Dear Editor,

Poetry in Guyana is Martin Carter. Not beyond, in my opinion. As a matter of fact, I hear little of his poetry except, “All are involved, all are consumed.”

Literature is Cyril Dabydeen, not beyond, in my opinion.

And there Guyana stands in Literature.

I have tried writing and I have always suffered a conscience pang that I am hurting the sacredness of quality literature by publishing on my own. I recall reading one of my ‘so-called poems’ at Enmore in honour of the Enmore Martyrs. It was for me one of the most embarrassing moments of my life since I was not emotionally and academically empowered to do so, being a simple school teacher with a qualification that has nothing to do with creative writing. At the end of the reading, I was grossly ashamed. I wished someone not as uneducated in writing as I am (I am not a Doctor of Literature) could have honoured the Martyrs with quality poetry.

Many such as myself are out there. They write because they can write, but what they write… God help us! Not fully educated, they present what they produce expecting it to be acclaimed as quality work. And Mr Petamber Persaud, well meaning, is bringing Literature in Guyana to basement level by acknowledging those who write as writers without giving thought, I think, to their educational standard.

Yours faithfully,
Krishna Nand Prasad