a letter in rage on a Saturday morning, had a Bhagvad Gita class, breathed and wrote the same letter but cussing perhaps more calmly.

Many letters were co-written with others, recently with the invasion of Farnum Playground by a private business entity. 

I make a decision to co-write, and the piece with Salima Hinds and Thandeka Percival on the Ministry of Education's discrimination against black and biracial women and girls. 

And then being asked to write - Andaiye asking me to write in her column and someone asking me if Join the WPA - 

and then paid to write and agonising over words, sentences and if I should be paid - impostor syndrome.

And deciding on this blog as space for things newspapers would not publish. And because of this blog, being being invited to participate in The Writers' Room by Andre Haynes and Dreylan Johnson. 

And Alissa Trotz inviting me to write in the Diaspora Column.  

I never thought I would be considered a writer. I never imagined being paid to write. I never imagined that people would like what I write (and not like what I write). I never imagined paying more attention to writing.

Stabroek News made that possible.  

(and sadness as I put links to the website and hoping and praying that the website would remain or there is some digital archive which is publicly accessible)