Patrick George is a published writer and poet whose short stories and poems have been featured in the Guyana Annual and the Anthology of Contemporary Guyanese Verse. His short story, A Strange Cookie in the last Yellow Bus, was long-listed in the 2020 Common-wealth Short Story Prize competition. George was first featured by The Writers’ Room with his short story The Awakening.
TWR: A Strange Cookie in the Last Yellow Bus rings through with nostalgia, not only in its revisiting of a significant event, but also in the way the main character is painted. Everything he holds dear is an ode to a time past, and it seems to be that he has a hard time letting go of things, or is overly sentimental. Did this story grow out of your own sentimentality and need to memorialise a time that holds deep significance to you?
PG: Nostalgia. That is a beautiful word; one of my favourite words. I like strolling down memory lane. Yes, the story is bursting with nostalgia, and the sentimental nature of the character cannot be denied. I suppose I created him in my own image; you can call me God. Those yellow buses interplayed in my early life story and aided and abetted (in a nice way) in so many adventures, that I developed – for them – a fondness and appreciation that would never dissipate. After those buses were taken off the streets, I was angry with myself for not having a photograph of, at least one. I have always thought that they should have been memorialized in a national way; you know, like a museum piece. Maybe, placed in a park and protected. But I guess our guardians of culture in those days, so much like those onwards and up to today, weren’t that aesthetically innovative. I decided I would do the memorialising in the form of a poem but soon found that the emotions and memories were too strong for just a poem; a character stepped up to the plate and the rest is his-story.
TWR: In your narration you choose to go back and forth between broken and standard English, gravitating mainly to [standard] usage but inserting enough Creolese to give a sense of culture and place. Why did you choose this over writing exclusively in broken English?
In writing I try to hold strong to voice, which is, the style of the writer; in this case me. I write the way I speak, think, and how I juxtapose imagery with reality in perceiving phenomena. I believe every short story should bear a stamp of culture; one should not have to wonder about it. After a paragraph or two, it must be evident to the reader that this is a Guyanese, Caribbean, British, African, American, Indian or whatever, story, so I generally go back and forth between broken English/Creolese and standard English. That is how Guyanese generally speak, except in specific cases which necessitate absolute use of standard English. Of course, culture can also be highlighted by setting. I like to think I write for everybody. I do not want to write above some persons’ heads, as much as I do not want to appear shallow. Throughout all of this I must bear in mind likely audience and the characters being portrayed – their eccentricities, idiosyncrasies, education etc. and ensure a palatable blend. So, use of native language is important. I never attempt to write exclusively in Creolese, because despite its abundance of wit, humor and rhythm, it can at times fall short in the area of accurate description. I see it around me all the time – persons speaking ‘raw’ Creolese would suddenly falter and stammer in trying to describe something. Similarly, a standard English speaker trying to apply the ‘Queen’s English’ to describe a strong culture moment, would come over as comedic.
TWR: Back to the topic of nostalgia, if you could see three things from your earlier years make a comeback, what would they be?
PG: What three things from my earlier years I would like to see come back; you dare to ask me that? I will take the safe ground. The first, in present context, is obvious – yellow buses. That would be so nice. There was something beautiful and poetic about those yellow buses, especially the older models, cruising through heavy raindrops or between grey tarred road and grey, low-hanging clouds. Or, on the other hand, their yellow bodies blending in with bright sunlight. Secondly, I would like to see a reappearance of the thirst for education and knowledge that we used to have – the love of books and their availability. Lastly, I would like to see a return to the practicality of the past; we have become such appalling consumers. It is as if we are strongly competing with the west for first prize in the rat race they originated, so much so that we are allowing ourselves to be led by the nose by advertisers and so called experts bred by the media, into believing that we need this or that product and even thought, for survival and happiness. We are dealing more in wants than need and becoming an embarrassingly flighty and frivolous nation.
TWR: We’re living in very tumultuous times, and many are struggling with their creative output as a result. Has this been the case for you? If yes, how have you chosen to deal with it? If no, what has kept you writing through this time?
PG: I refuse to fully accept that living in tumultuous times causes one to struggle with creative output. The effect would be minimal at best. On the contrary tumult in our lives is an added stimulus for artists, it allows us so much more to draw from. It stokes the fire of creative passion. A dearth of creative output is usually caused by your own lack of effort or courage to confront and indulge your art and, if you’re like me, chronic procrastination. The true artist always exists in his/her own world, which though affected by, is also an insulation from surroundings, as far as creativity is concerned. Maybe what you mean is that tumult interferes with opportunities or avenues for writers to put out what they have created; that I can agree with, put out, not output. What has kept me writing is courage and a narcissistic belief that I have thoughts and stories worth sharing. I also feel a need to write the stories I like to read.
TWR: Would you like to recommend any authors/books/articles or any other medium you find inspiring to your creative process?
PG: I would be lying if I said that any writer or books have been inspiring to my creative process. What inspires me is that which is around me and I react to in one way or the other – personalities, events, experiences, relationships. For the sake of compromise, I can name writers I find enjoyable and interesting and then maybe you could say they probably inspired me subconsciously. Henry Miller (my all-time favourite), Edgar Mittelholzer, Roy Heath (another favourite), Christopher Nicole, Alan Sillitoe, Terry McMillan, Erica Jong, Arundhati Roy, Peter De Vries, James Clavell, and Alice Walker. In poetry: Martin Carter, John Agard (a favourite), Maya Angelou (a favourite), Audre Lorde, Lucille Clifton, Pablo Neruda, Blue, Nikki Giovanni, Syl Cheney-Coker, e e cummings, Anne Sexton, Gwendolyn Brookes. I like the plays of Tennessee Williams, Neil Simon and Earl Lovelace, and the revolutionary writings of Eldridge Cleaver, George Jackson, Frantz Fanon, Bobby Seale, Amiri Baraka and Malcolm X. For short stories: Pauline Melville, Beryl Gilroy, Agnes Sam, Guy De Maupassant, Edgar Alan Poe and James Joyce. Not the average literary aficionado’s cup of tea, but one I love to sip and that makes me tick.
TWR: Where can readers access more of your work?
PG: I have one book of poems: A Thin Slice of Politics and A Tall Glass of Anger Please! Some of my short stories and poems can be found in three issues of The Guyana Annual magazine – 2010, 2012 – 2013, 2014 – 2015, and some poems in, An Anthology of Contemporary Guyanese Verse. That is as far as access to my work goes, but, for further access, you need but talk to me.
