How good writing can lift growth

kmmpub@gmail.com

If we embrace reading and writing, we can restore productivity and supply the raw material for a cultural powerhouse.

When we think of Caribbean literature, what typically comes to mind is a dusty West Indian Reader or a remembered smart at one of Naipaul’s put-downs. Outside of havens like Marina Salandy-Brown’s Bocas Lit Fest, books occupy a place in our lives somewhere between a useful door-stopper or a soporific for downtrodden school children.

The effects seep into business. We engage in prolix circumlocutions that do little but obfuscate readers: we just don’t write simply. This hurts productivity. The common phrase: “I would be there soon” is not just grammatically questionable, it allows the writer to evade commitment.

Poor literacy stunts earnings. Stephen Reder at Portland State University has found a “strong relationships between literary proficiency and earnings among high school dropouts.” The better your language and writing skills, the more you are likely to earn, regardless of your qualifications.

Our publishing industry, such as it is, largely exists to churn out worthy textbooks. The number of decent bookshops could hardly dwindle further. There is almost no market for literary fiction locally. Aspiring writers struggle to find agents and publishers. Creative industries and international recognition suffer: without good writing we have no lyrics, scripts or advertising.

We must attack this on two fronts. To create a literate society, we convince audiences to read and write by persuading them that doing so is both fun and profitable. We must in parallel enable our best writers to reach audiences and make a living. They will be the vanguard that can draw society to read.

Business can take the lead. Good writing brings clarity to problem-solving. Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos insists that staff write narratives which all meeting attendees read at the start of meetings. This, he says, makes meetings far more efficient.

Encouraging reading outside of work is tougher, but there is still demand for strong storytelling.

Technology is bridging the gap to help writing compete with sound and video. Anna Todd drip-feeds chapters of teenage fodder on internet user-generated content platform Wattpad. She changes characters or style depending on her fans reactions; garnering more than 1.5 billion reads and fat advertising contracts.

Our writers can start by using social media to hook readers with bite-sized content.

Writers themselves must lead the charge. But first, more people must see writing as a viable career.

In order for that to happen, our writers must be connected to the international publishing ecosystem. Salandy-Brown has been doing just that almost single-handedly through the Bocas Lit Fest. The festival has drawn attention to Caribbean writing, creating prizes and vehicles to connect Caribbean authors to international bigwigs. It also supports local writers through direct partnership with publishers of Caribbean writing such as Peepal Tree Press.

Bocas is largely dependent on patrons like the NGC or Dr Kongshiek Achong-Low, but the government can and should play a bigger role to support reading, particularly once it realises the direct economic benefit of doing so. Government support will be especially popular if it supports parents to read with their children. My mother even used to give me plastic books to read in the bath in my younger, chubbier (dare I say cuter?) childhood days.

More cash will flow in once we develop a pipeline that links books to film, as director Michael Mooledhar did with his adaptation of the school staple Green Days by the River. The name recognition of the book, combined with the film launch, boosted both in the local market.

The time has never been better to put pen to paper. We can bombard international festivals like Hay-on-Wye or the Jaipur Literary Festival with Caribbean authors.

Any aspiring writer can self-publish an e-book and market it with a snappy social media game. Or you can crowd-fund. The book Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls, by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, has sold more than a million copies since its first print run was funded on Kickstarter.

Bocas has become a springboard for the region. Marlon James went from winning the Bocas prize to winning the Booker Prize – Britain’s most prestigious. Kevin Jared Hosein won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize with elevated local fantasy. Ingrid Persaud is lined up for one of the biggest international book deals of the year with storied British publisher Faber & Faber for her upcoming debut Love after Love. Our stories resonate in lucrative markets like India or South Africa.

As we nurse our Carnival hangovers, good writing is the tonic we need.

Kiran Mathur Mohammed is a social entrepreneur, economist and businessman. He is a former banker, and a graduate of the University of Edinburgh.