Nancy Morris introduced our guest speaker tonight. Madeline Coopsammy was approached by Elaine Thompson to attend a Charleswood Rotary meeting and present her latest young adult book ‘The Old Songs’.

 

Madeline Coopsammy was born in Trinidad, West Indies. She was educated there until the age of twenty-one. In 1960 she won a Government of India scholarship to study at Delhi University, India. India is the country from which her ancestors had emigrated in the mid-nineteenth century. Madeline obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Delhi University. She emigrated to Canada in 1968 and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Education at the University of Manitoba. Madeline taught high school in Trinidad and in Canada, as well as elementary school and English as a Second Language (ESL) to new immigrants to Canada.

 

Madeline has published articles and book reviews in the Winnipeg Free Press, Caribe, Contemporary Verse Two, Prairie Fire, The Indo-Canadian Telegram and HERizons magazine in Winnipeg. She has published a book of poems- Prairie Journey, and this novel – The Old Songs.

 

Madeline thanked Charleswood Rotary for allowing her to present her book here tonight. As a writer, if no one reads what we write…it becomes very disheartening.

 

Madeline’s most recent publication is a book titled ‘The Old Songs’. The story is set in the 1950’s on the island of Trinidad, the most southernly island of the Caribbean chain of islands. Just 7 miles of water separates it from Venezuela. A story of a protagonists coming of age. In the 1950’s on Trinidad there is a strong class hierarchy and British rule. A significant aboriginal presence due to the close geographical relationship with Venezuela. A society rich in various cultures. Columbus ‘discovered’ the island for the Spanish. For 300 years the Spanish did nothing for Trinidad. French colonists asked the Spanish to be able to go to Trinidad with their slaves. They planted the cocoa plants on the mountain slopes. The British took over from the Spanish due to a bloodless victory at Sea. The British had more ships than the Spanish. The British just burnt the Spanish ships and took control of Trinidad. Mini castles, from European roots, were built with the money generated from the cocoa plants and sugar cane. In the 1930’s disease wiped out the cocoa plants. In 1947 there was an influx of people from India to supply labour for the white owners of the plantations. In India widows were cast aside. They were glad to get out of their situation in India. They signed contracts to work in Trinidad while not understanding written English. They ended up working long days in the grueling heat on Trinidad. They worked as ‘slaves’ after slavery was abolished. They required passes to go to town.

 

Madeline the history of the island of Trinidad (above) as well as reading sections of the book for us. The following is a review from Amazon Online.

 

 Tessa comes of age as the advent of Independence on a small British Caribbean island disturbs the status quo and establishes a new class and race hierarchy in a country that historically was a polyglot nation. As East Indians living in straitened circumstances in a city in which the social mores are now dictated by the white, mixed race, and well-to-do Blacks, Chinese, Syrians, and Portuguese, the family is under siege as they struggle with financial hardship and discrimination when they are forced to move from their beautiful home in Port of Spain to a much smaller house in the impoverished suburb of San Juan de la PIna. The family's social life is centred around the Catholic Church and their extended family, and they have their own prejudices as Tessa discovers when the restrictions placed on them by being Catholic hampers her family's ability to improve their circumstances. Winning entrance into the most prestigious Convent School in the Port of Spain is Tessa's only hope to get the education she needs to climb out of poverty and break free of the racism that seeks to define and restrict her life.

 

Q/A

A.- They took the name of their Master. There is an entire Scottish area on the North Coast of Jamaica.

     

 2.  Nancy Morris asked what language was used at Delhi University in 1960?

              A.- English, Independence in India in 1947. India was still very British in 1960.

     

 3.  Ed Thompson wondered if she still had any contacts in India?

             A.- Most of the girls were 17 or 18 years old. Almost all had arranged marriages when     they left University. She was 21 years old, so a little older. There were 3 American girls that she keeps in touch with.

 

Chuck Crocker thanked Madeline on behalf of the club. Chuck stated that it was fascinating to hear of a true melting pot of cultures in Trinidad.  President Mandy thanked Madeline as well and expressed that we all learned a lot. Mandy advised that she has many friends from Trinidad.