The writer, Robert Sandiford over the years, has been a guide, inspiration and in many ways a mentor to me. I studied Creative Writing at the Barbados Community College and he was one of my tutors. I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a child I loved writing, but that was before secondary school (high school) with all of its rules had ‘boxed’ me in and dampened my imagination. For me writing was like drawing my dreams, it was as fun as any of the Ipad entertainment I see parents encouraging their children with nowadays. During secondary school, the mandatory work placed before us robbed me of any enthusiasm I had for writing. It was compulsory, obligatory, boring. So when I attended Robert’s class, it awakened the lost sense of fun and adventure I’d found in writing which had been lying dormant all those years. Since the course, we have always kept in touch, and whereas there are those who have tried to dissuade and discourage, Robert has always been very positive and supportive. We met recently to discuss the progress of my work among other things, and he graciously accepted one of my MANIMAL t-shirts. In this life, there aren’t always people in your corner rooting for you, and I totally appreciate having found one in Robert Sandiford, who has been kind enough to write some words for my Blog.

Heartfelt thanks, Robert.

I’m looking forward to reading more of Manimal.  Renga’s shared some of his novel with me–I was his first Creative Writing teacher way back when–and I’m already intrigued by what the opening pages promise in terms of narrative structure, the exploration of faith and family, and post-apocalyptic salvation, particularly from a Caribbean perspective.  He’s taking his time with the story, in the writing of it, I mean, which I appreciate.  He wants it out there, and he wants people to know about it through exchanges such as this, but he also wants it to be ready.  -Robert Edison Sandiford, author of And Sometimes They Fly and Fairfield: The Last Sad Stories of G. Brandon Sisnett