N. D. Williams

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

N.D. (Wyck) Williams was born in Guyana in 1942. He went to Jamaica as a student to study at University of the West Indies at Mona in 1968. As a student he witnessed the riots following student demonstrations against the banning of the late Dr. Walter Rodney. This is now referred to as the Rodney riots 1968. He writes of being powerfully influenced by the radical, nativist currents in Jamaican culture - reggae and yard theatre - of this period. He had stories published in Jamaica Journal and Savacou and in the anthologies, One People's Grief (1983) and Best West Indian Stories.

In 1976 his first novel Ikael Torass won the prestigious Casa de las Americas prize. It draws on his experiences in Jamaica and particularly the Rodney episode. He also explores the role of the university and education as an agent of social division, as well as the revolt on campus and in the wider society against the repressive forces in Jamaican society. Ikael has been described as a "sophisticated investigation of Rastafari " by researcher Michael Mitchell[1].

Williams lived for a time in Antigua before moving to the U.S. where he lives in New York. His works, from the short stories of The Crying of Rainbirds (1992), the novel, The Silence of Islands (1994), the two novellas My Planet of Ras and What Happening There, Prash in Prash and Ras (1997), to the short stories in Julie Mango (2003), all published by Peepal Tree Press, explore both an island and a diasporic experience.

In 2002 Williams published his searching look at the teeming underclass of New York in his disturbing novel "ah, Mikhail, O Fidel".

Two other collection of short stories followed-- " Colonial Cream"in January 2003 and "The Friendship of Shoes" ( Nov 2005)