The virtues, the value, the merits and the importance of the work of Stephanie Bowry are yet unsung. But her work has a place in the matrix of Guyana’s literary fabric, particularly as it stands between the oral and the scribal, linking them, drawing from both, having the characteristics of both, while helping the oral to survive. Among other things, her work may be placed in the category of popular literature.
There is quite a corpus of Guyanese popular literature. Even within that, there are different forms, including some that challenge categorisation. One may think of the comic book publications of Barrington Braithwaite, but there are really many other things. When one considers the weight of myth, folklore, history and research that they draw on, one may think that “popular literature” is not an accurate summation. Braithwaite has become quite intensely academic as his volumes come out – the Jaguar series, Legend of the Silk Cotton Tree, his history of the Pork-Knockers, and his complex study of Anancy. We pause over Braithwaite because he represents serious research and storytelling published in a popular form – comic books.
