Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
When the COVID-19 pandemic confined people to their homes, author Arlene Kasmally-Dwarika found herself returning, in her mind, to the East Trinidad village where she grew up.
Those memories of Sangre Chiquito have since become the foundation of her debut work of fiction, Santa Rita: Echoes from the Village and Beyond, a novel inspired by the people, traditions and landscapes of rural Trinidad.
Although Santa Rita is fictional, Kasmally-Dwarika told Guardian Media that the village was deliberately created to represent communities across Trinidad and Tobago.
“Santa Rita is a pseudonym,” she said. “I wanted my village to represent any village in Trinidad or Tobago so that everyone can identify with it.”
She said that, growing up in Sangre Chiquito, east of Sangre Grande, she remembered a community where daily life revolved around neighbours, family gatherings and cultural celebrations.
“There were village dances, screaming children playing on the streets, school and church bazaars, estates and river limes, Easter sports, tassa at weddings, Divali, Phagwah, Old Mas and parang at Christmas,” she recalled.
Those childhood experiences resurfaced during the pandemic, eventually becoming the basis for the novel.
“This book was written in the COVID period and has just come to fruition six years later,” she said. “Life happens, and the process of writing for publication cannot be rushed.”
Kasmally-Dwarika said completing the manuscript while balancing family life and work responsibilities required patience.
“There were times when you thought you would get nowhere. The important thing is to just begin and do a little each day.”
She credits her husband, Richard Dwarika, as well as their children, Liam and Joshua Dwarika, with supporting her throughout the writing process.
“My husband and children have been the stabilising force in my life.”
Her interest in literature began long before she considered becoming a writer.
Raised in an extended cocoa-farming family with her parents, Rosabelle and Isaiah Kasmally, and grandparents, Monica and Fredrick, the author said books were treasured possessions.
“There was always a large collection of used books stored in a box under the cocoa house. I would topple it over in the summer holidays to get into the loot.”
She also attributes her love of storytelling to evenings spent listening to her grandmother and father recount stories about village life.
“My grandmother and father would tell stories on the front porch after dinner. I listened intently and allowed my imagination to do the rest.”
At school, her teachers recognised her ability to write.
“I recall my English teacher taking one of my short stories to the principal to read. It is then I knew that I had a skill.”
Years later, after writing educational material, she decided to pursue fiction.
The fictional village of Santa Rita draws heavily on the environment she knew as a child.
She describes hibiscus fences, cocoa estates, sapodilla and immortelle trees, rivers and nearby beaches, while incorporating folklore, village characters and everyday life.
“The village represents my circle of life,” she said. “The people, the social experiences, the cultural traditions and the community spirit.”
Kasmally-Dwarika said the book also reflects changes that have taken place in rural communities over the years.
“The concept of the village that raised the child is slowly dwindling,” she said.
“We have lost the nosey neighbour who kept an eye on all the village occurrences.”
She believes changing family structures and lifestyles have altered community relationships.
“Neighbours no longer look out for each other as they used to.”
Through Santa Rita, she hopes younger readers will gain an appreciation for earlier generations and the experiences that shaped them.
“It is coming to know how our parents and grandparents lived in the villages, their struggles, their resilience and the community spirit.”
Kasmally-Dwarika also expressed concern about changing reading habits among younger people.
“They’re not reading traditional long-form material for pleasure. They are visually stimulated.”
However, she believes Caribbean literature continues to resonate with students.
“The response to Caribbean literature is very positive because students can still relate to past experiences of the characters and the situations being portrayed.”
She believes schools can encourage reading by creating dedicated reading spaces, organising book clubs and inviting authors into classrooms.
Parents, she added, also have an important role.
“My father read to us from the newspaper every day. Children are likely to read if they see adults read.”
Asked about the growing use of artificial intelligence in education and writing, Kasmally-Dwarika said it should be used responsibly.
“AI is here to stay,” she said.
“It is good for helping to organise narrative structures and polish writing, but readers value stories that are embedded in lived and shared experiences.”
Holding the finished book for the first time, she said, remains one of the most rewarding moments of her career.
“When you unbox it, touch it and smell the pages... it is like a mother giving birth to a child.”
Although Santa Rita is her first published novel, Kasmally-Dwarika said she hopes it will not be her last.
She encourages aspiring writers to begin recording their own experiences.
“We all have a voice. We all have something to say,” she said.
“Just write. Someone will look, feel, listen or read.”
As for what she hopes readers take away from Santa Rita: Echoes from the Village and Beyond, her answer is simple.
“The magic of nostalgia. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine. Let yourself be transported into another time—to a time that lives deep within you.”
