Wole Adedoyin interviews Guyanese writer Gabrielle Mohamed

WA: Please tell us about your journey into writing and what inspired you to become a writer in your country.
Gabrielle Mohamed: History has a way of haunting its descendants. Given Guyana’s violent struggle for freedom from its colonial predecessors, I recognize these old haunts actively trying to repossess my countrymen. I look to the future and see the present existing in an unhomed identity, where there is no space for national and cultural utterances to thrive in harmony. My art is intended to purge these demons and, perhaps for the first time, breathe the air of a free nation.

WA: How would you describe the literary culture in your country today?
Gabrielle Mohamed: Evolving. The Guyanese literary landscape is a dialect of untold imagination that pulls you into a living experience. Our art facilitates a breakdown of your own troubles and restores your soul to wholeness.

WA: What influence does your country’s history or social climate have on your creative work?
Gabrielle Mohamed: There is a point where each citizen of Guyana swings between past haunts and new freedom, except this new freedom carries terms and conditions. From my own personal experience, the whips of race and patriarchal norms run deeper than roots; they burrow their sin into the flesh of our identity. This historical thread is a fire that shatters our supposed freedom and opens my creative eyes to the dead living and the living dead.

WA: In what ways can literature and art help expose human rights abuses in society?
Gabrielle Mohamed: Literature breaks the chains of accepted normalcy. It opens the dialogue to address real issues that society shies away from. It empowers the individual to scream their truth to an ignorant world until that world begins to move again as a nation of humanity. Literature has the power to awaken the world from its vigil and move us to take action. As sisters and brothers of humanity, it is our obligation to protect each other, regardless of our boundaries.

WA: Do writers in your country feel encouraged or discouraged when addressing issues of justice and human rights?
Gabrielle Mohamed: It is my personal belief that my fellow writers have reached a point of protest art. Collectively, our voices and pens carry the rage of the marginalized. In this era of literature, my fellow writers burn hard truths onto the page.

WA: What themes dominate contemporary writing in your country at the moment?
Gabrielle Mohamed: At the moment, themes of patriarchy, racism, feminism, environmentalism, and gender norms are inscribed in the minds of performing artists, slam poets, and literary writers. We have something to say, and there is an audience outside there ready to hear us. And thus, we shall go to war.

WA: How accessible are publishing opportunities for writers where you live?
Gabrielle Mohamed: Most writers currently traverse the self-publishing route. This allows a sense of freedom over publishing decisions. However, I do believe that further masterclasses are needed on the marketing and promotion of sales.

WA: What role do independent publishers or literary magazines play in supporting writers in your country?
Gabrielle Mohamed: You open doors to writers who did not even know a door existed. For some of us, we are the first in our country to be put on the map. Resources are circulated among writers through workshops and open events, helping to strengthen technical writing and craft. These independent publishers and magazines might be unaware, but you are throwing us a lifeline to be seen and heard at a point where we are so lost and timid. As writers, we pass through this passage of wondering: is it good, will I get better, and who is even listening? Then there is the bigger question: is this financially sound? Through independent publishers and magazines, we begin to build resilience and solidify our conviction as writers.

WA: Are there government policies or cultural institutions that support the arts and literary development in your country?
Gabrielle Mohamed: Yes, there has been much effort to provide seasoned and emerging creatives with resources and grants that allow their work to breathe. Through these efforts, we are able to launch our work into the country and rouse our citizens from a zombie state into something beyond monotony.

WA: What obstacles do writers face when trying to publish books or share their work with wider audiences?
Gabrielle Mohamed: From my experience, I believe that more education is required in content and grammatical editing. Sometimes you may have a wicked idea, but the translation gets lost, and your original idea becomes a foreigner to your own eyes. Because the writing community is small, we often share each other’s work to offer the necessary criticism to strengthen the narrative. I have also noticed that sometimes our work is so niche that we are left with a difficult decision to make: do I write what I know they will read, or do I write what they need to hear? A professional editor should be able to stitch these two themes into a breathing reality that is whole, and not subject to a botched Frankenstein operation.

WA: How can storytelling help amplify the voices of marginalized or underrepresented communities?
Gabrielle Mohamed: As a writer, you reach a point where enough injustice makes your soul burn with rage. Your veins dance with passion, and your creative eye extracts the root cause of decay for these marginalized voices and communities, and rewrites the script. In doing so, these victims find peace; their stories enable them to move with activated power. They are not unheard. They do not slip between the cracks. They are filled with purpose. There is no turning away from their stories. I find that the power of discomfort enriches the narrative of these voices and pulls you in deeper until the very end. At the end of the tale, the responsibility is left to you, the reader, to take action and reconcile this injustice.

WA: Do you think art and literature can influence policy or public attitudes toward human rights issues?
Gabrielle Mohamed: Without a shadow of doubt, it can move mountains. When literature immerses its readers into a story rooted in human rights crises, people become uncomfortable, yet deeply hooked at the same time. Your heart races, your eyes dilate, and you open into a new space with new faces, where you, the reader, must confront that danger. Your lips are drawn to the bitter sweetness of poverty exploited during war. Writers, you wield so much power to truly affect change for the better.

