In a world where adversity often stifles dreams, some rise above their circumstances to create stories that inspire and captivate. Such is the case of George Prince Andrew Dover, a 64-year-old author whose journey from the gritty streets of Mocha Arcadia to the realm of literature is nothing short of remarkable. Dover is also known as Jah G. Dover and George Andrew Watkins, aka GA Watkins.
Growing up in Mocha Arcadia
Born and raised in the village of Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara, Region 4. Dover lived there for about 24 years, with his parents and siblings. He grew up in an environment that could have easily led him down a path of despair and hopelessness. However, Marcus possessed an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a burning desire to transcend his circumstances.
Despite facing numerous obstacles, Dover refused to let his circumstances define him. He immersed himself in books, finding solace and inspiration in the pages of novels that transported him to worlds far beyond the confines of his neighborhood.
His educational journey began at the Mocha-Arcadia Kindergarten School with “Teacher Joanie,” the most beloved kindergarten educator the village people have ever known.
After kindergarten, he attended Mocha Arcadia Government Primary School for about two or three years. However, Dover got into some “trouble” there, and along with his parents wanting him to get a better education, they sent him to Wilson Private School in McDoom, East Bank Demerara.
“I didn’t last long there either. Drawn by the pseudo-metropolitan culture of Agricola, which had a notorious reputation at the time, the curious young writer in the making could not resist the temptation to explore. So I started ducking class to wander about, observing and absorbing the zeitgeist of that new world,” he said.
When his mom became aware of his truancy, she flogged him and transferred him to Providence Government Primary School, where she could keep an eye on him, because she ran the canteen at the Texaco oil refinery right next door. There were days when it felt like the wanderlust was pulling him to get out there; reluctantly, he buckled down and started exploring the world vicariously through reading. Because of the constant switching of schools, Dover missed his chance to sit the Common Entrance (now called NGSA); however, he excelled academically and artistically.
Miss. Myrtle Alonzo- the teacher that made the impact
Further, Dover added: “Another reason why I calmed down was that my inspiring teacher, Miss Myrtle Alonzo, had cast a spell. She was in her late teens, and even as a mere eleven-year-old uzunluk, I could not miss how beautiful she was. I fell madly in love with that teacher. I wanted to be in her presence, listen to her angelic voice, admire her smile, her hair, her gestures, and above all, I wanted her attention, which she gave so selflessly and forever. So I surrendered myself to doing all that it took to make her proud of me.
Miss Alonzo helped guide me to self-recognition and to develop my innate artistic talent. When the government issued a call to primary schools for original artwork to go with the slogan “Feed, Clothe, and House the Nation by 1976,” Miss Alonzo encouraged me to give it a shot. The confidence with which she told me I could do it wiped all doubt out of my mind. So I gave it my best shot, and I won first place. The popular but now defunct Graphic newspaper published a write-up with a picture of me receiving my award from then Prime Minister, Dr. Ptolemy Reid.”
With his newfound confidence, he continued drawing and writing more. For Dover, anything and everything became the subject of his creative endeavor, and he would either write or draw, finding the indulgence very fascinating. By the time he got to Form Three, he felt way ahead of primary school.
Being a voracious reader now and filtering everything through my pencil and pen particularly, Dover craved greater intellectual stimulation. He could no longer find it at the elementary level.
“So, although I had not finished that level, I told my parents I wanted to go to high school. They were pretty liberal in their parenting style, so they granted me my heart’s desire. In September of 1974, I started attending Guyana Oriental College (GOC) on Thomas Street in Georgetown, right opposite PHG. Incidentally, I am the only one of my mother’s six children who was born in that hospital,” he added.
Attending GOC was another crucial turning point in the development of Dover’s literary skills. Within the first month of his attendance, his literature teacher, Mr. Ramsamy, recognized his passion for the written word and started motivating and mentoring him. His Spanish teacher, Mr. Shah, picked up on his passion for that language and started mentoring him in that area as well. Dover then shifted all his energy to the language arts and challenged himself even further.
