Frederick Noronha
2018-06-22 13:48:42 UTC
WATCH:
From my college days, I've been stalking Peter Nazareth. That was ever
since I managed to (dishonestly, may I add) lay my hands on a copy of his
anthology on Goan writing [1]. When the Internet came about, in the
mid-1990s to Goa, I managed to get in touch via email (then a godsend). We
must have since shared hundreds of emails, but I've never actually met the
man, nor have I spoken to him even on phone.
Imagine my surprise last night when I quite serendipitously came across
this 40-minute-long, year-old interview titled 'One of a Kind: Peter
Nazareth' on the Library Channel [2]. It was like meeting a person you've
known for years!
Peter, to my (restricted-largely-to-English) mind, was the person who, in
the 1980s, first created for us a feeling that Goan writing -- as a
category -- did indeed exist. (There are some who, even now, deny and
question whether this is actually an existing category, but that's another
debate....)
Over the years, this has led to me collecting books on Goa, reviewing the
same, and, more recently, publishing some.
I've often said that there are only two Goans whom I know of, whose short
stories have actually been read-out on the BBC World Service, in the height
of its popularity (the 1970s). One of whom is Peter Nazareth.
We managed to republish some of his work here, but perhaps the wider
community of global Goans (as is typical of us) has failed to understand
his actual contribution to the world of literature -- Goan, African, Third
World, American and also in building links among all these categories.
In this interview, Peter talks about his early days in Uganda (Entebbe),
studying in the UK, Idi Amin's impact on his life, his encounter with many
world writers at Iowa, his maternal links with Malaya/Singapore, his
grandparents' role (like some other Goans had) with music and even music
stores in far-flung parts of the planet, his wife Mary and
daughters/grandchildren, and the strange connections that go into making
our lives, plus more.
This is just a small note to say how much I've enjoyed the creative work
(and the anthology) of Peter over the years. If you'd like to get in touch
with him too, try peter-***@uiowa.edu or ***@msn.com
[1] Goan Literature: A Modern Reader, issue of the Journal of South Asian
Literature, East Lansing: Michigan State University, 1983.
[2] http://youtu.be/ZqI9TmOsFgs
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_/ FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا +91-9822122436
_/ RADIO GOANA: https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha
_/
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From my college days, I've been stalking Peter Nazareth. That was ever
since I managed to (dishonestly, may I add) lay my hands on a copy of his
anthology on Goan writing [1]. When the Internet came about, in the
mid-1990s to Goa, I managed to get in touch via email (then a godsend). We
must have since shared hundreds of emails, but I've never actually met the
man, nor have I spoken to him even on phone.
Imagine my surprise last night when I quite serendipitously came across
this 40-minute-long, year-old interview titled 'One of a Kind: Peter
Nazareth' on the Library Channel [2]. It was like meeting a person you've
known for years!
Peter, to my (restricted-largely-to-English) mind, was the person who, in
the 1980s, first created for us a feeling that Goan writing -- as a
category -- did indeed exist. (There are some who, even now, deny and
question whether this is actually an existing category, but that's another
debate....)
Over the years, this has led to me collecting books on Goa, reviewing the
same, and, more recently, publishing some.
I've often said that there are only two Goans whom I know of, whose short
stories have actually been read-out on the BBC World Service, in the height
of its popularity (the 1970s). One of whom is Peter Nazareth.
We managed to republish some of his work here, but perhaps the wider
community of global Goans (as is typical of us) has failed to understand
his actual contribution to the world of literature -- Goan, African, Third
World, American and also in building links among all these categories.
In this interview, Peter talks about his early days in Uganda (Entebbe),
studying in the UK, Idi Amin's impact on his life, his encounter with many
world writers at Iowa, his maternal links with Malaya/Singapore, his
grandparents' role (like some other Goans had) with music and even music
stores in far-flung parts of the planet, his wife Mary and
daughters/grandchildren, and the strange connections that go into making
our lives, plus more.
This is just a small note to say how much I've enjoyed the creative work
(and the anthology) of Peter over the years. If you'd like to get in touch
with him too, try peter-***@uiowa.edu or ***@msn.com
[1] Goan Literature: A Modern Reader, issue of the Journal of South Asian
Literature, East Lansing: Michigan State University, 1983.
[2] http://youtu.be/ZqI9TmOsFgs
--
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/
_/ FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا +91-9822122436
_/ RADIO GOANA: https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha
_/
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