Hello and welcome to my portfolio website. I am a freelance writer and editor who has covered news, social and cultural issues for newspapers in Trinidad as a journalist for more than 15 years, in between other stints as a graphic designer in Edmonton and a business publications coordinator in Vancouver. I enjoy researching, interviewing, reading and writing well-crafted, compelling stories, and have a special interest in feature writing that explores who we are as Caribbean island-dwellers. 

 

An early job as an English teacher has made me a conscientious proofreader and copy editor, and I've helped craft, rewrite and spruce up many a story to keep the printer's devil at bay, ensuring the final product is not only well-structured but also free of libel and  grammatical errors.

 

I've worked as a graphic designer and publications coordinator for several Canadian businesses, notably in real estate marketing in Edmonton and in engineering proposal coordination in Vancouver. These jobs involved working with sometimes very diverse teams and personalities to tight deadlines in order to get large, complex proposals written, packaged attractively and submitted on time. They also involved a careful attention to maintaining brand standards in visual identity elements as well as in using industry-specific language style conventions. 

 

I have been Acting Editor for some issues of the UWI Today monthly news magazine, which showcases the accomplishments of The University of the West Indies St Augustine campus community in Trinidad. That involved a wonderful combination of juggling editing, research, story writing and photographic selection and editing skills. It meant becoming a subject matter expert on some very unexpected things in short order, from black-eyed fighting guppies to global sports industry crimes to Spanish-speaking refugees struggling to learn English in Trinidad. It's always gratifying when you can break down a sometimes complex topic to make it accessible and even entertaining for the general reader.

 

I enjoy Caribbean visual arts, masquerade Carnival traditions and am concerned about environmental issues, so these are often grist for my storytelling. However I readily turn my hand to crafting effective promotional or business copy or producing crisp, clear, factual reports or procedural documents.

 

My Scribbles TT website is a sampling of some of my storytelling skills so far, whether these be in writing, editing or designing an idea or a message using a combination of elements. There's always much to learn in this rapidly changing field of media convergence, and online multimedia storytelling is my current learning goal.

 

If you like my work samples, feel free to email me about writing, editing, or collaborative communication projects. Cheers!