It’s coming up to 41 years since Shirvan Pragg left us. The car accident that took his life in November 1982 will never be forgotten by so many of us. I was on the other side of the universe, in southern France, when news of Shirvan’s fatal accident reached me. …

I woke up one morning a few weeks ago to news that dulled the effulgence of the light that usually comes over a city like Madrid in early June. A message from my brother that Patrick White had died.  “At school when we were all students it seemed normal,” my …

There is much common ground between the mechanisms inherent to the narrative of film and calypso. Departing from the same basic treasure (‘the story, the story and the story’), the two media call for different types of interplay between creators and audience. The merit of the really good calypsonian is …

It is not only Dr Bird who goes head-to-head with the director of The Birds. Sir Alfred was a master of reminding audiences of what may lie beneath surface reality and of bringing them chillingly close to it. Grandmaster Aldwyn ‘Lord Kitchener’ Roberts’ does so in ‘Love in de Cemetery’ …

There is within me an old-stager constantly reminding me of how fundamentally cinematic calypso (the good traditional stuff) is. All the tools directors, storyboard artists, camera operators and screenwriters have at their disposal are unfurled by calypsonians in 32 lines plus chorus (see? the unapologetic old-stager), adhering to the block-development …

De lizard run up she foot, An’ it disappear. Everybody still searchin’ everywhere. Wey de lizard, Teacher Mildred? …. …. …. ….  De way she jolly an’ happy Ah sure de lizard must be ticklin’ she. There are many directors, screenwriters, DOPs, storyboard artists and cutting room assistants who would …

The following is the fifth and final part of Owen Thompson’s recall of that unforgettable summer in 1976 which ushered in the West Indies cricket team’s glory years: That 1976 year of awakening went way beyond the boundary. Key to victory within the boundary was the pace formula. Clive Lloyd …

The following is the fourth part of Owen Thompson’s recall of that unforgettable summer in 1976 which ushered in the West Indies cricket team’s glory years: From the very first snippets we heard of the Rastaman Vibration album, the Queen’s Royal College Sixth Form, Upper and Lower, launched into fervent …

The following is the third part of Owen Thompson’s recall of that unforgettable summer in 1976 which ushered in the West Indies cricket team’s glory years: There was one final seminal moment to that summer. The Fifth Test, from 12 August to the 17th, was a metaphor in two halves. …

The following is the second part of Owen Thompson’s recall of that unforgettable summer in 1976 that ushered in the West Indies cricket team’s glory years: While the events of that 1975-76 tour of Australia unfolded (between October 1975 and February 1976), a certain Robert Nesta Marley was getting ready …

In 1976, Tobago-born Owen Thompson was but a boy of 14 when Greg Chappell’s Australia put a 5-1 merciless whipping on Clive Lloyd’s West Indian cavaliers. That turned out to be the last time for a long, long time. In those days, Thompson, who now works in film and television …

The following is the fourth and final instalment in Owen Thompson’s four-part series on the classic album, More Sparrow More!, by iconic calypsonian Slinger “Sparrow” Francisco: There are other equally telling avenues that allow us to arrive at meaning and afford us powerful glimpses into the unique quality of the …