Q&A: Chevy Devonish

In addition to being a journalist, university lecturer and newly admitted member of the bar, Chevy Devonish is an avid volunteer with various organisations, including the Volunteer Youth Corp. He currently serves as Chairman of the Guyana National Youth Council’s Constitutional Reform Committee.

TWR: Despite all you’ve got going on, you’re consciously making the time for poetry. To what end?

CD: The end is enjoyment. I enjoy telling stories through poems. I like doing so in a way that is creative, yet simple. I also appreciate the enjoyment readers or listeners derive from my poems, whenever I do share. Because writing means so much to me, I find time to continue doing it despite my schedule.

TWR: How did you start writing poetry?

CD: In 2012, a friend was planning a church concert, and asked me to write a spoken-word piece. So, I listened to a few on YouTube, after which I tried my hand at it. It was well received, and I enjoyed the process and the result. So, I continued, getting better bit by bit. I think I have improved some, but I have a long way to go.

TWR: Where do you think you are presently as a poet, if you consider yourself that?

CD: I suppose that by claiming to write poetry, I claim to be a poet. However, in the past I have dealt with criticism that my writings are not, strictly speaking, poetry. As such, I often shy away from claiming to be a poet. I just say I am a storyteller, and it is enough for me that people seem to like, and in some cases, can relate to my stories. As a writer, I think I have much more developing to do in terms of improving my style, and the topics that I address in my pieces. I also think that I can do much more to improve my creative writing. For example, the use of more imagery and or analogies to provoke or encourage deeper thinking. There are a few writers in Guyana who evoke that response from me. Yerrodin Bowin, for example, or SURU, if he still goes by that name. I want to get to that place.

TWR: The pieces you’ve submitted are very brief, almost epigrammatic, when compared with your spoken-word poetry. Can you explain what is responsible for this evolution in your work?

CD: My schedule over the last five years has been incredibly inundated with work and school. Since writing a spoken-word piece for me is a very involved process that can take several months, I just was not finding the time. However, in 2017 I met someone from Barbados who runs an Instagram account on which he shares short poems. I started doing the same as a way to keep the creative writing juices flowing. I really do believe that aptitude diminishes the longer you’re out of practice. Additionally, I find that shorter poems provoke more. They [readers] tend to want to know the other parts of the story, and in some cases, it is incredibly annoying to them that they well may never know.

TWR: By what means do you evaluate your work? Obviously one of the advantages of spoken-word poetry is that immediate reaction from the audience, which written poetry doesn’t necessarily always elicit. Granted, this is based on the assumption that you’re not performing these shorter pieces.

CD: Indeed, I do not perform these smaller pieces. I evaluate these pieces based on how accurate a reflection they are of the reality I am trying to paint, whether it is mine, or someone else’s. Also, these are part of a series of poems that I decided would share some ugly truths about humanity. Specifically relationships, or the aftermath of them. So when I am looking back at them, I check to see if I unconsciously or inadvertently withheld anything, or couched the truth is language makes the piece less difficult to read. Generally, once these criteria are met, I am satisfied with the poem. That said, when or if a reader is able to feel what is said, regardless of whether they can relate, I am that much more satisfied.

TWR: Where can readers find your work?

CD: I typically do not share my work, largely because I’d not like to answer questions about whether they relate to my life or something else. I have shared some of these pieces under a pen name on Instagram: @wordsmith. If things work out, no one will go looking for that page, and questions will not follow.

TWR: Why don’t you share your work? It’s almost as if you’re writing for you, as opposed to readers (not that there is anything wrong with that).

CD: I hardly share, largely because I do not like to answer questions about my motivations. I am, and would be much more comfortable sharing more of my work if readers did not know that I was the author. It is different when I am writing something I know is to be recited. With those, I am wide open about listeners knowing that I wrote it. I would still prefer not to be grilled on my motivations though. Importantly, I only feel this way concerning poems which have emotional or related connotations. I reckon that I would be more willing to engage inquisitive minds on the motivations behind a piece about politics or some sociological phenomenon.

TWR: Who are some of your current influences and who are the poets you would recommend readers check out?

CD: My influences are various life-altering experiences in my life, or in other people’s lives. I may learn about a person’s experience and write about that because of how it affects my thinking. Most of the poets I would recommend are the legends. Martin Carter, for example, remains one of the best storytellers of his time. More people in my generation should check him out. Moving away from the established writers, my Barbadian friend shares his poetry at @poeticcups. Readers should check him out.