The Repenters redeems

The award recognises stories for young adults.

Three finalists were selected from among submissions of published books and unpublished manuscripts. The other finalists are local writer Lisa Allen-Agostini for her manuscript Waiting for the Bus and Viviana Prado-Nunez (Puerto Rico/USA) for the self-published book The Art of White Roses.

In 2016 local novelist, Tamika Gibson won the prize with her d?but novel De First Fam- ily.

Hosein’s novel also made the long list of the 2017 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, but lost in the fiction category to Jamaican Kei Miller’s historical epic, Augustown.

The prize, which is in its seventh year, recognises books in poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction.

Hosein, a physics teacher from Cunupia, spoke with Sunday Newsday about his nomination before the short list was announced.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all.” He said the book is “pretty graphic” for Caribbean literature and was pleasantly surprised it was chosen.

On being nominated for the Burt Award, Hosein said that he had entered on a whim and had originally planned to send in another manuscript but ran out of time.

“When I saw the list (confirming my nomination) I did a double take. I really did not expect that.” Hosein said he was glad as the Burt Award facilitates the publication of winners’ novels and he did not know how else his novel would have been published.

Thirty-year-old Hosein and the late historian Angelo Bissessarsingh were the only two Trinidadians on the OCM Bocas long list, Bissessarsingh for his twin books Virtual Glimpses into the Past and A Walk Back in Time. Bissessarsingh won the non-fiction category, the first time a Trinidadian has done so in the seven-year history of the OCM Bocas Prize.

Hosein explained that The Repenters is based on second hand stories and centres around a 12-year-old boy, Jordan Sant, whose parents were murdered when he was a baby and he was sent to an orphanage, St Asteria Home for Children.

A new nun nicknamed “Mouse” comes to work at the orphanage and Jordan is immediately smitten by her. He eventually runs away from the orphanage and into the “underbelly of Port-of- Spain”.

Hosein wrote the first draft while studying at University of the West Indies (UWI) seven years ago, and the story was much different, with the protagonist becoming a serial killer.

Asked about the inspiration for it, Hosein recalled when he was eight he visited an orphanage with his family to donate food. He said he was deathly afraid of the thought of being a child without parents. “I wanted to get into the mind of overcoming not having parents.” He described the novel as a coming-of-age tale and noted that the protagonist exhibits a popular Trinbagonian characteristic -- taking grim situations and putting them in humorous contexts.

Hosein said he first got interested in writing when he was about five-years-old and enjoyed watching Tom and Jerry cartoons.

He recalled that although Jerry usually won in the confrontations, there was one episode where Tom won and Jerry ended up in a mental hospital.

This inspired Hosein to come up with his own scenarios where Tom would win.

In his early years at primary school he used to enjoy verbal storytelling but disliked creative writing because of its descriptive nature. He found it boring. However, when he moved up to Standards Four and Five and started writing longer stories in preparation for the then Common Entrance Examination he began to get into writing. At age 22 he wrote a story that centred around pride and featured a girl wearing a magical mask from a demon salesman.

He later wrote stories about the other six Biblical deadly sins, which eventually became the collection, Littletown Secrets (2013).

Although there was not much of a market for fantasy books then, he managed to get the book published.

“I took the chance (to publish) and it paid off.” It became popular with teachers and he was invited to do readings.

He was also invited by Bocas Lit Fest to read in the Children’s Caravan.

Asked why he was drawn to younger characters, Hosein said it is their ability to be easily influenced by the smallest of changes.

His story, The Monkey Trap, about a man who believes his six-year-old son is a monkey, was submitted to the Commonwealth Short Story competition.

It did not make it into the final five, but was picked up by Akashic Books from Brooklyn and was included in a collection, Pepperpot.

Hosein said he is glad he submitted to the competition.

“You can’t lose anything.” In 2015 he won the Commonwealth Short Story competition (Caribbean) with The King of Settlement 4.

Asked his advice for aspiring writers, Hosein said they should question everything and always be observant, which can sometimes lead to a story and a character.

“Every little thing can be a story.” Hosein said he has a couple of manuscripts he plans to revisit after a year and see if they are “still good”.

He writes about 1,000 words per day, and when he is finished with something he takes a break from it before reading it again.

He admonished aspiring writers to avoid sharing their premature writing, as this tends to create a feeling that the work is “finished” and they don’t need to press on with it.

He also pointed out that writing may involve quite a bit of rejection for some people.

He described it as a “literary lotto”, the more you play “you are bound to get something”.

The winner of the Burt Award for Caribbean Literature will be announced on the evening of April 26 at the opening celebration of the 2017 NGC Bocas Lit Fest in Port-of-Spain.

The Repenters, published by Peepal Street Press, is available for purchase on Amazon