Matthew Chin
Reporter
matthew.chin@guardian.co.tt
At 37 years old, Trinidadian author Kevin Jared Hosein is the first and youngest Caribbean author to be awarded the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.
His book, Hungry Ghosts, which was published last year, deep dives into the troubled lives of Hindu communities in Trinidad during the 1940s under British colonial rule, exploring themes of religion, class, and trauma.
Confident in his literary prowess, his publisher, Bloomsbury, submitted the novel for the prize. This would later prove fruitful, as it landed Hosein on the shortlist of entries. When the announcement was made at the awards ceremony, Hosein was astounded.
“I was surprised enough to make the longlist and was already happy with that. There were some veteran authors in competition, such as Zadie Smith and Joseph O’Connor, so I hadn’t expected to move into the shortlist phase,” Hosein said.
Hosein received the prize at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose on June 13 from Walter Scott’s great-great-great-great-grandson Matthew Maxwell Scott. The winner receives a handsome lump sum of £25,000.
As a full-time writer, the Chaguanas native confessed that living life in the Caribbean as a full-time author is almost unbelievable, noting that writers like him have had and continue to be meticulous with their spending so that their passion and basic needs are met.
“Right now, I’m trying to make a living as a full-time writer, so this helps me make ends meet to write comfortably,” Hosein said.
Moreover, with the aid of the money, he hopes to later share his literary knowledge with aspiring local writers via subsidised workshops.
Hosein revealed that he is currently at work on his fourth novel, The Pariah, which focuses on a Trinidadian poet who isolates herself from society and explores the various ways that we deal with mental health issues in the country.
Kevin Jared Hosein is a full-time writer. He is the author of The Repenters and The Beast of Kukuyo and won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize of 2018 for his story, Passage. He worked as a secondary school biology teacher for over a decade but still tutors students to prepare them for their examinations.
Q&A with Kevin
What trends have you noticed in our local literary scene that make you proud? And what are some that you believe should be addressed?
For a country of our size and population, Trinidad produces an astounding number of writers. The creative ambition alone is something to be proud of. The Bocas Lit Fest is a boon for up-and-coming writers to be exposed to other works and opportunities. Most of us seem highly determined to represent our culture on the page in many different ways. However, I always mention to my peers from other countries that our Government taxes books, and they are always appalled by it. It is one of the dark spots in our scene that I think should be brought up again and again. There is no excuse for it. A government that taxes books taxes knowledge.
Are there remnants of India’s caste system in contemporary Trinbagonian society? If so, when and how does it rear its head? How do we confront it?
The caste system seems to be, fortunately, one of the aspects of Indian culture that our ancestors decided not to perpetuate. While I’m sure it was present in some pockets of Trinidadian history, it doesn’t seem to have been nourished enough to survive.
Some local authors have said that when they approach foreign publishing houses, they are asked to alter or remove the Creole vernacular spoken by their characters so that American readers can “understand” what’s written.
What are your thoughts on this phenomena and what does it say about how foreign entities and non-locals view T&T and the wider Caribbean region?
This is a concern that I’d had, but the industry has changed in more recent times. Marlon James winning the Booker Prize about a decade ago, which was loaded with Jamaican patois, did wonders for the confidence of foreign publishers in our Creole. The more that I think about it, however, the more that I realise that it is a non-issue. There are so many books written with American Midwest phonetics, Irish dialect, or even entirely made-up slang (like Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange), that we shouldn’t have to worry too much about people ‘understanding’ our words.
Have you ever been discriminated against, whether as a Caribbean author or even being someone of East Indian descent? If so, what did the experience reveal to you?
The most recent blatant act of discrimination was the denial of cremation rites for Hindus in Trinidad under the guise of COVID protocols when there had been no scientific evidence for it. I did also attend a church concert where the pastor called for the deaths of Mother Lakshmi and Shiva. These were strange but isolated incidences, I believe, and we’ve come a long way from thinking of Hindus and Muslims in Trinidad as savages who must convert to Christianity.
What advice would you recommend to Trinidadian writers who are interested in writing historical fiction?
Don’t just restrict your knowledge to texts and archives. Remember that history is more than protocol and aesthetics and that there are many things the archivists and scribes would have been too ashamed to record. Go to the elders to gather details, but also remember the limits of memory. It’s an interesting balance, but the writer must never forget that they are writing a story with emotional impact rather than a textbook.
