A Shift In the Light

Patricia Glinton-Meicholas began this semi-autobiographical novel in response to the long struggle and eventual death from cancer of a beloved cousin, who was her best friend in childhood. A focal point is a sojourn of some years with loving grandparents on a rural island of The Bahamas, the description of which reveals hilarious youthful escapades and a unique parade of characters. While this period was idyllic in one sense, the young girls were not shielded from the harder realities of family life or from the wider movements of history—local and international—and the sometimes painful impacts on their existence. One such focal point is the decolonialization of The Bahamas. These lines feed the central theme of the work—mutability and the courage to respond conscientiously and adapt to change, notions that are reflected in the title of the book.

Patricia Glinton-Meicholas began this semi-autobiographical novel in response to the long struggle and eventual death from cancer of a beloved cousin, who was her best friend in childhood. A focal point is a sojourn of some years with loving grandparents on a rural island of The Bahamas, the description of which reveals hilarious youthful escapades and a unique parade of characters. While this period was idyllic in one sense, the young girls were not shielded from the harder realities of family life or from the wider movements of history—local and international—and the sometimes painful impacts on their existence. One such focal point is the decolonialization of The Bahamas. These lines feed the central theme of the work—mutability and the courage to respond conscientiously and adapt to change, notions that are reflected in the title of the book.

Patricia Glinton-Meicholas is a cultural critic, public speaker, poet and author of more than twenty books, among which are her novel A Shift in the Light (Guanima Press Ltd), several books of short stories including: An Evening in Guanima and Lusca and Other Fantastic Tales (Guanima Press Ltd), and collections of poetry, including Chasing Light (Proverse Hong Kong). She has contributed to various anthologies and encyclopaedia, including the Grove Dictionary of Art, the Oxford University Press Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography, and Routledge's Companion to International Children's Literature. Her poetry can be found in a number of anthologies, including New Daughters of Africa (Myriad Editions). Her monograph on Bahamian folktales appears in the Encuentros series of the Inter-American Development Bank. She has also written numerous essays, academic papers and presentations on the art, history, heritage and culture of The Bahamas in which areas she is a respected researcher. For a period, she wrote editorials for an online news company. She has written, directed and produced documentaries and other formats for television. She was honoured with the Bahamas Cacique Award for Writing, a Silver Jubilee of Independence Medal for Literature and an award from the University of The Bahamas for contributions to literature and culture.