Author's notes....
A native of the Caribbean Island of Trinidad, Mario delivers through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, an iridescent mosaic of short stories, commentary on people, history and current social issues - especially those related to race and sports. Through short stories he draws the reader into a unique exploration of his youth in Trinidad; a childhood enriched by the influence of Afro-Caribbean myth and family. Adopting the moniker "Mon Repos Jones" Mario laments in tribute to his childhood home as it affectionately refers to his birthplace of Mon Repos, San Fernando and the community of Mon Repos. "Mon Repos" is appropriately translated from the colonial french as "my rest". As a former resident of Jones Street, San Fernando, he injects with melancholy his longing for or jones for his younger days.
Mario's background has been infused with the glitter of Carnival and the rhythm of the steel pan to mythology and the macabre. In his works he borrows from a culture immersed in spiritual practices and oral traditions developed among enslaved West Africans in the West Indies. Mario's natural talents emerged through art, design and dance - as a member of an artistic family of dancers, costume designers, musicians, wood carvers and thespians.
Born in the early 70's in Trinidad, Mario grew up observing the vestiges of colonial oppression that evolved through the generations after World War II. Some of Mario's stories were inspired by the works of Alfred Codallo, a famous Trinidadian artist who painted a popular watercolor painting ironically called Folklore. It is a narrative painting that famously depicts the figures unique to the West Indian folklore pantheon. His heritage also informs the lens through which his observations and perspectives on contemporary modernity, including black culture, are peevishly scrutinized.
Like someone with a benevolent time machine, Mario manages to recapture in his writings the everyday life of ordinary people, their beliefs, their surroundings, even their old customs, traditions and ways of life. He intertwines within his short stories child hood memories that explore his primary school days, the death of his mother, emigrating to Canada, fear, loss and love.
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