Think Piece on "Tanti at D' Oval"

The following analysis is based on the short story “Tanti at the Oval” by Paul Keens-Douglas.

Paul Keens-Douglas is a Trinidad and Tobago, self-published author who is well known for writing and performing his work since 1974. Born in 1942, Keens-Douglas currently resides in Grenada after spending his childhood on the “Spice Isle” having attended Presentation Boys College. “He holds an Honours Degree in Sociology, diplomas in Radio and Television Production and Broadcasting, and has done post graduate work at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. His awards include the Humming Bird Silver for Culture, and the Zora Neale Hurston Award” (Borde-Johnson, http://berdina.tripod.com/keensdouglasP.htm).

Paul Keens-Douglas is best known for scripting many short stories and poems based on Caribbean events and culture highlighting the Caribbean’s diversity. His work has been described as “a celebration of our rich cultural amalgam and Caribbean landscapes ….With a bubbling well of humour, humanity and heart, reaching into the innermost crevices of ourselves and our cultures, bringing us back to joy, feeling, to the real sweetness of our societies" (http://berdina.tripod.com/keensdouglasP.htm). Through his writing, Keens-Douglas has been able to appeal to a wide audience transcending social classes and age groups.

One of his more popular pieces of work is titled “Tanti at d’ Oval” was published in 1992, and is a story giving “a colorful example of life in the Caribbean [. . .] with heartening humor, intense expression, colorful language and colorful illustrations” (http://repeatingislands.com/2013/02/01/paul-keens-douglas-tanti-at-de-oval/). This story was based on a man’s experience in having his aunt, Tanti Merle, accompany him to a cricket match at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. Being her first visit to the Oval, this story describes all the awkward scenes and encounters that the man experienced before, during and after the important cricket match...