Loving the Soul

This comes off of the recent launch of his first book also entitled Soul. The collection of poems was launched on October 30. While Richards pursued a career in information technology.

writing is his passion. “I have been writing from high school. I would make notes and I have been involved in arts but I geared toward IT because at the time that was what was profitable,” he said. He attended Hillview College, Tunapuna and then went to St Augustine Comprehensive. “I have always veered away from the conventional,” Richards said. The idea for Soul was born 30 years ago. “I would write, keeping the notes on sheets and notepads etc. Friends would say, ‘why don’t you do a book. Why don’t you publish’,” the 51-year-old Richards said. He noted then online and self publishing evolved. “I did a couple and the feedback was lukewarm. I said the time is now just do it. I set myself a very aggressive schedule. I gave myself two weeks to do the book and choose some of the more intimate pieces.” He said some of his pieces directly addresses the issue of depression.

as he tended to write when he was down or angry. The fears and doubt that have trailed themselves through Richards’ life are shared with others in Soul. Twenty-five of Richard’s pieces are showcased in the book.

with one poem being a three-part piece. Richards said that the book was done as a heart project. “It was not a commercial thing.” He printed 200 copies in the first run. “The library.

National Library and Information System Authority (Nalis) took 45 copies. Which is good for me.” Richards wants to veer away from IT since, he believes.

“there is a creative side to me fighting to come out and I am going to be pursuing that.” During the book’s compilation, he learnt a lot about publishing. He first took the book to friends and then to the library’s first time author’s programme. The book has also made its way to New York. Richards hopes not to be boxed into poetry or poems but to write freely. His style “meets no kind of convention”. “I just wanted it to be free, to be me, like how I write.” His aim is to ultimately get people to do what they want to do.

to find their ultimate freedom and live it. Richards intends to relaunch his book in the West before Christmas. “When I read the pieces, I share how I came up with it and what happened. And that is why it is called Soul. The tag line is I am bearing my soul...a lot of things have happened.” He intends to create a monthly creative meeting and sessions geared toward the over-50 market. “The next part of this is I’d like to do a monthly meeting with upcoming writers and people who just write and I am calling it ‘Soul on Sundays’.” The Soul on Sundays session will be held at his brother’s The V Lounge, St Joseph. He hopes to continue the meetings the last Sunday of each month with an incorporation of music, art and word. “It is geared toward the mature group. I tend to find that there is nothing for us to do. We can’t mix with the young ones. [We reflect on] Our music and we converse about something.

like childhood or something.”