By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — With a distinguished career spanning over 25 years across the stage and broadcast media, Mosa Telford stands as one of Guyana’s most prolific and respected dramatic voices. Her creative journey, however, was forged through personal resilience, turning early childhood encounters with bullying and colorism into thought-provoking theatre.
In an exclusive interview with Nightly News, the proud Buxton native reflected on her artistic evolution, her advocacy for social justice through the performing arts, and her recent third-place finish in the Drama category at the Guyana Prize for Literature 2026 for her upcoming play, The Bell and the Bones.
Roots in Buxton: Mentorship and Early Playwriting
While widely recognized for her dynamic stage performances, Telford clarified that her true calling has always been writing, noting that dramatic expression was deeply rooted in her lineage and village upbringing:
- Family Influence: Telford discovered her natural inclination for writing around age seven, inspired by her father’s poetry and scripts. Her fascination with stage production deepened while accompanying her uncle, noted theatre practitioner Kwesi Oginga, to rehearsals and theatrical productions.
- Community Youth Roots: At age 13, while a member of the Buxton youth group “Youth with a Motive”—founded by veteran political and social activist Eusi Kwayana—Telford was tasked with penning her first complete stage play, Dream Lesson, which toured across East Coast Demerara and Georgetown.
- Merundoi Partnership: Over the past two decades, Telford became a cornerstone writer and creative lead for Guyana’s long-running radio serial drama Merundoi, shaping national behavior-change communication around health, social justice, and civic issues.
“Around the age of seven, writing came naturally. I think it is in the genes because my father would write poetry and plays,” Telford shared. “Watching my uncle direct plays and being in awe of everything unfolding before me solidified what I wanted to do when I got older.”
Confronting Colorism and Societal Prejudice
Growing up, Telford faced colorism and societal prejudice centered around skin tone during her primary and secondary school years. Rather than allowing these biases to deter her, the North Georgetown Secondary alumna channeled those experiences into her scripts, addressing social taboos such as color prejudice, systemic racism, sexual abuse, and domestic violence.
Her dedication to cultural preservation and critical social commentary earned her the Godfrey Chin Prize for Heritage Journalism from the Guyana Cultural Association (GCA) of New York in 2019.
Most recently, her unproduced script The Bell and the Bones was recognized among the top dramatic works at the 2026 Guyana Prize for Literature ceremony at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre.
Emancipation Message: “Know Your History to Love Yourself”
Reflecting on the ongoing Emancipation month observances across Guyana, Telford urged young Afro-Guyanese to immerse themselves in ancestral history to build self-worth and counteract systemic biases:
“Understand who you are, embrace your history, and love yourselves so that you can elevate yourselves,” Telford emphasized. “When you know the depth of where you came from, no one can make you feel inferior about the color of your skin or your heritage.”
