But what was, perhaps, even more impressive, the academician said, was the care and attention he lavished on his work, not only in the editing of his stories, but also in the way he structured them so that each had its own kind of narrative integrity.

The ‘he’ at reference was none other than young Ruel Johnson, who at 22, now holds the distinction of being the youngest recipient of the prestigious ‘Guyana Prize for Literature’, and the occasion was the presentation of the judges’ report during the ‘Awards Ceremony’ last Sunday at the National Cultural Centre.

Still on the subject of how admirably Johnson acquitted himself during the course of the competition, deCaires said: &#x201CThe other thing that was very, very pleasing as a reader, was that he treated you like an equally well-read and keen reader,” as evidenced by his many references to Classical characters such as Ariadne, the mythical Greek Goddess after whom his submission for the ‘First Book of Fiction’ category of the Prize was named.

Titled ‘Ariadne & Other Stories’, the entry also drew reference to popular culture, films and a whole range of social realities, as well as to acclaimed Caribbean writers the likes of Derek Walcott and our own late Martin Carter with what deCaires termed “a sort of “loving indebtedness”.

As for his collection of poems titled ‘The Enormous Night’, which saw him being short-listed also, along with Stan Greaves who eventually took the prize, for best &#x2018First Book of Poetry’, deCaires said the judges all felt that this too “was very carefully crafted,” and that here was someone who really takes pleasure in his choice of words.

Asked Friday, when the Sunday Chronicle caught up with him, about this preoccupation with the Classics, Johnson, whom many in the tight-knit, socialite literary community regard as an upstart because of his outspokenness, said it’s a throwback to his days spent at President’s College, which prestigious secondary institution he attended up to Sixth Form after writing the ‘Common Entrance’ examinations.

Noting that the President’s College’s library was a haven for such reading material, Johnson said that while many may look upon such books as childish and read them just for pleasure, to him they are archetypical of the kind of direction he would like his stories to take.

Though he is the first to concede that these ‘hero-rescues-the- maiden’ type stories have lived through time, he is of the opinion that classical myths are universal, in the sense that they may find relevance even in today’s societies as culturally different as Asia is from Africa.

The title, ‘Ariadne & Other Stories’, for instance, grew out of his experiences close to three years ago while attending an inaugural creative writing workshop hosted by the fledgling Cropper Foundation based in the deep south of Trinidad.

Noting that the piece, ‘Ariadne’, after which the entire collection took its title, is what is called a title story, Johnson said it was the most complex of the book’s eight or so stories and took by far the most crafting. As yet unfinished, he said: “But, I had fun with it as well, too.”

As to how he feels now that he has the Prize under his belt, particularly after all the scathing comments he made from time to time about the way it was being administered, and whether he thought it might have been given him just to keep him quiet, Johnson said with his usual candour: “I don’t think it’s because of, or despite, my criticisms. I criticised the administration of the prize; I haven’t criticised the judges who judged this year, so they had no reason to feel any angst towards me.”

And how he felt when he learnt he’d actually won? He said: “I didn’t go in thinking I wouldn’t lose. It was all incidental; the stories were there; I like writing; and there was the Prize.”

Not yet done with the topic, he said: “I submitted the stories for the Prize, as opposed to writing specifically for the Prize. You can’t write for a prize; you look at what you have, and if it’s in line with what is being asked, then you submit it.”

Asked whether this meant that there is a wealth more stories in the offing, he gave a veiled reply. “You have ideas floating around in your head; every once in a while you pick one and put it down on paper.”

More to the point, he said that the story he is currently working on has been in his head since he was 16 or so. But at the time, he said, “I didn’t think that I was a matured enough writer to start putting it down on paper.”

A novel of sorts that could well turn out to be a shortened form, or novella as it is called, he said the piece is “based on the same kind of complex inter-weaving of classical myth, modern events and localised situation,” of which he spoke earlier.

As to what he plans doing with the monetary aspect of the Prize, Johnson said that while he’s already salted away the bulk of it in the Bank, he has still managed to keep something back to tide him over in times when the pickings might be slim.

Though he did give financing his own publication some thought, he decided against it in the end. “Too risky,” he said. As things stand, he’s already been approached by a local firm about publishing his anthology of poems, ‘The Enormous Night’.

As an aside, he said the collection of some 28 pieces of poetry actually takes its title from a line of a poem penned by his favourite bard, the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, whom he said was just as devastated as he after the break-up of one of his relationships.

“…it kind of exemplified how I felt at the time,” he admitted, managing in the process to look sheepish for the benefit of his current girlfriend.

Incidentally, he said, following the break-up is when he really began writing serious poetry.

On the merits of publishing locally, he said: “I’d rather publish here because the reason I’ve always been critical of the Prize and overseas writers is that … in addition to their having no relevance here, there is also the danger of, even if there is some sort of relevance, the books never reaches these shores to show that relevance.”

And the direction he sees his career path taking? “I intend to write,” he said in a manner that left no room for a change of heart. &#x201CI can’t see myself doing anything other than writing; it’s impossible; I’ll probably fail at any other job I try, anyhow; so what I’ll try to do is to make a career of writing here [in Guyana], which most people would say is ‘professional suicide’, and see how well I can manage financially.”

Meantime, he makes his living writing the odd story for whoever may contract his services, in between being the ‘Chico Man’ in an advertisement commissioned by the Beharry Group of Companies. He’s also had a very lucrative offer from a very reputable regional in-flight magazine.