Saturday, June 2, 2018

Reclaim One's Heritage

Been struggling with a science fiction story. And then a friend from MFA program volunteered to beta-read it. Now I did most of the grammatical edits.

What's bothering me is one of the scenes I've decided to change from the alien's POV to the Jamaican-American's POV. I'm Jamaican-American or Jamerican and realized that though I can say a few words in Jamaican Patois/Patwah/Patwa, I'm illiterate when it comes to writing, reading, and can only spell certain words.

Was about to post on my Caribbean/Diaspora writers group page about me having to rewrite what a texting social media language but realized this is the difficult tasks and decisions a writer will come up against. So, I'm currently researching, remembering, and will read more on my culture's poet laureates. And while I'm remembering, will be reclaiming.

Confessions from a Protestant student at Catholic school

During 5th and 6th grade, I attended my local Catholic school just some blocks from my house. In 6th grade, I think I was the only Protestan...