Nneka Edwards

There are two people who have had a major influence on my writing. The very first person is my mother who used to be a high school English Language and English Literature teacher. She (who was usually a kind and gentle soul) used to correct my school essays with merciless precision and, though it used to sting at first, I learnt to improve my diction and phrasing. 

The second person is my pastor, Dr. Noel Woodroffe. When I first began attending Elijah Centre (my home church), it took me some time to really follow what he was saying. However, I soon realized that the difficulty I was having was simply that I was not accustomed to anyone speaking with the kind of precision which he did. One day, I just pulled myself together, summed up all my effort, and really tuned in to what he was saying and realized that he was speaking as he did so that spiritual truth was not conveyed in a sloppy manner. I began studying his genius choice of wording and word coinages and used this as a springboard to develop and enhance my own style (without outright copy-catting him). His oratory schooled my pen.

Outside of actual human influences, there are two other factors which influenced my writing. First was my love of languages. In my sixth and seventh years of high school I majored specifically in Spanish, French and English Literature. Reading foreign language magazines, newspapers, novels and various other material amplified my vocabulary in quantum measure as I was able to learn many, many new English words through their ‘twins’ in French and Spanish. I believe that, at that time, I learnt more vocabulary in English through Spanish and French than I did through my English Literature classes (as excellent a teacher as I had).

With respect to poetry, more specifically, I have largely taught myself through an instinctive sense of what can or cannot work. I am usually guided by my personal sense of taste, which is often at odds with what is generally considered poetry. I simply write the kind of poetry that would ordinarily appeal to me, and which I think would appeal to the average person. Much of what I find inviting would include writing which is lyrical, witty, simply yet substantially profound, humorously silly, a little flowery, visionary, rootsy, didactic, accessibly spiritual and really anything wholesome, edifying or simply entertaining.

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Hmmm … favourite writers … I’d have to say Jane Austen (I must have read Pride and Prejudice a million times), Shakespeare (whoever he may have actually been … what a genius!), and Judy Blume (she really has a gift for getting into the mind of a youth and bringing it out with great emphathy and humour). Those were the kinds of writers I grew up on.

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I know this may be hard to believe, but I don’t read as much as I should (how ironic! … shame on moi!). That being said …

My all-time favourite books are:

• Pride and Prejudice
• Woman’s Detective Agency
• Shogun
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• The Wine of Astonishment
• The Dead Famous Series
• The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• The Horse and His Boy
• Little Women

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Well, I hail from a tiny island with a pretty diverse population considering our size. Trinidad is a real melting pot, so I have always been exposed to other cultures. I think that every culture has God-given beauty which can be a gift to other people.

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Hmm, well, I was born in Canada, grew up in Trinidad and lived many years in the Far East. I consider myself a lady of the world. Personality-wise, though, I do have bits of Caribbean colour and Asian elegance within me. In terms of my accent, it’s not fully Trinidadian (because I never completely lost my Canadian accent) but not fully anything else either. So in many ways, I’m at the crossroads of different cultures.

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I have a Bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies (with a concentration in China) and a Master’s degree in International Studies (with an area focus in International Cooperation).

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I have many views on education, but I believe that any school at any level (kindergarten right up) should produce an all-rounded, well-informed, well-developed individual who is comfortable with creativity and innovation. I am also huge on practicality. From high school onwards, everyone should graduate with an applicable skill, seeing the clear practical relevance of their subject areas and having some degree of skill to function in those areas outside of the classroom, in the real world.

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I speak 8 languages – Standard English, Creole English, Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Korean and Japanese. English is my mother tongue. Creole English is like an unofficial second language in Trinidad. I don’t speak it very well, though (sniff! sniff!). I am conversant in Spanish, French and Chinese. My German is at an intermediate level. My Korean and Japanese are basic.

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Absolutely! I love Brazilian Portuguese. It sounds so soft and sensual and romantic; would love to learn it someday.

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Hmmm, German starts off pretty simple then gets progressively harder, but I’d have to say that Korean and Japanese have proven to be my biggest challenges – maybe because I learnt them later in life? Maybe because they are a little more involved and complicated? I’m determined to crack them, though!