With mentorship fueling his drive, he started writing more prolifically—poems, stories, and short pieces through which he would paint with words the images of girls who inspired him one way or another. In 1977, while attending GOC, the opportunity for a government scholarship to Cuba arose, and he took the offer.
Spreading his wings
Dover was awarded a government scholarship to Cuba, where he studied first at Pepito Mendoza Language School for Foreign Scholars. He became the second student in the history of that institution to have completed its eleven-month Spanish curriculum in only six months. Dr. Dalgleish Joseph was the first.
After graduating from Pepito in 1978, he attended the Aracelio Iglesias Díaz Naval Polytechnic Institute, where he studied naval construction. For his thesis, he teamed up with his best friend, Leonard Mayers, also from Mocha Arcadia, and a Cuban classmate of ours, Jorge Arencibia. The trio became the first in the history of naval engineering in Cuba to have ever designed a compulsion turbine.
Returning to Guyana after being immersed in Spanish for five years, Dover had to relearn English. As such, he enrolled at Trans-World Tutorial College in London as a correspondence student and, over a period of two years, obtained certificates in Higher English, Business Communications, and Professional Writing & Journalism.
“Shortly after those accomplishments, I started freelancing for the New Nation newspaper under then editor-in-chief Adam Harris. Even though I was also lecturing in the Maritime Corps of the Guyana Defense Force and working as a liaison officer in the international relations department of the PNC government at the same time, I quickly found myself lacking substantial intellectual stimulation. The aspiring author in me had outgrown Guyana and had started to feel stifled. So, after just three years of trying to adapt to the uninspiring environment, I immigrated to the USA in 1985,” Dover stated.
The Big Apple (New York)
After moving to the United States, Dover first worked in the corporate world for a while; however, he quickly realised that area was not aligned with his career goals. Even with the potential for great financial success, the artist in him felt even more stifled.
Dover reflected and said to himself, “I didn’t come to New York for this.”
Then he found the strength, walked away from all the potential, prospects, and promises, and headed right back to academia. Dover enrolled at York College of the City University of New York in September of 1990. There, he triple majored in English, African American studies, and Spanish. With his passion for language arts, he joined the official student newspaper of the college, Pandora’s Box, and became a feature editor; the official Spanish-English newspaper of the college, El Cacique, and became its editor-in-chief; and the student government, serving in the capacities of student senator and president of the Student Programming Council. He graduated from York College, CUNY, with a double bachelor’s degree in English and African American Studies and two minors in journalism and Spanish.
While at York, CUNY, Dover won a scholastic journalism award and, as a result, worked as an editorial assistant for and contributor to InformationWeek magazine, one of the top IT publications in the world. He also landed an internship on CBS’ “Biography” program, where he worked as a researcher. After graduating from CUNY, he was awarded a full scholarship to Southampton College, Stony Brook, where he obtained a master’s degree in creative writing.
Differently abled, unique, eccentric and driven
Dover described himself as a unique individual. He was born with congenital amputations: a missing left foot and an underdeveloped left thumb and index finger. From nine months old until the age of twelve, he went around hopping on one foot. For him, hopping was as olağan as walking was to everyone else. So he never saw himself as disabled or handicapped, but rather, differently abled, unique, and eccentric.
“Whether I liked it or not, I was always the center of attention, always explaining what happened, why I was the way I was, who I was, and where I came from. Sometimes I heard the laughter, the mockery, and the name-calling. Sometimes I heard pure curiosity, awe, and wonder, and felt genuine affection.”
He learned to balance it all and to carve his own identity from the wisdom he gained along the way. “To me, the glass is always half full. I was born with all my mental faculties intact. The rest was totally up to me. So I chose to balance out my being by pushing myself—not to just do whatever the task may be, but to excel at it. I’m as practical as I am philosophical. What else can you expect? I am a professor of the arts and humanities. In one of my poems, “I Am Myself,” I say, “Into human nature and its manifest, I daily delve for the cause of an action, the effect of a reaction.” Nature, human and otherwise, forever fascinates me,” Dover said.
