Churaumanie Bissundyal
Churaumanie Bissundyal is a Caribbean American writer (playwright, novelist and poet) living in New York. He has completed six novels, five books of poems, four screenplays, one soap opera, and ten plays. In 1988, his play From Ganges to Demerary was staged at Samuell Beckett’s Theatre, York University, Toronto, Canada. He had produced six of his plays in Guyana, and he won the prestigious American award, The Vera Rubin Residency Award, at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York. In the same year, he received a fellowship in creative writing at the University of Miami, Florida. In 2005 he was awarded the Kavya Mani award for his Sanskrit poem “Vanamatri.” He holds an MFA degree (a master’s degree in fine arts) from Goddard College and a Ph. D. degree in Philosophy from Union Institute and University, with a specialization in Creative Writing, Modern Western Fiction, Sanskrit Aesthetics and Theory, Sanskrit Grammar and Poetry, Literary Theory and Critical Methods, Philosophy, and Dramaturgy and Theatre Production.
Author of the Following Works:
Novels
1) Whom The Kiskadees Call—published by Peepal Tree Press, England, 1994
2) Labaria Puraan—published by Paddy Sheaves Books, Guyana, 1995
3) Game of Kassaku—published by Geica, New York, 2002
4) Players of Kassaku–-published by Xlibris (a strategic partner of Random House)
5) A River Dreams Red—Xlibris, 2009
6) The Fire of Fear—published by PublishAmerica, 2008
Non-Fiction
Modern Western Fiction and Sanskrit Aesthetics and Theory: A Search for a Postcolonial Concept--published by Xlibris, 2009
Books of Poems
1) Glorianna–--published, 1976
2) Cleavage–-published, 1986
3) The Presence–-published 1996, Roopnandan Singh
4) In Silence with My Master–-unpublished
5) Lotus in the Mud–-published, Paddy Sheaves Books, New York, 2000
6) Viyoge—A Sanskrit Long Poem, 2006.
Plays
1) The Trick and the Raajah--produced at the Theatre Guild, Guyana, 1987.
2) From Ganges to Demerary-- produced at Samuell Beckett’s Theatre, Canada, 1988, and at the National Culture Centre, Guyana, 1990.
3) Migrant Error-- produced at the Theatre Guild, Guyana, 1989.
4) The Jaguar and the Flute--produced at the Theatre Guild, Guyana, 1991.
5) I is a Jumbie--produced at several community theatres in Guyana, 1991.
6) Palos to Guanahani--received a reading in Jamaica.
7) The Ritual--unproduced but published, Paddy Sheaves Books, New York, 2000
8) Between the Real and the Idea--unproduced
9) Blossoms of Love--unproduced.
10) Mad No Hell—produced at various hotels in Guyana and at the Theatre Guild.
11) Shabdakantih--produced in Trinidad between March—May, 2006.
12) Ramlila: Sita’s Story of the Ramayan—York College, Performing Arts Center, 2009
Screenplays
1) Fifth Rite
2) The Cage and the Lotus
3) Strippers are Angels
4) Moorti and the Fool
Soap Opera
Full Moon Dulahin
5) E-book
Caribbean Moon, Indian Bride (serialized on Simple Views, Big Issues)
Awards
1) The Vera Rubin Residency Award at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, 1996
2) A Fellowship in Creative Writing—Miami University, 1996
3) Kavyamani Award, 2005
Education
1) Union Institute: A Ph. D. degree in Interdisciplinary Studies--2007
Course descriptions
a. The Nexus between the Fictional Dream and Phenomenal Realism
b. Some Aspects of the 20th-Century Novel in Terms of Approach and Style
c. Literary Texts and Critical Methods
d. Aesthetics of Post-Vedic Literatures and Sanskrit
e. The Journey towards a Sanskrit Long Poem
f. The Centre of Indian Thought: The Theory of the Atman
g. Reason and Experience: The Distance between the East and West
h. The Hispanic Civilization Versus Amerindian Myths
i. Drama and Agony of Hitler’s Stalug Luft
j. Research, Planning, Methodology and Design
k. Dramaturgy and Theatre Production
l. Jung Vs. Freud
m. Poetry and Poetics
n. Embodiment and Epistemology, Explorations in Knowing, Theory Analysis and Metaphor
o. Research Methods for the Creative Arts
p. Phenomenological, Heuristic, Spiritual, Psychotherapeutic and Embodiment Experience
q. Dissertation Part I: A 500-page novel titled: “The River of Kassaku”
r. Dissertation Part II: A 300-page Academic Thesis titled, “Modern Western Fiction and Sanskrit Aesthetics and Theory: A Search for a Postcolonial Concept.”
