Trinidad Noir

Starred review from March 27, 2017
To travel through the 19 works of poetry and prose in this remarkable anthology is to experience Trinidad and Tobago through a kaleidoscopic lens. The writings are grouped into four historically significant periods (“Leaving Colonialism,” “Facing Independence,” “Looking In,” and “Losing Control”). It’s an effective construct; the reader experiences island culture and history as a part of its time, formed by a pastiche of nationality, culture, and social class. Standouts abound. The central character in V.S. Naipul’s “Man-man” is a reputedly mad man in a community whose reactions to him move between bemused and violent. Harold Sonny Ladoo tells, in “The Quiet Peasant,” of an impoverished farmer who unwittingly digs his own grave. An island lilt and sharp humor spice Robert Antoni’s “Hindsight,” about a doctor confronting a singular medical condition. This is not a noir collection in the traditional crime-based sense. Instead, as noted in the introduction, the selections “direct attention to the violence of a society that has not quite settled accounts with the casualties of enslavement and indentureship.”

March 15, 2017
Lovelace and Antoni offer a -subversive- take on island culture to complement the 21st-century look at Trinidad offered by Lisa Allen-Agostini and Jeanne Mason's Trinidad Noir (2008).The editors take what at first blush looks like a historical perspective, starting with stories out of Trinidad's colonial past, like C.L.R. James' -La Divina Pastora,- Michael Anthony's -The Valley of Cocoa,- and Harold Sonny Ladoo's -The Quiet Peasant,- which emphasize the rural landscape. But Trinidadians are eager to stray from their pastoral roots. In editor Lovelace's -Joebell and America,- a gambler yearns to seek his fortune in the States. In Ismith Khan's -Uncle Zoltan,- an expat returns to Port of Spain only to be confronted by his father's formidable brother. In -The Cricket Match,- Samuel Selvon shows what happens when Trinidadians bring the island's favorite game to London. As their nation moves from colonial rule, Trinidadians discover that what's new is old again. They work hard for scant gain, as Jennifer Rahim shows in -Songster.- Too often, their efforts come up empty, as in Willi Chen's -Assam's Iron Chest.- And in the end, the madness of Barbara Jenkins' contemporary -Ghost Story- harks back to V.S. Naipaul's chilling colonial-era -Man-man.- Whether history repeats itself or progress is stalled by people's infinite capacity to get in their own ways, these 19 reprinted tales offer a bittersweet perspective on the cussedness of human nature.

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April 1, 2017

Pairing nicely with 2008's Trinidad Noir, this retrospective collection features classic stories from writers who were part of the literary wave that crested with Trinidadian independence in 1962. Notable authors include Derek Walcott, V.S. Naipaul, Elizabeth Nunez, Shani Mootoo, and the volume's editors. Holds strong appeal for fans of noir and literary writing.--ACT

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