The Magic Pot

This book comprises a collection of fify-five popular folk stories from Guyana and other countries of the Caribbean region. The starring charachter in all of them in Nansi whose exploits form part of the folklore of these countries. Nansi, who is a spider - but who sometimes takes the qualities or form of a man, or evan half-man and half-spider - is variably regarded as a hero, a cunning trickster and sometimes as a fool. Despite these varying characteristics, he is generally admired for the manner in which he outwits others.

Odeen Ishmael, a veteran Guyanese diplomat, is currently the ambassador of Guyana to Venezuela. He previously served as his country's ambassador to the United States and, simultaneously, as Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States from 1993 to 2003. Since the 1970s, he has been a premier writer on the problems and perspectives of education in Guyana and the wider Caribbean region. He has written extensively on Guyanese history and culture as well as political developments in Latin America and the Caribbean.