In this the centennial year of his birth, there is some activity in honor of the writer who is generally considered as the father of fiction in the English speaking Caribbean. Indeed Edgar Mittelholzer may himself be surprised at the recognition that comes with a reissuance of selected texts; with a proposed film interpretation of Corentyne Thunder by Marc Gomes, with a conference in Guyana hosted in part by the University of Guyana and with a planned seminar on the man, his works and his times by Guyana Cultural Association.

His works, constantly written but tragically truncated by rejection by previously approving publishers and most tragically ended by his own self immolation in 1965, range from fiction that carries within it a framework for early colonial life and the psychological contours of pitiless existence in these territories through the premises of modern life with their wry commentaries on the interactions within families, or offices, than seem thrown together by chance rather than close DNA. Indeed some may comment that his work is that of an anthropologist masquerading in the form of the potboiler. A look at a few of his book covers may support that opinion.

His ghost story, My Bones and My Flute (1955), has been acclaimed by British critics as one of the best of the twentieth century in this genre. It still carries that reputation. This nerve tingling novella was dramatized by Francis Farrier in Guyana a generation ago in a radio production that is still remembered for the eeriness and believability of the action and plot of the narrative.

His list of books includes his autobiography, A Swarthy Boy (1963) containing his narrative about his early writing efforts and attempts to obtain publication, And surely one remembers his wry reportage on home medicine, among other staples of life, in a middle class colonial family in what was then British Guiana! The list of books continues with Creole Chips (1937), Corentyne Thunder (1941), A Morning at the Office, also published as A Morning in Trinidad (1950), Shadows Move Among Them (1951), Children of Kaywana (1952), The Weather in Middenshot (1952), The Life and Death of Sylvia (1952), Kaywana Stock (The Harrowing of Hubertus) (1954), The Adding Machine (1954), Of Trees and the Sea (1956), A Tale of Three Places (1957), Kaywana Blood (1958), The Weather Family ( 1958), The Old Blood (1958), With a Carib Eye (1958), A Tinkling in the Twilight (1959, Eltonsbrody (1960), Latticed Echoes (1960), Savage Destiny (1960), The Mad Macmullochs (1961), Thunder Returning (1961), The Piling of Clouds (1961), The Wounded and the Worried 1962), Uncle Paul (1963), The Aloneness of Mrs. Chatham (1965), The Jilkington Drama (1965).

That he was prolific as a fiction writer is obvious. Among the tiles listed above are three, including his autobiography, that are non fiction: the travelogue, With a Carib Eye and The Adding Machine.

Guyana Cultural Association, NY, Inc./The Symposium will be holding its annual conference in December of this year in New York. The theme of this year’s event celebrates Edgar Mittelholzer, the Man and his Work. Proposals addressing any aspect of his work and times may be sent to Dr. Vibert Cambridge at cambridg@ohio.edu or mailed in hard copy to Dr. Juliet Emanuel, BMCC/CUNY 199 Chambers St., N434, New York, NY 10007. Telephone inquiries may be made until October 1st to The GCA Secretariat at 718 209 5207. All abstracts are due on or before October 15th. The planned date for the symposium is Saturday, December 12th, 2009. We look forward to seeing you there.

Dr. Juliet Emanuel