Activity: Recorded reading
Topic: Poetry
Host: Moray House Trust
Date: Thursday 15th July 2021
Time: 11 AM Guyana/New York, 4PM UK
YouTube: https://youtu.be/j-NF357y7WY
Mahadai Das [1954-2003] was a gifted Guyanese poet.
Her published collections are:
I Want to be a Poetess of My People, Guyana National Service Publishing Centre, 1977
My Finer Steel will Grow, Samisdat, 1982
Bones, Peepal Tree Press, 1988
A Leaf in His Ear, Peepal Tree Press, 2010
This recording draws on writing by Denise de Caires Narain Gurnah and Jeremy Poynting to discuss Mahadai’s early life, her voluntary stint in the Guyana National Service and her first collection of poetry, I Want to Be a Poetess for My People. The recording includes a recital of her most famous poem, They Came in Ships, by Professor Paloma Mohammed.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/j-NF357y7WY
A second short film discussing some of Mahadai’s later poems will follow shortly.