Dido press set up to publish Guyanese works in UK
Stabroek News
December 28, 2002
Dido Press has made it possible for Guyanese works to be published in the United Kingdom, since very few publishing houses there cater for Guyanese writers, Professor David Dabydeen said in a recent interview with Stabroek News.
Last year Dabydeen and Anand Kumar set up Dido Press, which is wholly funded out-of-pocket. They aim to publish a variety of works from Guyanese writers such as Jan Carew, Cecile E. Nobrega, Evadne D’oliviera, Henry Josiah, Odeen Ishmael, Doris Harper Wills, Sheila King, Rajkumarie Singh, Janet Jagan, Walter Rodney and Krishna Nand Persaud.
Already published are Elly Niland’s “In Retrospect”, a collection of poetry, and “The Lure of the Mermaid and Other Children’s Stories”, an anthology of children’s short stories, edited by Janet Jagan. These books came out in late November this year and are on the local market.
To be reprinted soon is the poetry collection by Professor Dabydeen entitled “Coolie Odyssey”.
Dabydeen said that the writings published by Dido Press are by Guyanese for Guyanese. He said, too, that Guyana used to be a country known for its intellectuals and writers.
“We try to encourage the production of books by Guyanese scholars. If we are able to publish them, we do at our own expense. Hopefully people will buy them,” the professor said.
He mentioned too that the books are being sold in Guyana for far less than the cost of production. He indicated, however, that on the UK market, they will be sold at a higher price.
The books are published in hardcover, which is usually more expensive to produce.
He noted that he has encountered no constraints so far and foresees no problem putting together Guyanese works which editors at Dido Press consider of suitable quality and importance.
