INVITATION to join us THIS SUNDAY for the 185th weekly ICC ZOOM Public Meeting
Harold Sonny Ladoo was a Caribbean novelist born in 1945. He is known for his two books, No Pain Like This Body and Yesterdays which document the struggles of Indians living in poverty in Trinidad and Tobago. Ladoo himself was born into extreme poverty and grew up in an environment much like the setting of his novels. He migrated to Canada with his wife and son in 1968 to study English at the University of Toronto.
In Canada, he wrote his first groundbreaking novel, No Pain Like This Body (1972). The book is the graphic story of a young boy growing up in a small rice-growing community. It focuses on the everyday struggles of a family through illness, violence and a storm during the rainy August season. His writing is raw and curt, giving voice to the marginalized and powerless. His second novel, Yesterdays, (posthumously published in 1974), was a more cheerful book about a young man attempting to launch a Hindu Mission to Canada.
Ladoo’s third book was intended to be the last part of a trilogy. However, in 1973, while on a visit home to his Calcutta Settlement in Freeport, he was mysteriouslykilled and his body was found on a road side in Trinidad. Sadly, an emerging literally voice was prematurely silenced. Although he lived for only 28 years to write two novels, he left an indelible mark on Caribbean literature. His literary legacy continues to inspire and resonate with a younger generation of Indo-Caribbean writers such as the unpublished Toodesh Ramesar of Trinidad.
Please join us THIS SUNDAY for the 185th weekly ICC ZOOM Public Meeting, Sunday December 10th 2023 at (1.00 p.m. Belize), (2.00 p.m. New York/Eastern time), (3.00 p.m. Trinidad/ Atlantic time), (3.00 p.m. Guyana), (4.00 p.m. Suriname), (7.00 p.m. England), (9.00 p.m. South Africa), (11.00 p.m. Mauritius), (Mon 12.30 a.m., India), (Mon 7.00 a.m. Fiji).
TOPIC: Harold Sonny Ladoo, a groundbreaking Caribbean novelist (1945-1973) – ICC’s launch of Christopher Laird’s book
SPEAKERS:
- DR. CHRISTOPHER LAIRD (Trinidad) – Author of the book Equal to Mystery: In Search of Harold Sonny Ladoo (2023),this filmmaker has produced over 300 documentaries, dramas and other videos with Banyan Ltd.
- PROF. SHAWN GONZALEZ (USA) – Author of an article on Ladoo’s first novel No Pain Like This Body, Dr Gonzalezfocuses on Ladoo’s experimentation with multiple languages, particularly English, Trinidadian Creole and Hindi.
- PROF. RAMABAI ESPINET (Canada/Trinidad) – She is a literary scholar, poet and novelist who teaches at the University of Toronto, and has been interested in Ladoo’s work since 1972 when No Pain Like this Body was first published.
Followed by Q&A.
Join Zoom Meeting THIS SUNDAY by touching or clicking on this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84289630438
ZOOM Meeting ID: 842 8963 0438
No Passcode Needed
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kveOswMQs
Live-streamed on the YouTube channel of the Indo-Caribbean Cultural Centre
https://www.youtube.com/@dmahab/streams
Hosted by www.indocaribbeanpublications.com
WhatsApp +1 868 756 4961 or +1 868 329 7051
indocaribbeanstaff@gmail.com, dmahabir@gmail.com
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is a full-time anthropologist at the University of Guyana (UG) and Fellow of The Eccles Centre for American Studies, British Library (2022-23). He is a former Assistant Professor at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He obtained his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida (UF). As a doctoral student, he won a Florida Caribbean Institute Award, an A. Curtis Wilgus Grant, and an Organization of American States (OAS) Fellowship.
Mahabir received a National Award (Hummingbird Silver Medal) for his contribution to education in his country in 2011. He was among 50 recipients who received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the UWI Alumni Association.
Mahabir is the author of 12 books to date.