NANI, AJI, & MY MEMORY: POEMS FROM A GUYANESEAMERICAN GRANDDAUGHTER

Abstract

This thesis is an autoethnography reflecting the generations who came before me from Guyana, as well as my own identity as a Guyanese-American writer in the present day, contributing to the growing creative scholarship available on our Motherland and the descendants of its broader diaspora. Alongside the knowledge that can only derive out of lived experience, I begin with a Critical Preface that draws from imaginative literature of enslavement before exploring indenture literature, queer poetry, and, finally, Guyanese poetry, in my Critical Preface. A Poetic Statement follows thereafter, sharing insight into my mindset during my writing process. The next section contains a variety of my poetry and concludes with my Parting Thoughts. Above all, it serves as a reminder that creative writing is personal writing is academic writing. This work belongs to my communities and those who see themselves in it