WA: How do readers in your country generally respond to literary works that deal with social justice or political issues?
Gabrielle Mohamed: From what I have witnessed, readers take a pause. They reread that line. They begin to understand not just what you said, but how you said it, and then the breakthrough happens. When an audience truly takes a moment to think and critically examine each side of the coin, the dialogue begins. While older generations may feel uneasy, younger generations often take it as a challenge and refuse to remain silent. With the dawn of social media, this dialogue can expand into a nationwide discussion and even move beyond our boundaries.

WA: What opportunities exist for writers in your country to collaborate with artists from other disciplines?
Gabrielle Mohamed: Workshops through Commonwealth Writers are held in drama, poetry, and prose, with panelists from varying literary backgrounds. I have a saying that I often echo among writers: when one of us makes it, we all make it. Resources from these workshops are often shared throughout the community, strengthening collaboration across disciplines.

WA: How did you first learn about the International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM)?
Gabrielle Mohamed: I was introduced to IHRAM through Shashi Kadapa, editor of Active Muse. My story’s participation in IHRAM is one of my most precious achievements. It came at a time when I needed a sign to solidify my style. I am grateful for your direction, Mr. Kadapa.

WA: What motivated you to become part of IHRAM’s global network of artists and writers?
Gabrielle Mohamed: The community of IHRAM is a calling that I want to respond to. You provide a space for writers to be their most raw and loud, to lead the protest for fellow humans with their own voice. The space you create makes me feel that a better tomorrow can begin today. There is a sense of writership that is tethered in ink and page, as writers across the globe recognize that silence is not acceptable, and that we are obligated to use our pens wisely for all of humanity.

WA: In what ways has your involvement with IHRAM influenced your creative outlook or writing themes?
Gabrielle Mohamed: For me, as a postcolonial folklore writer, it is a confirmation that people want to see these social ills addressed. The community of IHRAM has given me the confidence to not question whether people will read such stories. Now, more than ever, I know these are the tales that people read and need to bear witness to. People want us, writers, to breach normalcy with a bit of our own writing flair. At my core, I weave postcolonialism, folklore, and eco-criticism to seek justice for my victims; victims who continue to be failed by the law of the land. My themes seek to animate the land not only as witness, but as judge, jury, and executioner. Her patience has long been frayed, waiting on man to act justly. Now, it is her turn.

WA: What role do you think IHRAM plays in connecting writers across different countries?
Gabrielle Mohamed: If writers across the globe are the food that keeps our readers, the host, alive, then IHRAM is the organ that keeps the host thriving. If one organ goes into deficit, then they all move toward shutdown. The community of IHRAM prevents this shutdown. It sustains the system and keeps our readers human. Through the shared collective of us writers, our readers stay human, stay alive, and remember to look out for one another.

WA: Can you share any memorable experiences you have had while participating in IHRAM activities or projects?
Gabrielle Mohamed: While writing my story “I Am Woman, Hear My Roar” for the Narratives on Women’s Issues, Volume 2 under the theme Activated Women Power, I found myself grounded, listening to the land to find my own perspective on women’s activated power. In my writing process, I often say that I must listen to the Red Muddah, my personification of the land. In a world filled with so much violence against women, I decided to listen before writing. I had to see the subjects of my women, expose my own soul to their existence in the grey area of the unseen. I had to taste the decayed salts of exploitation before I could truly write their story, one where they are the victors. A story where a system protects all of her own.

WA: What advice would you give to writers who wish to use literature and art as tools for defending human rights and promoting social change?
Gabrielle Mohamed: Welcome home. You are called to a power higher than your own imagination. The power you wield will create fractures in a system intent on oppressing its people. My dearest writers, we have the power to build courage where despair breathes acceptance. Your voice will grow, and it will rouse humankind from its daze. Sometimes this may feel like a lonely road, but your influence effects change in another part of the world, where fire bursts in the sky and terror roams the streets. At the same time, dear writers, you must be responsible for your content. Use your words wisely. Be graphic without being reckless. Reveal without traumatizing victims.

Gabrielle Mohamed is a 29-year-old Guyanese. In June 2017, she graduated from the University of Guyana with a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in English – Linguistics. As an emerging Creole poet, she believes that the employment of my Guyanese space is essential to facilitate a breakdown and breakthrough process that will allow us to find our true selves devoid of any colonial touch. Thus, her writing style captures the continual influence of colonial and post-colonial attitudes and behaviors within the lives of her countrymen.
As a Catholic individual, she testifies that the escape from these colonial touches is possible. Her Christian faith has enabled Guyanese to establish the solid grounds of nationhood that will not force anyone into a state of being ‘unhomed’, but allow us to accept our fate as hybrid individuals of the Caribbean. As a language student, she has acquired a passion for her native language, the Guyanese Creole English (G.C.E) which she makes a point in integrating into most of her poems in the hopes of spreading its validity and increasing its prestige within the eyes of her countrymen.