One member of the Historycal Roots team attended the book launch for ‘City of Wooden Houses: Georgetown Guyana’. This really is a handsome book, written by Guyanese born, London based architect Compton Davis. The book started out as part of the author’s final year dissertation but has, over a period of 30+ years, become something of a passion.
The photographs in the lavishly illustrated book, all taken by Davis himself, are stunning and they capture the rapidly disappearing wooden architecture of Georgetown, capital of Guyana. Many of the buildings pictured have disappeared since the project started in 1983, swept away by modernisation or simply neglected, falling into disrepair and rotting away in the tropical climate.
The book is available from Amazon, the price is steep at £40 but it would grace any coffee table and the written content is considerably more interesting than many of the books you might browse while sipping a cappuccino.
The event was graced by the company of Guyanese born poet John Agar and his wife and fellow Guyanese poet, Grace Nicholls. Both read poems that resonated particularly well with the mood of the evening. I managed to get a photo of John, if he looks a little startled it may be because I haven’t quite mastered the knack of approaching strangers without appearing like a deranged stalker.
A little off Historycal Roots’ normal track but a thoroughly enjoyable evening.