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I listen to just about anything except acid rock – anything melodic, or interesting, clean and wholesome. I believe that music is a portal to the soul, so I am careful what I pour into myself.

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Hands down, the Bollywood album “Lagaan.” I love the drums, the instrumentation and the variety within all of the songs or melodies. I also really like the French album “Notre Dame de Paris” and Putumayo’s “Women of Africa.”

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On the western side of things, I am quite partial to Sting, and I am starting to quite like Beyonce’s music as well. “Halo” is one of my all-time favourite songs. On the local scene, Black Stalin (a calypsonian with a signature style of classy, muted entertainment) is my favourite calypsonian. On the eastern side of things, I have fallen in love with Phoenix Legend, a husband-wife duo from mainland China. I have also taken a great liking to the mellow soothing voice of Chinese singer, Dao Lang.

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I did not draw or paint much after my third year of high school, but when I went to Japan in 2006, I re-discovered painting and drawing.  I bought myself a set of water-colour paints and some mini postcard sheets and ended up surprising myself. I just paint whatever comes naturally to me, but I tend to stick with simple strokes and figures since I’ve never taken formal art classes as an adult. My mum says that I was always painting and drawing when I was a child.

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I don’t have any favourite artists really. I just did art for three years in high school and have never really been exposed to a lot of visual art.

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I love abstracts and semi-abstracts, and I love art with beautiful, warm colours.

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All the photos on this site were taken with the Nikon D-40. I love the vividness of the colour and the clarity you get with only 6.1 mps. I also like that the camera is so light, so light in fact that I have often had to check to make sure it was still on my shoulder.

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Nope, not at all … I don’t consider myself a professional, but I do have a professional eye, so I can produce professional-looking photos with a click of the button on the automatic setting. I would love to upgrade, though. One of these good days …

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I don’t have a long list of favourite poets, but … I think Langston Hughes’ poems are beautifully written. I am a big fan of his work. I am also really into Sting. His songs are some of the most beautiful and creative poems I’ve heard. I am always amazed that he can find so many original ways to deal with the theme of romance. As for Caribbean poets, I am quite partial to the Guyanese poet, John Agard. I’ve read a few of his poems and I really enjoyed them. I have also really enjoyed the wit and cheek of many of Rudyard Kipling’s poems, and I love the creative simplicity of French poet Jacques Prevert.

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Some poems that I think are really clear out of the park are:

• The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Langston Hughes)
• The Weary Blues (Langston Hughes)
• The ‘Madam’ Poems (Langston Hughes)
• I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (William Wordsworth)
• Mr. Oxford Don (John Agard)
• Lean Awhile Upon Some Bending Planks (John Keats)
• Is My Team Plowing (A.E. Housman)
• My Rival (Rudyard Kipling)
• The Betrothed (Rudyard Kipling)
• The Law of the Jungle (Rudyard Kipling)
• Tomlinson (Rudyard Kipling)
• On Reading Gaol (Oscar Wilde)
• The Raven (Edgar Allen Poe) – but a bit too creepy for me
• Pour Peindre un Oiseau / To Paint a Bird (Jacques Prevert) – French
• Dejeuner du Matin / Lunch in the Morning (Jacques Prevert) – French
• Der Erl Konig / The Elf King (Wolfgang) – German
• Some Japanese haiku which I’ve read in English
• The exquisite poetry of many Chinese folk songs

Feel free to send me others you think would be worthy of this list!

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I’ve been to a few Caribbean islands like Barbados, Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico. I’ve also been to places like The States, Canada, and England. Finally, I’ve also traveled a bit in the Far East – Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.

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That’s a long story, but suffice it to say I do believe it comes from a God-given admiration and love for the region. I find East Asian history intriguing, the cultures incredibly fascinating, and … it doesn’t hurt that I made some wonderful friends during my time in The East.

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Too many to choose from fairly, but I’d have to say that travelling around Korea with KICS (a cultural group where Koreans and non-Koreans could meet and mingle) was a whole lot of fun – learning about Korean culture and singing on the tour bus. I had an absolute blast!

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