New book spotlights Anansi
He’s our favourite folklore character, having survived for centuries on the lips of Mahogany cutters and generations of irrepressible grannies. And today Anansi’s exploits were celebrated in a new book. News 5’s Patrick Jones has more.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
He?s the perennial underdog; but in the world of Belizean folktales, Bra Anansi always beats the odds. And that tradition lives on in a new book called: ?Anansi Party ? Belizean Folktales and Poems.? The book emanates from the pen of freelance journalist Roy Davis, who says each of the eight stories are original compositions.
Roy Davis, Author
?I created the plots, you know, I think them out first. Before I start to write, I would go somewhere where I can meditate and I think out the plot. I create a situation for Bra Anansi to be in danger from Bra Tiger.?
Davis says he utilizes Anansi?s ability to overcome his dim witted enemies to teach important lessons to his readers.
Roy Davis
?I believe every story there is a moral involved. In my stories, there are morals involved. Like Anansi?s Gold for example, the moral of that to me is that, all that glitters is not gold. Or you shouldn?t be greedy because greed is something that you can get tricked easily if you?re greedy for money. And this is how Bra Anansi managed to trick Bra Tiger.?
Patrick Jones
?To hear you tell the plot of the story like that, by reading your book does it come across that easily? Do you think it comes across that easy??
Roy Davis
?It?s easy because the language is simple. But there is a little bit of suspense involved because the reader doesn?t know until the reader, the order is that if you are writing something and you want to make it believable you want to make it as credible as you can, then you have to write it in such a way that you have the reader wondering what?s going to happen next.?
The stories? narrative is done in English but the dialogue is in Creole, reflecting the writer?s cultural ties. And the stories come alive with illustrations by Sean Gibson. While it?s not the first time that the two artists have teamed up, Davis says this time around, Gibson?s pen makes a big difference.
Roy Davis
?They are very good and the first one I can see that from the first one, he did the cartoons for the first publication in 2002, and he also did the cartoons for this one. And I can see a big improvement from the first one to the second one, these ones are much better. They are very graphic. They are very illustrative of, you know. Like the one on the cover, see this is a good one. Anansi has one eye close and the other eye open, he is squinting his eye and he is on top of Bra Tiger who is there like, you know. And it basically that tells the story about all the stories in this book, you know.?
Apart from the stories, Davis also includes a set of eight poems dealing with various issues such as racism, deception and personal triumphs.
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
The book, which sells for ten dollars each is published by Factory Books and is available at the Image Factory book store as well as other bookstores nationwide.
