Town On Fire

The Collection, Town on Fire: Sixteen fictional stories, is mainly based around the 1990 coup event in Trinidad and Tobago and explores the complexity of life for various individuals. It is drawn from my experiences of growing up on The Jamaat Al Muslimeen Compound in Trinidad and being the daughter of someone who was involved in the 1990 coup attempt. Based on this perspective the stories brings an open and unique voice on the compound, the coup, grow ing up with these men and boys, the life that we most times never spoke about- at least not publicly. The life that most of us will take to our graves, why, you might ask. Shame, fear, denial, or a combination of all. The main thread in the first thirteen stories is The Compound, The Khalif and Abi and an exploration of life before the coup and after. The themes in the stories highlight culture, family ties, man's need for power, greed, abuse, rape, flawed leadership in the name of God, religious fanaticism, the psychological bond between leaders and their followers, the issue of internal migration in Keturah's family's moving to The Compound, external migration with the exodus of nationals to Syria all these elements are linked to The Compound.