Culture of Guyana - Literature and Theatre

Literature and Theatre

See also: Guyanese literature in the United Kingdom

Popular Guyanese authors include Wilson Harris, Jan Carew, Denis Williams and E. R. Braithwaite. Braithwaite's memoir To Sir With Love details his experiences as a black high school teacher in the poor East End of London. An early Guyanese born author was Edgar Mittelholzer, who became more well known while living in Trinidad and England. His more well known works include Corentyne Thunder and a three novel set known as the Kaywana Trilogy, the latter focusing on one family through 350 years of Guyana's history.

Although the beginning of theatre in 19th century Georgetown was European, in the early 20th century a new African and Indian Guyanese middle-class theatre emerged. In the 1950s there was an explosion of an ethnically diverse and socially committed theatre. Despite an economic depression, there was a struggle to maintain theatre post-1980. Serious repertory theatre was highlighted by Carifesta and the Theatre Guild of Guyana. Wordsworth McAndrew has been prominent in Guyanese theatre since the 1960s.