CHILDREN'S author Valerie Bloom has much to thank her grandmother for: not only did she help raise the young Valerie in her hometown of Clarendon, Jamaica, but she also proved "a huge influence" on her writing.
"I have some fantastic memories of my maternal grandma," Valerie tells me. "She was always there, morning and night, and was always cooking for the whole family.
"My favourite times were always when she told stories by the moonlight."
So it perhaps comes as no surprise that Valerie's writings have many times explored the relationship between youngsters and their grandmas, and her latest short story, which she will perform at Norden Farm Centre For The Arts in a fortnight, is no exception.
Come Me Pickney!, which was specially commissioned by the Maidenhead arts venue, revolves around a ten-year-old boy named Joe and his Gran, who has come over from Jamaica to visit. He is expecting a sweet, old lady, but instead meets a feisty, rapping and singing modern Mary Poppins, who has plenty of stories, songs and poems to share.
As with Valerie's other stories and poetry collections, which include Touch Mi! Tell Mi!, Let Me Touch the Sky, Duppy Jamboree, and Whoop An' Shout! the show includes a blend of both English and Jamaican Patois. Indeed, Pickney in the show's title, means "children" in Patois.
advertisement
"I think it’s wonderful that out of adversity came something so beautiful and full of imagery and poetry."
Valerie Bloom on Jamaican Patois
"That's my language and very much a part of my culture," explains Valerie, who now lives with her family in Kent. "Patois was a language borne out of slavery, because the African workers were disallowed from speaking their own languages and so they formed a new one. Many people thought they were simply speaking broken English, but it was a unique language in its own right.
"I think it's wonderful that out of adversity came something so beautiful and full of imagery and poetry."
The 52-year-old author, who received an MBE in the 2008 New Year's Honours list, has also published a number of novels for children, including Surprising Joy and The Tribe, and is now planning her third.
Come Me Pickney! arrives at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts on Thursday, May 29, 3pm. Tickets: 01628 788997, www.nordenfarm.org; and The BurtonTaylor Studio Theatre, Oxford Playhouse, on Wednesday, June 25, 4.30pm. Tickets: 01865 305305 or www.oxfordplayhouse.com
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
