his first novel, "witchbroom" (1992), was shortlisted for a commonwealth writers' prize and was abridged as a "book at bedtime" on bbc radio 4 in 1993, abridged by margaret busby in eight episodes, produced by marina salandy-brown and read by the author. a 25th-anniversary edition of "witchbroom", published by papillote press, was launched in trinidad at paperbased bookshop in port-of-spain on 18 march 2017, with a keynote address by earl lovelace and readings by ken ramchand, barbara jenkins and marina salandy-brown. it was described by "trinidad and tobago newsday" as "a breathtaking novel, filled with memorable characters and important history."