Caribbean Beat — November/December 2018 (#154)

His father, who dutifully printed off copies of the
stories at work, gave him a sage kernel of advice
that Hosein has never forgotten: “Even if you writing
smut, keep writing. Just be careful of who you
showing it to.”
Is it possible to stay right here, on these complex
islands, and write your way into a sustainable
career? Hosein seems to think so. It’s one point
on which he is calmly optimistic. It took him two
Commonwealth wins — one regional, one overall
— plus three books, Littletown Secrets, The Repenters,
The Beast of Kukuyo, for the world to start knowing
his name. And know it they do. Hosein is awash
in media requests, invitations of all sorts, and the
kind of solicitations which might make an emerging
writer’s head spin, and even cause an established
writer’s eyes to glow green with envy. This moment,
he knows, has its own capricious lifespan, and it
could all turn on a dime — but he says it feels good,
if startling, to be here in the epicentre of it.
It would be churlish of anyone to claim that
Hosein hasn’t earned it the hard way, the long way,
taking the path of patience and a Submittable queue
full of red dismissals. Though so much of it is a
crapshoot, Hosein softens when he offers advice
to young writers. He says, “You might think it
have this one path. Degree, MFA, agent. And that’s
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