2) Goddard College—M F A Creative Writing, July 2003
Course descriptions
a. Diverse Elements of Wilson Harris’ Writings
b. Time and Space in Fiction
c. The Relation between Style, Approach and Philosophy
d. Satire in Omission, Understatement, and Overstatement (A House for Mr. Biswas –A Satire between Pain and Shame)
e. Radical Imagination Versus the Elegance of Craft
f. Writing across Continents and Centuries
g. A Truce between Narrator, Author and Story
h. Teaching Practicuum
i. From Aristotle to Barth; From Valmiki to V.S. Naipaul
j. Novel—The Players of Kassaku.
k. 60 annotations (short essays); three long essays; one long critical paper; two short critical papers.
3) An intense course in screenplay writing, supervised by Hollywood screenplay writers and producers--2006
Reading
He has read his works at the University of Guyana, New York University, University of Miami, Yaddo, Medgar Evers College, Goddard College, Guyana National Cultural Centre, T&T theatres, and various libraries in The USA.
Latest Articles
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The Genius of Nobel Prize Winner V.S. Naipaul
V.S. Naipaul, one of the best writers in English today, challenges traditional schools of writing with respect to fiction and nonfiction.
May 3, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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The Definition of Style: The English Language is in a Bad State
The word "style" is used loosely and widely. But when it comes to define it, we have a wrangle, and sometimes a war - is English in trouble?
Mar 10, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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Payne, Schoen, Obstfeld and Stone & Bell Clarify Burning Issues
Johnny Payne, Steven Schoen, Raymond Obstfeld, and Wilfred Stone & J.G Bell clarify burning issues on Dialogue, Setting, Atmosphere and Tone.
Mar 3, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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The Black and White of Huckleberry Finn
Though Toni Morrison has made a brilliant presentation in her essay "Black Matters,"she has not given Mark Twain the literary merit he deserves.
Feb 18, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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Ayn Rand on The Essence of Plot; Johnny Payne on Voice
Rand's view on plot, though controversial, is essential to the student writer. Payne's view on voice is a guiding beacon for all writers.
Feb 17, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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Four Authoritative Writers' Views on Categories of Plot
Here are four writers' views on the three different kinds of plot - with respect to the six types of endings and four characteristics.
Feb 16, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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Plot and Conflict: Navigating Through the Terrains of the Story
Plot is the writer's choice and design in time - McKee. Conflict is the heartbeat of a story. Without conflict, a story would only be a simple statement.
Feb 16, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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The Essence of Characterization: A Writer's Manual
Schoen, Lucke, Mckee, Bernays, Painter, Burroway, and Fitzgerald can help the student writer navigate his/her way through characterization.
Feb 15, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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Aristotle and Kafka: Form and Content of the Novel
Bakhtin advises that the novel is a growing genre without any rules. Mckee advises that structure is character, character structure.
Feb 15, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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From Romance and Novella to the 20th-century Novel
Sherri Szeman holds that the words "novella" and "roman" have deep relation to what we understand today by the word "novel."
Feb 15, 2011
- Churaumanie Bissundyal
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