Days of Laughter depicts some of the childhood experiences of many who lived in Guyana during the 1950s and 60s. The sequence of events in this narrative will not only bring back memories of the past, but it will also give today’s adolescents an opportunity to look back at the happenings of an earlier period.

While this book is intended to make you smile and reflect on some of the simple joys in life, it is also a gentle reminder of some of the games children played in Guyana, the stories they listened to and the toys they made. In an effort to preserve what many have experienced while growing up in Guyana, this simple story takes account of some well-liked birds, popular individuals in certain villages, some notable places to visit, as well as common Guyanese Creole to remind us of our homeland.

http://www.jagdishraisingh.com

Kaieteur News Jan30, 2010

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, yesterday, gave the Government Information Agency (GINA) a sneak peak at the first 12 of 36 books titled “Guyana Classics” to be launched in February.
The 12 copies which are prefaced by President Bharrat Jagdeo, include the first book to be written about Guyana, Martin Carter’s poems and a book on indentureship among others. Some of the books trace Guyana’s history as far back as the 1500s.
Minister Anthony said that the books are scheduled to be launched by mid February as part of the calendar of activities to mark Guyana’s 40th Republic and Mashramani celebrations.
The materials were manufactured by the Caribbean Printing Press which falls under the ambit of the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport. Copies will be available at national libraries and research centres across the country.
The “Guyana Classics” initiative emerged at a meeting between President Bharrat Jagdeo and Professor David Dabydeen during Guyana’s hosting of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) X in 2008.
The need for a Caribbean press was highlighted and it was agreed that the Guyana Government would establish a press to publish written materials about Guyana and the Caribbean.

In the spring of 1984, barbed wire was still stretched along the white sand beaches on the small island of Grenada where the U.S. had driven out the Marxist faction that had slaughtered the moderate socialist government.

Ron Frazer was there to teach secondary school, replacing the Cuban and East German teachers who had fled the island. The experience of teaching these children, the poorest of the poor, has haunted him since he left the island in 1988.....read article....

 http://www.ronfrazer.com/.

 

New Book: Strange Misfortunes – Heartbreaking stories about corrupt governments, the unfair treatment of women, and the woes of a soldier.     

                                                                             

Strange Misfortunes covers a broad range of fictional and non-fictional themes that are based on human struggles, beliefs and experiences. This book is a collection of short stories, conveying some of our weaknesses, and telling of the extent to which those with evil desires will go to get what they strongly desire. Through a blend of fiction and reporter-style writing, readers will get a down-to-earth look at the unfair treatment of women, corrupt governments, and issues pertaining to Guyana, Panama, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, United States etc.

 

Author: Jagdish R. Singh (Roy) was born June 29, 1953 in the town of Blenheim on the island of Leguan, Guyana. In 1977, he immigrated to Canada where he studied spiritual beliefs and ancient myths. Since then, he has been actively writing fiction and non-fiction themes that are thoughtful and informative. He is the author of the fiction novels Adventures of the Homeless and The True Self, as well as a collection of essays titled Earthly Tribulations, and fourteen fictional stories under the title Pandora’s Heartaches.

Author’s website: http://www.jagdishraisingh.com

 

• ISBN: 978-1-60594-346-6

*Order: Via all major bookstores 

(AP)  "Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana, and Washington" (Scribner Books, 278 pages, $28), by Ann Louise Bardach: This fast-paced primer on Fidel Castro and the future of Cuba by veteran journalist Ann Louise Bardach offers a handful of new details into the communist leader's illness, his wives and youth. But the book's strength lies in Bardach's ability to weave together a host of diverse sources, past and present, to create a compelling narrative for even a neophyte to all things Cuban.

Among the new tidbits: the former cigar-chomping Castro has frequently used an oxygen chamber; a doctor present the day Castro underwent a lifesaving colostomy said the Cuban leader cried several times after the operation; and Castro's first wife Myrta Diaz-Balart (whose fervently anti-Castro nephews represent South Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives) has frequently visited him since he fell ill in 2006.

The book includes much speculation on both Fidel Castro's health, as well as the island's future. Unfortunately, many of the juiciest details are provided by anonymous sources or unattributed altogether. Such is often the case with Cuba, where offering outsiders insights into the personal life of the Castros has sometimes been met with severe punishment, but it nevertheless weakens the impact of those sections.

"Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana, and Washington" is divided into three parts, focusing on the life-threatening stomach illness that nearly killed Castro; an insider's view on the U.S. case against Cuban exile and accused terrorist, former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles; and finally a look at Cuba's new president, Castro's brother Raul.

Among the most interesting sections are Bardach's description of the U.S. government's attempts to force her to testify against Posada, whom she has interviewed extensively and who confessed to her that he was behind a string of 1997 hotel bombings in Havana. He later recanted but is still wanted in Venezuela and Cuba for those attacks, as well as a 1976 airliner bombing that killed 73 people.

Bardach insists "the Founding Fathers of the Constitution were quite clear that they did not intend for the government to be allowed to raid the news media for their work files. Most especially after they had bungled a case and destroyed crucial evidence. And that is exactly what happened in the case of Luis Posada."

But Bardach adds: "For my part, it raised a peculiar pickle: contemplating how far one should go to protect the civil liberties of an accused terrorist."

Bardach eventually turned over tapes of the Posada interviews to the federal government, and an FBI analysis captured incriminating statements he'd made that had previously been inaudible. Bardach is still hoping to avoid testifying in Posada's trial next year on immigration fraud charges.

