Marcel Souris

The Magic of Tiéga & Other Writings

Category: Mauritius (page 1 of 1)

Sticky post
12 August 2020

Excerpt one

Today I’ve posted reading from my novel The Magic of Tiéga, but also something else.

My novel begins in place called Mahebourg, the town where my wife and my father were born, and where much of our family still lives. Over two weeks ago now, on the 25th July, a Japanese tanker the MV Wakashio ran aground just off the coast of Mahebourg. Just a week later the ship’s hull fractured and oil began to leak into the sea. With little official help, the people of the Mahebourg and other volunteers banded together in an attempt to stop the oil spreading, an effort that is ongoing, with people often working tirelessly into the night. Many are out there braving the dangers caused by the spillage to deploy improvised floating barriers, others have been dredging the oil which escaped these cordons. Those who are not on the water are feeding the volunteers and gathering the necessary supplies. All this done with their own resources and under their own coordination. However, despite this heroic effort the oil has continued to spread along the eastern coast.

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Sticky post
28 July 2020

Origins

It could be said that The Magic of Tiéga was written, if not in response to or to correct, then at least to add some depth to people’s general perception of Mauritius.

To most this name brings to mind an island paradise, situated somewhere in the Indian Ocean or maybe even the Caribbean Sea; the kind of place one takes one’s family for the holiday of a lifetime. Palm trees are imagined, white sandy beaches, a sea blue and clear and warm, and of course there’s rum, and let us not forget the Dodo. This is a destination for the exclusive set, not those used to jaunts over to Málaga or Magaluf or cheap European city breaks. Although things have changed it still very much holds this prestige: ‘Wasn’t Mauritius where so-and-so celebrity went on their hols, or this or that member of royalty?’ you might hear.

As for its people they’re black or brown aren’t they? Indian or African looking, no mixed, no all of the above. Are they indigenous? Well that one gets a real shrug, for unless you have some connection to the island or you’re a specialist scholar, why would you know? If you’re French maybe you could answer a few more of these questions, but in Britain you’d pretty much draw a blank.

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