Dr. Hanif Gulmahamad was born in 1945 on a British colonial sugar plantation growing up in a small cottage on the Springlands Sugar Estate. He later emigrated to the US to attend university graduating with honors returning to his homeland for a single year to teach at the University of Guyana before permanently moving back to the US.
This book showcases 4 short stories, 11 works of nonfiction, and 48 poems of his. Some are of historical Guyanese significance that have previously been unrecorded and could well have been lost in the passage of time if not for this collection. Some pieces focus on local culture in Guyana—hunting birds with slingshots, crafting kites , catching fish at No. 73 waterside, and the notorious fowl thieves of the village. A few pieces represent the new Guyanese diaspora.
“A sentimental journey of the author's recollections of his boyhood in Guyana [evoking] the innocent and simple way of life in a long ago and far away land before moving to the US. Interesting, nostalgic, funny, sad, and thought-provoking.” —Guyanese Online