Ask the Author: Gwyneth Harold Davidson
Answered Questions (8)
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
Thank you for reaching out to me.
I have cut and pasted reviews of the book below.
Best wishes.
Regards,
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
Review by Summer Edwards
Overall, Bad Girls in School was an okay read. It will certainly appeal to young Caribbean people who have a need to see Caribbean youth represented in literature in contemporary ways. It's key contribution I would say, is the way it challenges adultist perceptions of why young people behave the way they behave. Indeed, the figure of the Jamaican "bad gyal" is somehow demythologized, made understandable, human and therefore, sympathetic. I wouldn't call it a page-turner, but I'm glad that Harold swum against the current in writing a book about young Caribbean (Jamaican) people!
The Gleaner
Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Gwyneth Harold's first-published novel, Bad Girls in School, follows three girls at the Redeemer College for Young Ladies through a school year of redemption from the brink of expulsion.
And it took nearly a calendar year between her submitting Bad Girls in School to MacMillan in Washington, United States of America, to getting a response from eventual publishers Harcourt in Oxford, England. Even with that wait it was not a matter of total acceptance as, like the bad girls Caledonia Nuttall, Ta Jeeka Brentford and Katreena Melmac who needed to stretch themselves to make it through the year, Harold was required to extend the original submission.
"It started as a short story. I included it in a portfolio of work I was sending blindly to publishers," Harold said. The expansion into a novel, on the request of Harcourt, took a year, Harold saying, "I was not writing full time". The end product, complete with a cover illustration by Jamel Akib, came out in January this year.
In between the short story and the novel, Harold was involved in mentoring, which helped in the writing process. And, with the book's focus, she says "I also had to learn to think about that teenage audience. Now that it is complete and I have got good feedback from educators, I believe that I am prepared to write for that audience."
Avoiding overt sexuality
Part of the focus was avoiding overt sexuality ('oh definitely'), so Harold stops a visit to Caledonia by an older man at the point where 'I get up and let him in'.
"Even the title, my first working title that was not changed, we had discussions with the editors if it was appropriate," she said.
Those familiar with Cross Roads, Kingston, will recognise the names of the three 'bad girls' as streets in the area, with their teacher Elaine Mico's surname having spread way beyond the area and Jamaica. And those familiar with a certain 'cross, angry, miserable' deejay may or may not recognise the name Rodney Price.
Bounty Killer, if you please, the name on the deejay's birth certificate being used for the chairman of the school board. With a 'Canon' before it.
"At the time I was writing, there must have been something about Bounty on the radio," Harold said. "He epitomises someone who has the strength of their convictions, whether you agree with them or not. I wanted that for my churchman. I wanted him to be a strong person. I thought if I should change it, but by the time I had finished the book, he had become Rodney Price. It is just a strong man's name."
The names speak to a beep love of Jamaica. "I really have a strong interest in my country. Most of the street names, the older ones, are for people who have made a contribution to the country," Harold said.
A range of Jamaican society
It is not an idealistic love, though, and by placing the three bad girls in different areas of Kingston, Harold covers a range of Jamaican society. "Kingston is not a big city in the realm of cities and, as a country, we have so much that divides us," Harold said. She points out, though, that in the end it is the girl with the best support system who has the most hope. "I wanted to show that many times it is not the class situation that is a problem.The environment of love, the relationships at home, play a very important role," she said.
Athletics plays a significant role in Jamaica and Caledonia, as a frustrated runner, reflects this.
With her commitment to Jamaica, it is appropriate that Harold is aiming to write a book set in each parish. Among those which have got her literary treatment so far are Clarendon with Secrets of the Rio Minho and St. Catherine with Island of the Lost Boys, these books among the as yet unpublished work.
Harold points out that she has come through the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission system, Bad Girls In School getting an award as a short story then as a book in its expanded form. It also got an honourable mention from the National Book Development Council.
I have cut and pasted reviews of the book below.
Best wishes.
Regards,
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
Review by Summer Edwards
Overall, Bad Girls in School was an okay read. It will certainly appeal to young Caribbean people who have a need to see Caribbean youth represented in literature in contemporary ways. It's key contribution I would say, is the way it challenges adultist perceptions of why young people behave the way they behave. Indeed, the figure of the Jamaican "bad gyal" is somehow demythologized, made understandable, human and therefore, sympathetic. I wouldn't call it a page-turner, but I'm glad that Harold swum against the current in writing a book about young Caribbean (Jamaican) people!
