THE recent publication of playwright Basil Dawkins’ work Hot Spot as part of the Caribbean Writers Series is generating renewed interest in the more-thana- decade-old script and could result in a remount of the work. According to Dawkins, the reaction is as though it is a new work. “Because it is now in print, there has been such a swell of interest. One would believe it is a new work. I have just handed the script to Oliver Samuels, who I am currently working with in Divorce Papers, so he can take a read… but the signs are encouraging,” Dawkins told the Jamaica Observer.

“Hot Spot was the last play actor Charles Hyatt’s worked before he passed away, so I believe it is a safe handover to Oliver. I am keeping everything crossed that this will materialise, and if it does, it could be on stage in December,” he continued. Hot Spot follows the trials of an elderly couple who owns a cookshop in the heart of town. Their aim is to utilise the proceeds to buy a house. This seems possible when a huge construction site opens next door.

The future looks bright until construction ends and it is revealed that the newly built shopping mall has a gigantic food court. More grey clouds hover as the developers are trying to acquire the lands on which the cookshop is located for a parking lot. But amelioration is on the way from an unlikely quarter. Dawkins is filled with honour and humility as he speaks to being chosen to be part of the series and pays tribute to all those who contributed to his growth and development as a writer.

“Books are an assurance of posterity. It is an important issues being dealt with in this work, and it plays on a national as well as the domestic levels. It is a reflection of how we continue to struggle and face challenges. Hot Spot, the text, enjoyed its first official outing earlier this month as part of the Book Industry Association of Jamaica’s (BIAJ) Kingston Book Fair held on the lawns of Devon House. The Caribbean Writers Series consists of a wide range of classic short stories, novels and plays from across the region.

Historically, the Caribbean Writers Series provides a forum for literary talent. It is sustained by the works of the next generation of Caribbean writers, classic favourites, as well as new works by more established authors. Dawkins joins Jamaican playwright Trevor Rhone whose work like many others in the series have been used for both lower and upper secondary studies. — Richard Johnson