Is this the Last of Sheila: 1922 – 2019?
She was a font of knowledge especially with regards to Guyanese literary and cultural matters of yesteryear, yes, history matters, history matters more than most of us care to admit, history matters gravely to the future. And most of Guyana paid little heed to that significant fact that she was a font of such information. And now she is gone, another library underutilized, another library that could have been employed to inform the present custodians of our literary and cultural patrimony. Oh, why do we waste our human resources so? Oh, unkind old age!
Sheila King was more than a font of knowledge. She wore many hats including the ones with which she won many a hat shows at Easter. King was also an artist cum designer, past member of the Guyana Women Artists’ Association (GWAA). She was a career Public Servant, poetess, playwright, actress, and prizewinning writer of children stories.
At age 19, a well-spoken and Sheila King entered the Public Service, a move that led to a remarkable career, resulting in a number of firsts. In 1951, she was appointed the first female Probation & Welfare Officer. In 1965, she became the first female Labour Officer.
In 1972, she was made the first Organising Secretary of the newly formed Council on the Affairs and Status of Women in Guyana (CASWIG). In 1975, she was appointed first female Assistant Chief Labour Officer.
Her greatest satisfaction was when in support of Eileen Cox’s letter and on behalf of CASWIG, King was instrumental in getting government to remove a ban on the employment of married women in the Public Service.
The writing career of Sheila King blossomed during the flowering of women writing in Guyana in the 1960s. Numerous women writers surfaced during that period including Evadne D’Oliviera, Cecile Nobrega, Doris Harper-Wills, Rajkumari Singh, Syble Douglas and others. That group of women writers became a force to be reckoned with, pioneering many aspects of Guyanese Literature. King was part of what may be the first Guyanese anthology of stories. That slim book, ‘Stories From Guyana’, was produced to coincide with Expo ’67 in Canada. Incidentally, coming out from Expo’67, was a humorous poem, ‘Delightful Delinquent Millie’, written by King about the macaw that made history on that occasion. In fact the poem became so popular locally that it was produced on stage in one of the Brink Shows of the 1960s.
Another groundbreaking literary effort King was involved in (with other women writers) was the publication of ‘Guyana Drums’, a collection of poems prepared to coincide with the first Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta) held in Guyana, 1972. That book has gone down in our history as the first anthology of Guyanese women writers.
In 1993, King published a small number of copies of her poems in a slim volume entitled ‘Our Homes Spring Poetry’.
Many of her pieces (poetry, fiction or drama) were penned to celebrate or mark special events, local or international. ‘The Cruellest Test’, an adult short story won the first prize in the Human Rights Year Short Story competition held in 1968. In the same year marking the Human Rights event, her poem, ‘Triumph of the Martyrs’, was included in an anthology of poems, VOICES OF GUYANA, a P. E. N. (Guyana) initiative, edited by Donald Trotman.
But she made contribution to Guyanese literature in other genres of writing. Two of her plays, A MATTER OF POLICY and HANDS ACROSS THE RIVER were produced for radio. And ‘FOR BETTIN’ OR WORSE was produced on stage at the Theatre Guild Playhouse, Kingston, Georgetown.
King also acted in plays such as N. E. Cameron’s JAMAICA JOE and George Bernard Shaw’s ANDROCLES AND THE LION. She was a co-director for the Cameron’s production of THE TRUMPET.
She was also associated with another great man of letters – Wilson Harris. At a tender age, King was part of an informal literary circle comprising of Harris and Malcolm King, discussing mainly Shakespeare, Milton, and Camus.
Sheila King was a font of knowledge; her memory was awesome as she regurgitates events – dates, venues, attendances with pinpoint accuracy. Her biographies of persons of substance were peppered with spicy anecdotes. Her voice was strong, her delivery impeccable – tone, diction, pronunciation and enunciation. She did not mince words.
Bits and pieces of her knowledge are now part of my data base on Guyanese Literature, some of which I was able to package and pass on to other interested parties. Thank you, Sheila.
This is not the last of Sheila….
Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
