Some Facts About Me

Here’s a brief glimpse into who I am, where I’m from and how this journey came to fruition.

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I am from the island of Trinidad & Tobago, south the Caribbean, off the coast north eastern Venezuela, just at the helm of the South American mainland. It’s really lovely here - undoubtedly the most cosmopolitan nation in the world, with a blend of cultures, nationalities and people. There are only two seasons with equal amounts of sunshine and rain. Home to Carnival, the Steelpan, Calypso and Soca.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?

It's raw and always in-draft, as we all are. It's honest, vulnerable, expressive and forgiving. It is my memoir but articulated in melodious disjuncture. It's my journal, written from my perspective. The irony is that I typed the majority of my work from pure memory but it felt like a testimony of rebirth. It was never my intention to write so extensively, but it flowed out of me like it was intended from the very first word.

HOW DO YOU HOPE YOUR WORK IS RECEIVED?

My hope is that it is received the way it was intended - from me to me, then you with love - with heart and the likelihood of finding common ground with people that are unheard and misunderstood. I hope you can hear my voice in the background through all the noise.

WHO ENCOURAGED YOU TO PUT YOUR WORK OUT THERE?

A friend. He gestured with the kindest of words, the world is waiting for you Thoko. I am not usually obedient, or even open to the affectivity of endorsements, but his sentiments were well timed and impacted me with thunderous force, for it was my season for rendering. I had absolutely no control. And so I listened, gave in, almost immediately and so it began. He has always and will forever be my cheerleader.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?

I was born in 1980. I am from a family of four children, two boys and two girls with me being the eldest. My mother, Trinidadian, father, Barbadian, grand father, Venezuelan, grand mother, St. Vincentian and uncle, St Lucian. My heritage spans throughout the Caribbean. My skin is the colour of warm caramel in the sunlight, bronze at night. Besides me being a writer, I am a business woman, a philanthropist, an ally and a friend.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR WORK?

I see my work on coffee tables, rather than on book shelves - a book of collectors, conversation piece. A book of art in dialogue. Sometimes wrapped under the Christmas tree. I see my work heard online and recited in bedrooms behind closed doors.

what is an interesting fact about your work?

I relished in having no boundaries in my work. I never use obscene but it so frequently expels when I write about encounters and experiences. It emanates in my writing as though it were a part of my everyday elocution. it was truly freeing.

WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU COULD WRITE?

I honestly didn't know actually. I always heard words in a very different way. Always resonated in a melodious temper. Maybe that's why I didn't have an affinity for novels. My first literary books as a teenager were The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, a book I stole from my mother’s wardrobe while foraging for trinkets, The Taste of Endless Fruit by our late and great, local Artist and Poet, Leroy Clarke, The Joy of Sex where I was mostly fixated on the illustrations and Acts of Faith by Iyanla Vanzant. Coupled with childhood misfortunes, I attribute some of my inspiration from there.

WHY POETRY?

It came naturally. It's how I write. It's how I've always written. It's how I journal. It's how I reflect. It's how I forgive. It's how I express myself.