The Gleaner
Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Gwyneth Harold's first-published novel, Bad Girls in School, follows three girls at the Redeemer College for Young Ladies through a school year of redemption from the brink of expulsion.
And it took nearly a calendar year between her submitting Bad Girls in School to MacMillan in Washington, United States of America, to getting a response from eventual publishers Harcourt in Oxford, England. Even with that wait it was not a matter of total acceptance as, like the bad girls Caledonia Nuttall, Ta Jeeka Brentford and Katreena Melmac who needed to stretch themselves to make it through the year, Harold was required to extend the original submission.
"It started as a short story. I included it in a portfolio of work I was sending blindly to publishers," Harold said. The expansion into a novel, on the request of Harcourt, took a year, Harold saying, "I was not writing full time". The end product, complete with a cover illustration by Jamel Akib, came out in January this year.
In between the short story and the novel, Harold was involved in mentoring, which helped in the writing process. And, with the book's focus, she says "I also had to learn to think about that teenage audience. Now that it is complete and I have got good feedback from educators, I believe that I am prepared to write for that audience."
Avoiding overt sexuality
Part of the focus was avoiding overt sexuality ('oh definitely'), so Harold stops a visit to Caledonia by an older man at the point where 'I get up and let him in'.
"Even the title, my first working title that was not changed, we had discussions with the editors if it was appropriate," she said.
Those familiar with Cross Roads, Kingston, will recognise the names of the three 'bad girls' as streets in the area, with their teacher Elaine Mico's surname having spread way beyond the area and Jamaica. And those familiar with a certain 'cross, angry, miserable' deejay may or may not recognise the name Rodney Price.
Bounty Killer, if you please, the name on the deejay's birth certificate being used for the chairman of the school board. With a 'Canon' before it.
"At the time I was writing, there must have been something about Bounty on the radio," Harold said. "He epitomises someone who has the strength of their convictions, whether you agree with them or not. I wanted that for my churchman. I wanted him to be a strong person. I thought if I should change it, but by the time I had finished the book, he had become Rodney Price. It is just a strong man's name."
The names speak to a beep love of Jamaica. "I really have a strong interest in my country. Most of the street names, the older ones, are for people who have made a contribution to the country," Harold said.
A range of Jamaican society
It is not an idealistic love, though, and by placing the three bad girls in different areas of Kingston, Harold covers a range of Jamaican society. "Kingston is not a big city in the realm of cities and, as a country, we have so much that divides us," Harold said. She points out, though, that in the end it is the girl with the best support system who has the most hope. "I wanted to show that many times it is not the class situation that is a problem.The environment of love, the relationships at home, play a very important role," she said.
Athletics plays a significant role in Jamaica and Caledonia, as a frustrated runner, reflects this.
With her commitment to Jamaica, it is appropriate that Harold is aiming to write a book set in each parish. Among those which have got her literary treatment so far are Clarendon with Secrets of the Rio Minho and St. Catherine with Island of the Lost Boys, these books among the as yet unpublished work.
Harold points out that she has come through the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission system, Bad Girls In School getting an award as a short story then as a book in its expanded form. It also got an honourable mention from the National Book Development Council.
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
Dear Kyle,
Thank you for the interest.
Please use this link it has 40% of the book as there are restrictions about uploading all of it.
I am asking if you could be kind enough to let me know if you are able to download it ok.
If you wish to read through to the end, please let me know, and I will send you an Amazon kindle version with the complete book.
https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/down...
Regards,
Gwyneth
Thank you for the interest.
Please use this link it has 40% of the book as there are restrictions about uploading all of it.
I am asking if you could be kind enough to let me know if you are able to download it ok.
If you wish to read through to the end, please let me know, and I will send you an Amazon kindle version with the complete book.
https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/down...
Regards,
Gwyneth
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
I am putting the finishing touches on my young adult novel, Young Heroes of the Caribbean which will be published in August, but I will have a preview here on Goodreads in July.
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
I have never had to deal with this and I am so thankful.
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
Discovering new adventures.
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
I got my best advice from the book Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande who said be disciplined in writing regularly and keep yourself open to bringing out your own ideas and your voice.
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
Just daily living presents so many inspirations, so every now and then an idea forms itself, and then I start writing.
Gwyneth Harold Davidson
I found my material for that book exactly where I find it for all of my creative work - from my life experiences. I am really lucky to have many wonderful people across a wide range of ages in my life, and I listen when they want to share. So my characters are not formed from any person that I know, but they are created in my mind from memories and emotions, and my writing brings them out, newly born.
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