No dried Ink, Andre Porter

Driven by ambition and the need to showcase Jamaica to the world on the diversity and creativity of its people, Andre Porter is an author on a mission to become Jamaica’s most celebrated novelist by doing it one pen and paper at a time.

While the 6’1” tall 31 year-old has been in the publishing industry for less ten years, the talented Porter has managed to pen three novels, one of which has won him international several awards and has solidify his presence with the industry as a successful and respected author.

However, the task of becoming a noted writer came as a challenge for Porter who initially wanted to become a lawyer during his studies at high school. “Throughout my high school years in Jamaica I wanted to become a lawyer. However, it was after I finished a high school and I migrated to the United States that I begun to divert from my original plans” he explained.

Life in the “land of opportunities” forced the young Jamaican to do odd jobs in order to ensure money was in his pockets. But his life came to a turning point after he resigned from his job following a disagreement with his employer, it was then one of his friends encouraged him to put his knowledge to paper and write a book.

The then skeptic and unemployed Porter “ignored the idea in the first instance, but I begun thinking about the idea of writing a book as my friend suggested and then I wanted to challenge myself and explore my creativity, thus came my first novel "Rise and Fall of a Jamaican Don”.

This book, he revealed captures the life a group of teenagers from Jamaica who through the use of violence, matured into platinum status businessmen in the U.S and started what became known as the first Jamaican mafia.With the provocative and captivating analyst of the lives of these teenagers in this book, the young writer who hails from Kingston received the IRAWMA (International Reggae And World Music Award). He is the first author in IRAWMA’s 25 year history to receive this award.

Among his noted collection of books is the heart-rending novel of “Tears from my pen”. The other is “Mirror & the Reflection”. This enterprising author enjoys cooking, meeting interesting people and learning about their cultures when he is not busy writing his next book dubbed “Chasing the American Dream” and a children’s book “Best of the Next”. Porter is currently negotiating an independent movie contract in making his “Tears from my pen” into a movie.