Paul Keens-Douglas shared with Mélange . . .
How early in life did you discover your love for the literary field ?
As a young boy growing up and going to secondary school I was a prolific reader , sometimes taking home as much as three books at a time from the library . In those days you had the popular Biggles series and the Zane Grey western novels . My strongest subjects at school were always the literary ones , those involving writing … English Language , Literature , History , Geography , and Scripture . I guess that also lead to my interest in the field of Sociology which involved a lot of exciting reading . Add to this my love of drama and acting . So guess I always had a literary bent from my early days .
Your colourful story-telling has entertained audiences for many years and your style captivates , while leading one through various stages of intense laughter - the Caribbean ’ s best raconteur . Why did you decide to use humour to tell your story ?
The truth is I did not start out to be a humourous writer . I just wrote what came to my mind , the way things appeared to me naturally . Most of my stories grow out of fact , things that happened , funny but true . But I was being serious . I was most surprised when people laughed , especially when they laughed at something that was not meant to be funny . Maybe it was my face , my voice , my choice of descriptive word-connection . It took a while for me to accept myself as being humourous . That ’ s why I am so careful in ensuring my serious pieces are seen as serious pieces . I may even say that “ this is a serious piece ”. But I grew to enjoy the happiness that humour brought to people , the love that was returned through the response to that humor . But more so the power of reaching people with humor , of getting an idea fortified and engrained , with the gentle cement of humor and imagination . Now when I am writing something meant to be funny , I can hear the laughter , I can see the response , I can see me doing it , and as long as that is happening I know it ’ s going to be good .
In addition to being highly entertaining , your work also paints a clear picture of various aspects of Caribbean life . Tell us about some of your characters .
When it comes to characters I guess the one most people relate to right away is Tanti Merle at the Oval , because that ’ s the story that made me popular up and down the cricket-loving Caribbean . Tanti Merle really represents the strong Caribbean woman who takes responsibility in the absence of the man , making her opinion known , and taking leadership wherever and whenever . Everyone knows somebody like that . It ’ s all summed up in the saying “ It takes a village to raise a child .” The characters are all designed to reflect our Caribbean lifestyles . Vibert and his kite-flying , Slim and Tall- Boy -- our love of freeness and partying , Sugar George -- our pan history , Bobots and Lal Shop -- the place where our local philosophers gather . Certain names somehow have the power of description in them , as if for some reason they represent a certain type of person . Mavis , Doris , Veda -- short powerful names . Tingalae -- you can almost see the person with such a name . Locks-Heed the Rasta . A name
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