Orginally Posted: August 16, 2021
Via Youtube
Source: Guyana SPEAKS: Reflecting on the Portuguese in Guyana at 3pm BST on Sun, 15 August, 2021. – YouTube
This month’s distinguished speakers were: Dr Joanne Collins-Gonsalves, Salvador De Caires, Bruce Nobrega and Maggie Harris. If you only want to watch: Dr Joanne Collins-Gonsalves click from 0:00 and listen through to 20:33, Salvador de Caires click from 21:04 and listen through to 1:00:37, Bruce-Malcolm Nobrega click from 1:00:50 and listen through to 1:16:13 [Apologies for the sound interference in this section], and Maggie Harris click from 1:16:54 and listen through to 1:36:30. The remainder of the video is the Q&A, which is well worth listening to, if you have the time!
Dr. Joanne Collins-Gonsalves holds a PhD in History from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the entrepreneurship of the Portuguese in Guyana for the period 1840-1940 with research conducted in Guyana, England, and Madeira among other countries.She is a Research Associate at the Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotia, Canada and has published historical articles on Guyanese history as well as a book on the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Guyana) 1914-2014. She has served as a Contributing Author with the Oxford University Press for the Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography. Dr. Collins-Gonsalves currently serves on the Education Committee of the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia and the Advisory Board of the Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society in Canada.
Salvador de Caires was born and raised in Guyana and is often referred to as the “Guyanese Wikipedia”. His warm, friendly personality and extensive knowledge of Guyana makes him perfect for Customer Relations and he is in demand for his captivating city tours. Salvador finished his schooling in England before returning to teach in Guyana. Later he worked a 28-acre organic farm before moving to New York and managing an international textile firm. In 2010, Salvador and his wife Andrea returned to Guyana to manage Karanambu Lodge. Working in this remote lodge in the savannahs of Guyana, they both became deeply involved with the villages and community tourism efforts in the Rupununi. In 2016 they moved to Georgetown and formed the Product Development team at Wilderness Explorers. Salvador moved into his current role in 2018.
Bruce Nobrega was born in Georgetown, Guyana and has lived in the UK since 1969. He became a Quantity Surveyor working for both the public and private sector before setting up his own business. For this Guyana SPEAKS event Nobrega shares with us the stories that were told about his Portuguese grandfather by members of the family who knew him and about the Portuguese cuisine.
Maggie Harris was born in Guyana and has lived in the UK since 1971. She has a BA in African/Caribbean Studies and an MA in Post-Colonial Literature. She was awarded the Guyana Prize for Literature 2000 and 2014, and was the Caribbean Winner of The Commonwealth Prize 2014. She has published 6 books of poetry, a memoir and three short story collections. Her latest book of short stories is Writing on Water, Seren, (2017), and new poetry, On Watching a Lemon Sail the Sea, will be published by Cane Arrow Press in Spring 2019. She has worked for Kent Arts & Libraries , taught Creative Writing for the University of Kent and was International Teaching Fellow at Southampton University. Her poem Lit by Fire, was commissioned by the BBC for National Poetry Day 2016, and her poem Cwmpengraig, Place of Stones, is part of the Out of Bounds project and included in the recent Windrush Exhibition at The British Library, 2018.
The audience Q&A/commentary was recorded and retained for the richness of the dialogue and information shared. If you have any questions about the monthly Guyana SPEAKS events, please feel free to contact us via guyanaspeaks@gmail.com. The events are convened by Dr Juanita Cox & Rod Westmaas.
