News

Caribbean lilt to launch

An award-winning poet who grew up in Guyana is hoping her new autobiography will help promote better cultural understanding.

Maggie Harris, 57, who immigrated to Britain in 1971 and now lives in Carmarthenshire, has published her memoir entitled Kiskadee Girl.

Maggie will be launching her book at the National Botanic Garden on Saturday (Nov 12) at 12 noon. She will be reading extracts and signing copies of the book.

The book explores Caribbean culture as well as the influence relatives from other backgrounds had on her early life: “As an adult in the UK, my growing up in Guyana played a surreal role in my mind,” says Maggie. “But it also seemed to have no significance for my children and I began to wonder how many children of migrant parents were losing out on their ancestral culture.

“I wanted to write my memoirs to make it real for myself and my children, as well as produce a diverse perspective of Guyana and promote cultural understanding.”

A former mature student at the University of Kent, Maggie is now a creative writing tutor and lecturer in schools and colleges. Her 1999 poetry collection ‘Limbolands’ won the following year’s Guyana Prize for Literature