Arts & Entertainment, Fiction, Journalism, Non-Fiction, Non-Profit/NGO
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Bio
I am the author of nine books, including the award-winning The Tree of Youth and Other Stories, the memoir Sand for Snow: A Canadian-Caribbean Chronicle, and the novel And Sometimes They Fly. My most recent story collection is Fairfield: The Last Sad Stories of G. Brandon Sisnett. I’ve also written graphic novels for NBM Publishing.
I am the editor with the poet and essayist Linda M. Deane of the groundbreaking Shouts from the Outfield: The ArtsEtc Cricket Anthology and Green Readings: Barbados, The First Five Years (2008-2012). A recipient of Barbados’ Governor General’s Award for my fiction, shortlisted for the Frank Collymore Literary Award, and winner of the Harold Hoyte Award for my editing, I have worked as a journalist, publisher, video producer with Warm Water Productions, creative writing teacher at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, and research methods teacher at Barbados Community College.
Services Offered
Mentoring, developmental editing, content editing, copy-editing, proofreading, manuscript evaluation & critiquing
A goal in mentoring or editing should be to clarify a writer’s intentions and ambitions: readying a manuscript for a contest is not necessarily the same as filling out a grant application or submitting to agents/editors/publishers.
The challenge in the process is to know when to be patient, when to be less so; how to be diplomatic in commentary even when the commentary is harsh; but always to tell it like it is and like it ain’t. Have you served the story? is one of the questions I often ask clients, whether they’re aspiring, emerging or have, presumably, already made it.
Special Interests
Literary, short stories, novels, creative non-fiction, graphic novels, memoir
Testimonials
Despite me asking him on short notice (it was less than a month away from the closing date) and even though he was set to travel to Canada, Robert willingly gave me his time and effort. His careful reading of the manuscript and feedback on how to give it shape strengthened the work significantly.
My manuscript Hollow Calabash won the Frank Collymore Literary Award. The judges said it had ‘compelling and vivid characters,’ ‘novel storytelling angles,’ and was ‘easy to read.’ One judge said ‘unputdownable.’ Robert contributed greatly to this and I cannot recommend him highly enough to writers—whether you are emerging, mid-career or established. In a word, Robert is ‘masterful’ at what he does.” (Sharma Taylor, Lawyer)