Followers of Bardach's work may be disappointed to find much in the book a recap from previous articles and her acclaimed "Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana," in which she traced the hostilities between the Castros and the Diaz-Balarts. This time, Bardach adds in the feud between the Castros and the Bush clan, who were major shareholders of a sugar company in Cuba before it was confiscated during the island's 1959 revolution.

Still, Bardach, like few other Cuba-watchers, is able to weave together the personal and the political, bringing to life the complex history of the tiny Caribbean Island and its decades-old feud with the world's superpower.

 

CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Aug. 31, 2009:

 A Caribbean American migrant and former babysitter has turned the spotlight on the many Caribbean `nannies` across the U.S. who are helping to raise the children of many Caucasian Americans.

Nandid Keyi, recently released `The True Nanny Diaries,` which  tells the story of black women babysitters in New York City. Jacobs or Nandi, as she prefers to be called, told CWNN she was inspired to write the novel,  because of `the complexity and diversity of the experiences of the women I met … since when other African-Americans, Caribbean immigrants, other people of color see these women, we see nothing beyond those black hands on the stroller handles!` 

The London-born New Yorker, whose parents were born in Trinidad and Tobago, said she too had that perception until she too `found myself pushing a stroller.`

`Actually, I was embarrassed,` said Keyi of the experience. `Not because the work wasn`t honest, but I figured I was `better` than this. But it is what I had to do.`

Reflecting on her experiences, she reminisced that, `The first family I worked for was very nurturing, but I was struck by how guilty my boss felt that she had a black nanny caring for her little blond son.

`She told me once she felt that she was perpetuating slavery, I had to tell her to get over it. I really needed the money.`

The novel revolves around Valdi West, who left her native Trinidad & Tobago to study at Columbia University on a scholarship, but ends up babysitting to survive. Twenty years later, Valdi refuses to consider her derailed life. Instead, she focuses her razor sharp intuition and cutting wit on her babysitting clique. She befriends old lady Madam Lucian, who is supplementing her meager babysitting wages, and financing a house-building project, by selling homemade bread from her Brooklyn apartment.

Valdi is also preoccupied with flighty Monica, who`s not above stirring a few `perks` into her Green Card marriage. Last but not least, Valdi is disturbed by Ava, her one time confidant, who outgrows her babysitting friends as graduation, a government job, and legal American status, seem all within her grasp.

Set further and further adrift from her dream of becoming an award-winning writer, Valdi`s life becomes hopelessly entangled in the unending demands of her latest employers, a dysfunctional Manhattan couple with a five-year-old son. Valdi`s chance encounter with her estranged, wildly successful, twin sister, while minding the boy, pushes her to the brink.
She has two choices: sink or swim.

Keyi notes that The True Nanny Diaries is not only about the workplace challenges but about the hopes, dreams and aspirations that domestic workers share. `These are not weak women oppressed by the proverbial big, bad wolf. These are real women, with imperfections of their own, finding their way as immigrants, and as friends.` Like her gritty protagonist, fate placed her temporarily in the role of a domestic worker. It is from her vantage point at ground zero of this `invisible world` that `The True Nanny Diaries` evolved.

`The True Nanny Diaries, to me is not about the poor, victim immigrants babysitters working for `the big, bad wolf.` It is about real women with challenges, ambition and even psychological problems on an immigrant`s journey in a place called New York City. These women I met were the most fascinating group of people, I have met to date,` added the author.

 

 

Ken,

Thanks for posting the link on British Guiana-1924.

 

What are your thoughts on the current state of the educational system in Guyana, and what reforms do you think are needed?

 

Wayne Forde.

I was trying to get out of a previous engagement in order to attend the GT Lime in Florida. I have had good success with my book which is keeping me busy with signings. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the "Lime" in Florida this year for the festival in its entirety. Please email me @ kam_ali@hotmail.com and l will make a special effort to attend briefly to be with you, and sign copies as promised. 

 

Regards,

Kamil

 

 

 

GT Limers,

 

I have a second book signing this coming Saturday, March 28th at the same Indigo/Chapters @Bovaird and Highway 10 in Brampton between noon and 3:00pm. I had great success with the first book signing and have been invited back for a repeat. Please stop by and say "Hi".

 

Kamil

 

 

 

In action with a reader

 

My wife and I at the Book Signing event at Chapters/Indigo last Saturday

Just a note of my sincere gratitude to all who came out on Saturday to share time with me at my book signing event. Thanks to you, it was a complete success. I know you will enjoy the book in its entirety. Thanks again.

Kamil

For residents in the GTA (Toronto), I have a book signing at the Chapters/Indigo Bookstore @ Bovaird and Highway 10 in Brampton. The event will take place on Saturday, February 21st from noon until three. I'd love to meet you and personally thank you for your support.

 

Regards,

 

Kamil

Please support me in my efforts to promote my book. It is called Profound Vers-A-Tales and can be found on Amazon around the world. There is a special promotional price being offered by Amazon.ca and there is free shipping for four or more books. Please give reviews after reading it so as to generate honest and objective opinions. So far there have been almost 250 copies printed, even though it was only published December, 2008. This indicates to me that it is quickly becoming popular. I am personally acquainted with many members and will be only too happy to attend the next big event to personally autograph copies in your possession. Please click one of the links below to locate the book on Amazon. If the link does not work, then simply copy and paste it in your browser's address bar. I sincerely appreciate your support.

 

 

http://www.amazon.ca/Profound-Vers-Tales-Kamil-Ali/dp/1425189024/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232703476&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Profound-Vers-Tales-Kamil-Ali/dp/1425189024/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232703652&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Profound-Vers-Tales-Kamil-Ali/dp/1425189024/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232703741&sr=8-1