For the Love of....

You know how I like Saki and did my post of him? Well before I read any of his stuff, I read Merle Hodge's Book 'Crick Crack Monkey'.

It was excellent. I knew
I wanted to write after I read her book when I was 10 or 11 or so.
We actually studied the book in High School literature class. Here is a little bit of info on her.

Ms Hodge is a Lecturer at the Department of Language & Linguistics at U.W.I, St Augustine. She has co-ordinated seminars dealing with "The Rearing of the Caribbean Child", "The Media and National Development" and many other conferences. She has written extensively as a freelance journalist and has published two novels, "Crick Crack Monkey" and "The Life of Laetitia", and several short stories for children, essays, articles on Caribbean family, Caribbean language, women's issues, and education.

Check out this pic of her..you can tell she has so much to offer in the literary world...She is so matter- of -fact too..a lot of the students hated her!

I went to undergrad at the University of the West Indies and met her for the first time when I went to query a grade for a mandatory literature class of hers that all science majors had to take.

I was a little bit irritated with her about my grade (because of course I thought I was hot stuff at age 18--Thank goodness I grew out of that!), but later on throughout the years, I gave her some of my short stories to read and she asked me to audit a class of hers.

I did.

I went to the class (during my worst jam packed Biochemistry semester), did all the assignments and we would talk afterward.

She felt strongly that I should publish and I definately will.

I have only done like a textbook and some scientific papers, but of course my dream is fiction.

My goodness!
Just to know this woman is a great experience in and of itself.
She is one of the brightest, smartest people I have ever met besides my best friend in Trinidad, Erline Andrews who wrote the 'Romance of Being Alone'.

I hope in the future that people say that about knowing me.

I highly recommend to all, read 'Crick Crack Monkey'...It will give you insight into Caribbean life and more.
Hugs
M