Damé Lorraines and Baby Dolls paraded. Blue Devils covered in their sticky black oil and paint stalked and terrorized onlookers. Heritage was on, and it was in this atmosphere in 2008 during the Writers Workshop that the idea for a writers group was born. A band of celebrated, and soon to be authors and writers set sail on a journey that would see the Tobago literary culture take flight.

The group met religiously for the next two years, shaping and formalizing what they were about and what impact they wanted to have on and in Tobago. Present during these formative sessions where many noted Tobagonian authors and writers including Laureen Burris-Phillip winner of the 1996 Commonwealth Short Story Competition for the region, Deborah Moore-Miggins author of The Proverbs That Raised Us and Laugh Not Live Not; Umilta Roberts-Henry, writer of eulogies and skits, Milca Robinson-Reid author of Important Moments, Episodic Tobago, and Dr Winston Murray. In 2010 the group decided to take the plunge and become a fully registered NGO (non-governmental organization) of Trinidad and Tobago.

Their mission was clear, the founders wanted to support each other, nurture other burgeoning writers, see courage and confidence grow in the hearts and minds of those who took pen to paper in secret seeking to creatively express themselves and also to document the oral history of their beloved Tobago before more of it was lost to time.

This writer could not confirm what that final decisive moment was, it may have been when Ms DeGannes as the records show, at a meeting in 2009, asked for a final decision to be made from the many suggested names for the NGO. They had titivayed long enough about whether the NGO would be called, Union of Tobago Writers (UTW), The Writers Collective of Tobago (TWCT) or the Tobago Writers Guild (TWG). It may have been after the then Treasurer, Mr Chadband was asked to turn over twenty-five dollars of their monthly collections to the then President Mrs Phillip for the name search. What this author can confirm is that on the Wednesday morning of February 12, 2010 the President, presented herself to the Registrar General’s office, then located downstairs the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) building on Jermingham Street, Scarborough with a collection receipt to lay claim, on behalf of the group, to an NGO named Tobago Writers Guild (TWG). Now they could begin to titivate in earnest, a launch would soon be coming.

Everyone knows that you can’t marry without fancy dandans, ask the bride and groom from every Heritage Festival Wedding. So too, there could be no proper launch without a logo and it was to that endeavour that Ms Samuel set her skills. When she finally presented her efforts it was with a unanimous nod of approval to the quill but the name in cursive and an ink bottle (if possible) were to be added. It was very possible.

As the saying goes, many hands make light work and the well-known Tobagonian tradition of lend-hand was put to work. The group leaned on their extensive network of colleagues, friends and family across the island and from high ranking officials to the man in the street, resources were corralled for their upcoming launch. It is because of this, the TWG is often times thought of as a community effort, where all are welcome. It is on the basis of that same guiding principle that monthly meetings in 2022 continue to be held, where all are welcome to come, share in the love, present, revel and bask in their collective creativity; this is the very foundation of the Guild.

List of invited guests... check. Reception... check. Sound system… check check. And it was with hugs, handshakes and a prayer that the members departed, looking forward to when they would meet again at their launch.

It was the weekend after the long Easter break, on a humid, but somewhat cool Saturday afternoon on the 17th of April 2010 that the lights of the Itsy Bitsy Theatre were turned on. Refreshments were delivered, programmes were handed out at the door while the MC tapped on the mic… testing, testing. The appropriately adorned and smiling attendees entered the hall. Eyes deciding on their preferred positions and vantage points to the celebration of an era that was about to begin, a journey of epic proportions, an adventure with roots right here in Tobago.

Over the years, the Guild has birthed notable annual events such as the Literary Affair, born out of the TWG launch, Reading Fest spilling over from participants’ enthusiasm, various Writing Competitions, and an Author Award Ceremony (in collaboration with the Empowerment Foundation of Tobago) and a published anthology titled Tobago In Print which was heavily influenced by NourbeSe Phillip, author of Harriet’s Daughter and Zong

Brands such as the TWG Lecture Series (monthly discussions), First Mic (children’s open mic), The Next Chapter Tobago (the only open mic in Tobago) have emerged as added avenues for creatives and the Guild has seen the establishment of their latest project the TWG Publishing House. Many of the foundation members have aged out and are enjoying retirement in parts unknown, some are no longer with us but the original voyagers will never be forgotten. Their names and their works are etched into the fabric of the Guild that exists today.

We have thrived during or maybe perhaps even because of the global pandemic. We have had to pivot into a virtual reality where we now embrace members from all over the world, even from as far afield as Israel and we continue to grow as the journey continues.