Dover grew up assisting in running his family business; he co-owns various businesses, including a security and protection company, a branch of which we just incorporated in Guyana and will soon be up and running.
When asked what fueled his passion to start writing, Dover highlighted, “A burning desire to understand the intricacies of life and our existence. From time immemorial, I’ve had this insatiable curiosity as to why we are here, whence we came, and where we go. Being a descendant of evvel enslaved and displaced peoples, I have forever asked a million and one questions and sought every opportunity possible to find answers. I am a scribe at heart.
“I feel compelled to record what is revealed to me. Human behavior, including my own, compels me to delve beneath the surface of life and explore the spiritual, philosophical, scientific, and even mystical foundations of being human, with so many complex layers of personality traits and social characteristics. The written word is a mystical element, a vehicle that transports my soul to myriad dimensions both while I read as well as while I write.” For Dover through the written word, he connects with my divine source of being.
Around the age of three, he experienced an epiphany. His eldest sister-in-love, Harriet, bought him a three-volume collection of Bible stories for his birthday. The first thing Dover noticed about those three books was the picture on their covers. It was the same picture, of two children, dressed in socks and shoes, lying on their stomachs under a tree, reading one of the same books he had in his hand. The images that created an impact on his innocent mind were so powerful that they instantly awakened in him a desire to learn to read and get lost in books, just like those kids in the picture. When he became older, he learned that the image was a painting, however, the illustrator had captured those two children’s curiosity perfectly well.
Published work
Dover currently has six published titles, which are available at various outlets, including Amazon and other online retailers, and they have sold well.
“I have received very good feedback from readers who have bought the books. Some posts are reviews on Amazon. Some message me directly to compliment me on my storytelling talent, inquire in-depth about a certain character(s), an event in a story, or something that has piqued their curiosity,” he mentioned.
In the future, Dover plans to continue writing for as long as he breathes. He is currently writing a historical fiction novel while editing a four-volume Spanish textbook, both of which he plans to finish before the end of this year. He is the founder and co-owner of Olai Press, which published the early works (including Lamplight Teller: A Collection of Poems) by Guyana Prize for Literature award-winning author Berkley Wendell Semple. He would also like to publish the works of local writers. He also plans to organise and conduct writing seminars and workshops in Guyana.
George’s number one challenge has been balancing family and his artistic endeavors, as well as teaching and writing. He said, “Having to read and grade the works of over eighty students every semester leaves very little room for researching and writing. Nevertheless, I push the envelope and get it done. Writing even one page three times per week amounts to 156 pages at the end of the year. As cliche as it is, where there’s a will, there is a way.”
When asked for advice, Dover stressed, “Believe in yourself and do not be discouraged by the opinions of others. Use your mind critically. Use your time wisely (we only live once), and follow your dreams without fear. As Rita Marley sings, “Jah, call on the youth, because they’re strong. Don’t give yourself in vain now.” In this Age of Information Technology, it is easy to lose oneself in the ubiquity and abundance of images, be they still or videographic, and not develop a habit of actually reading. This skill is more important and necessary now than at any other time in human history. Master the skill of reading, or you will be left behind. Period!”
Further, he added, “I probably would not have been the caliber of author I am today had it not been for the influence great authors have had on me. Reading and writing are intrinsically fused together. We read the works of the greats not to merely imitate them. We read to see what they have done and, therefore, what we can do, given our own unique experiences, perspectives, scopes of imagination, and interpretations of the world, and our realities. I am an avid reader, and I have read works from many, many literary epochs. However, if I were to say which literary movement has made the greatest impact on my own writing style, I would say the Latin American Boom. I am proud to call myself a disciple of this great literary influence.”