talks to Dr. Neil Persadsingh
Amazon.com: Where are you from? How--if at all--has your sense of place colored your writing?
N.P.: Trinidad & Jamaica. The majority of the population in both of these islands are people of color. As a practising dermatologist in these islands, I became aware that no text existed for people of color who suffered from acne and its complications. This book addresses this need and is the only resource text for people with acne.
Amazon.com: When and why did you begin writing? When did you first consider yourself a writer?
N.P.: I began writing in July 1998. I do a column in a local newspaper on skin care and skin diseases and skin diseases in Black people. Black skin is different from White skin and the reaction patterns of White skin differs from that of Black skin. For example, when White skin is damaged it turns red but when Black skin it turns black. Also, White skin ages earlier that Black skin and White women have wrinkles much earlier that black women. This is because White skin has more elastic fibres in the dermis (lower layer of the skin) than Black skin. However, black skin tends to hyperpigment and to turn dark at the slightest injury.
Amazon.com: Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way? What books have most influenced your life?
N.P.: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway has most influenced my writing. This writer was able to use prose to create characters that were more real than life. The books that have influenced my life are Moby Dick, Dante's Inferno and Auden the poet.
Amazon.com: What is the most romantic book you've ever read? The scariest? The funniest?
N.P.: The most romantic book I ever read is For Whom The Bells Toll. The scariest book is Jaws and the funniest book I ever read was the Lunatic by Anthony Winkler.
Amazon.com: What music, if any, most inspires you to write? What do you like to listen to while writing?
N.P.: Joan Baez, Jimmy Buffet, Carly Simon. I like to listen to folk music and soft rocck while writing.
Amazon.com: What are you reading now? What CD is currently in your stereo?
N.P.: I'm currently reading Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway. Jimmy Buffet - Pirate Looks at Forty is currently in my stereo.
Amazon.com: What are you working on?
N.P.: I'm currently working on a book on hair disease in African-American and other people of color. The advantages of African-American hair is described, the grooming practices and the diseases that arise in this minority group are shown and the methods of treating these complication are described.
Amazon.com: Use this space to write about whatever you wish.
N.P.: The Black population represents a significant proportion of the world's population. No text addresses their skin problems. As a dermatologist, I would like to begin the task of writing for my own people about our problems and how we can solve them. The expertise exists to deal with all our problems but this knowledge is not widespread