Edison Williams said two books made an unforgettable impact on him as a teenager: Miguel Street by Sir Vidia Naipaul and The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon.
“Both represented stark realism couched in brilliant comedic writing. But I only focused on the comedy at first. When I moved to London as a young man, the seriousness of Selvon’s novel hit me.”
Williams spent 30 years in the hospitality sector, going as far as being a hotel manager, but his childhood ambition was to be a comedian.
“I wanted to make people laugh. I was very funny. I was even nicknamed Jerry after Jerry Lewis,” he said chuckling, adding he grew up in Endeavour, St James, “next to Orange Hill and just below Apes Hill”.
The former St Silas Boys’ and Harrison College student, said he always wanted to write because he liked to read books.
“Once I completed my first short story, I knew I wanted to write more. I took advantage of writing courses at the Barbados Community College and the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill. They were excellenct courses taught by Robert Sandiford and Professor George Lamming, respectively.”
Williams has written his first book – a collection of ten short stories – Facing North Tales From Bathsheba.
“I planned to write a book of short stories and chose to dedicate them to Bathsheba. Having spent seven years there operating the old Atlantis Hotel there, I developed a certain affection for the place and the people.”
All the stories in the book are fictional and the names and titles are very important.
“The titles reflect something important in the story. In fact, my titles, more often than not, come out of the story.”
Some titles are Island Man, New Sybaris, Desmond Lola And Bassman and others.
He cites some of his favourite characters, such as Three Schools who appears in two stories. “He is a man whose life went adrift; he lost focus and purpose but when a situation developed that aroused his passion, he became resolute in his pursuit of a solution.”
Then there is Vonda from Island Man. “She is tough, a little rough around the edges, highly principled with the ability to self examine and change. She is a powerful woman. There may be another story about her at a more mature age.”
Williams said the ideas for the short stories were sparked by incidents or news items.
“ I like to refer to them as buttons of life and to compare myself to someone who finds a button and makes a shirt to fit it. Sometimes a story is the answer to a simple question, ‘what if?’ Writing is the perfect outlet for an active imagination. The amount of research depends on my comfort level with the detail in the story. For example, in Island Man when Bert Brathwaite visited Melanie in New York, I researched what events were on there in November 2008 to decide what they would do for recreation. I discovered that there was an Aaron Douglas exhibition at the Schomburg during that time. It was a perfect fit for the story line.
“Right now I am reading a book by a Bermudian author, Eva Hodgson, Second Class Citizens, First Class Men. It is non-fiction and a very important book, particularly if you didn’t have an intimate knowledge of the history of Bermuda.”
Williams is married to Margaret, a musician and teacher for 35 years, and dad to two: a son, 31, and a daughter 28. He names George Lamming as an influence “because I know him so well, but unfortunately I do not have his gifts. He is blessed with such prodigious talent. The second would be Sir Vidia Naipaul. But I admire all the great writers. I am still learning.”
Williams has two novellas in the pipeline and his work has been scheduled to appear in the National Independence Festival Of Creative Arts 2013 anthology.
Williams hopes his book is well read in different countries:?“I wrote these stories primarily for a Bajan readership, then a Caribbean readership. I have had comments from non-Caribbean readers who tell me how much they have enjoyed the book and speak of the universality of the stories. So I would describe Facing North: Tales From Bathsheba as a book of Barbadian short stories with universal appeal. Stories of ordinary people, living in an extraordinary place.”