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My name is Hazel D. Campbell. I've been writing for a number of years mainly short stories for both adults and children. My stories all come out of my Jamaican experience. If you don't know where Jamaica is, check your atlas. It's the largest of the English-speaking Caribbean islands nestled 90 miles below Cuba. The home of reggae, dancehall and Bob Marley. Tourism is our main industry but we are much more than beach, sun and fun; and that's what I like to write about- the richness of our history and culture and the energy of our people.
One problem with island folk is that too many of us would like to forget our past - immediate and distant. After all, who wants to remember slavery and its various negative influences on our lives - even today? So, apart from the folk tales, we are reluctant to tell our children stories about this past, and write very little about it. But, how are we going to pass on a sense of identity without doing so? I want to encourage Caribbean writers, in particular, to concentrate on writing for our children, and the web is a great place to start publishing these stories.
I also write and produce programmes for radio and television, and I have written commissioned story-texts for UNESCO on social issues such as AIDS, and Drug Abuse.
Writing fiction is a lot of fun. I only wish the financial rewards were enough to pay my bills. Right now I'm the starving writer in the attic (if we had attics in Jamaican houses). It's very difficult breaking into the mainstream when writing from an island perspective. I'd welcome your ideas.
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MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- Adult Short Story collection "Singerman"published
by Peepal Tree in England - Children's short stories "Tilly Bummie" published by LMH Publishing
Co Ltd. Kingston Jamaica email lmhbookpublishing@cwjamaica.com - Children's Short Stories - "Ramgoat Dashalong" Published by LMH Publishing Co.Kingston Jamaica. Winner of the 1997 Vic Reid Award for Children's Literature in Jamaica.email lmhbookpublishing@cwjamaica.com
- "Miss Bettina's House" a chapter book published by Carlong Publishers(Caribbean)Ltd in Kingston Jamaica. email mktg@carlpub.com
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MY NEWS:
"Juice Box and Scandal" Three entertaining stories on environment issues was published by LMH Publishing Co in Jamaica 2005)
Carlong will be publishing (2008) an adventure novel for the 8-12 age group set in Jamaica
email shandycan@yahoo.com
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MY FAVORITE LINKS:
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MY RESIDENCE INFO:
City: Kingston
State/Country: Jamaica
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BOOKS PUBLISHED:
 HURRICANE CHARLIE from Tilly Bummie Extract
Hurricanes are a feature of Caribbean experience. Every year when the hurricane season is officially declared open in June, islanders hold their breaths and sigh with relief when the season is officially over in October. This little jingle is often trotted out to remind us of the possibilities of the hurricane season.
June - too soon
July - stand by
August - come it must
September - remember
October - all over
Here is an extract from 'Hurricane Charlie' one of the stories in Tilly Bummie. The 'eye' of the hurricane is now passing over the island and during the period of calm people get a chance to try to protect themselves from the fury which will soon start again. ............
"As Father was about to close the door, they heard a shout. Hurrying to the door came Uncle, the man who kept the little shop down the road.
"A glad fi see you light. A didn't know which way a was going!" He was followed by Mac, the boy who helped in the shop.
"Lawd, Beatrice," he exclaimed when he saw her. "A glad you safe! So much water pon the road, me nearly wash way."
Uncle's forehead had a gash in the middle with bloody water oozing from it. A limb from a guinep tree had split the shop in two, and he had been cut by a piece of board.
"Lawd have mercy!" Mama exclaimed when she saw him.
There was now almost total confusion in the drawing room. Cynthia and Lorna were helping Beatrice unwrap the baby from the wet blanket. Mama seemed flustered. Kenneth saw her hesitate and realised that she was having a small argument with her 'station in life'. But only for a moment, then she took Beatrice and the wet children into her bedroom.
Soon she was back with a towel and two dry shirts for Uncle and Mac. She couldn't find anything to put on Uncle's cut except Thermogene Medicated Rub.
Kenneth stared in fascination at Uncle. He knew how Thermogene could burn. How could Uncle stand that on his cut? But Uncle was too distracted at the loss of his shop and his brush with death to care what was put on the cut.
Mama put on the thermogene and a weird thing happened. The flesh around the cut suddenly began to swell. Just like a balloon right before their eyes, poof it went, up and up with the gash in the middle like an eye - a red eye. Kenneth stared and stared and wondered if it would burst."
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 RAMGOAT DASHALONG is the name of a 'bush' used to make tea in Jamaica. In the title story Errol's grandmother, Ganje, makes tea with seven kinds of bushes to help them through their early morning dangerous journey in one of Kingston's inner city areas. Every morning they drink this tea with surprising results. Things go well for a time, but one morning Ganje doesn't have one of the recommended 'bushes' and makes the tea with only six of them. The result is both terrifying and amusing.
The stories in this collection deal with the special divide between what we call reality and the surreal. The dividing line is sometimes obscure and so we talk of magic. Magic means different things to different people. Many traditional Caribbean stories deal with 'bad' magic- obeah and so on, and some have really devilish and frightening characters. I was interested in bringing magic into the world of the modern child who perhaps has a different definiton (or no definition ) of magic. The children in these stories are ordinary, everyday children caught up in expereinces which beg the question - what really happened?
These are contemporary stories. I really enjoyed writing these magical tales.This collection won the National Literary Vic Reid Award for Children's Literature in Jamaica in 1997. Suitable for age group 8 -12
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