DOCSLIB.ORG

Tram Combs Correspondence

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Tram Combs Correspondence Special Collections Department Tram Combs Correspondence 1953 - 1965 Manuscript Collection Number: 178 Accessioned: Purchase, 1987, 1988. Extent: 275 items (.5 linear ft.) Content: Correspondence and typescripts. Access: The collection is open for research. Processed: 1991 by Anita A. Wellner. for reference assitstance email Special Collections or contact: Special Collections, University of Delaware Library Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 (302) 831-2229 Table of Contents Biographical Note Scope and Contents Note Series List Contents List Biographical Note Tram Combs (Elisha Trammell, Jr.), born September 25, 1924, in Riverview, Alabama, was the son of Elisha Trammel Combs, a cotton mill superintendent. He attended the University of Washington from 1943-1944. In 1945 He received a certificate of professional competence in meteorology from the University of Chicago. During these years he also served in the U. S. Army Air Forces as a meteorologist, attaining the rank of 2nd lieutenant. In 1948 he graduated from the University of California with an A. B. He also did some course work at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the area of electronics engineering. Combs worked for a brief period (1948-1951) as an oil chemist for Tidewater Associated Oil Company in Avon, California and later (1951-1952) managing his own Island Studios, Inc. Beginning in 1952 Tram Combs established his book shop in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. His book shop specializes in material related to the middle and southern Americas. This was his occupation during the span of years of the correspondence in this collection. As a poet Combs has written a number of books of verse. Some of his published works include pilgrim's terrace: poems american west indian (1957), Saints Thomas' & Francis' cities songs o' Tram (1958), Ceremonies in Mind: artists, boys, cats, lovers, judges, priests (1959), but never mind (1961), Saint Thomas: poems (1965), and Briefs: poems (1966). His poetry was also published in issues of BIM. Source: Kinsman, Clare D. Contemporary Authors. Volume 1316, First Revision. (Detroit: Gale 1965). Page 173. Scope and Contents Note This collection consists of correspondence between Tram Combs and John Malcolm Brinnin, Bill Read, and Frank Collymore. Each section of correspondence consists of the original letters from Brinnin, Read, or Collymore to Combs and carbon copies of Tram Combs' letters in response. Also included in this collection are a number of typescript carbons of poems written by Combs and sent to Brinnin or Collymore. The Brinnin section also contains clippings sent by Brinnin and a typescript inscribed copy of Brinnin's poem, "Skin Diving in the Virgins," which he dedicated to Combs. Series Outline Series I. Correspondence of Brinnin to Combs p.4. Series II. Correspondence of Read to Combs p.5. Series III. Correspondence of Collymore to Combs p.5. Contents List Box -- Folder -- Contents Series I. Correspondence of John Malcolm Brinnin to Tram Combs. 1957-1964. Original letters and material from the poet, John Malcolm Brinnin, to Tram Combs. In addition to correspondence, the file includes an original Ts of the poem, "Skin Diving in the Virgin Islands," written by Brinnin and dedicated to Tram Combs. This poem became the title poem of Brinnin's 1970 collection of poetry. Also included are the carbons of Combs' responses to Brinnin's letters and carbons of some poems by Combs. The correspondence is based on their friendship and respect for one another's poetry. Brinnin met Combs while vacationing in Saint Thomas at his book shop. The letters reflect the development of their friendship, founded on similar views of poetry, society, and homosexuality. Brinnin discusses his poetry, other poets such as William Carlos Williams and Dylan Thomas, his efforts with biographies and poetry and the rigors of teaching in the university setting. Brinnin encourages Combs' poetry and writes the introduction to Combs' book of poetry, "Pilgrim's Terrace." The sixteen folders contain TLSs, ALSs, ACSs from Brinnin and various carbon copies of letters from Combs to Brinnin spanning the years 1957-1964. The material is arranged chronologically. 191 items. 1 F1 1957: January-June. 11 items (13 leaves) 15 pp. F2 1957: September-November. 7 items (9 leaves) 10 pp. F3 1958-1959. 16 items (17 leaves) 19 pp. F4 1960. 10 items (10 leaves) 10 pp. F5 1961: January-July. Includes Ts (carbon)s of poems by Tram Combs. 14 items (14 leaves) 15 pp. F6 1961: August-December. Includes photographs of Brinnin, Bill Read, and the Gibneys. Also includes an offprint of Brinnin's review of Combs' book of poetry, but never mind. 19 items (19 leaves) 23 pp. F7 1962: January-June. Includes clippings and a letter from Francie Brinnin (John Malcolm Brinnin's mother) to Combs. 15 items (17 leaves) 22 pp. F8 1962: July-December. 15 items (17 leaves) 22 pp. 2 F9 1963: January-March. Includes a clipping. 14 items (18 leaves) 21 pp. F10 1963: April-June. 13 items (25 leaves) 25 pp. F11 1963: July-September. 8 items (11 leaves) 11 pp. F12 1963: October-November. Includes a Ts copy of John Malcolm Brinnin's poem, "Skin Diving in the Virgins," inscribed to Combs by Brinnin. 9 items (11 leaves) 12 pp. F13 1964: January-February. Includes a letters from Bill Read and a carbon copy of poems by Combs. 9 items (14 leaves) 15 pp. F14 1964: March-May. 12 items (19 leaves) 19 pp. F15 1964: June-July. 10 items (14 leaves) 16 pp. F16 1964: August-December. 9 items (10 leaves) 11 pp. Series II. Correspondence between Bill Read and Tram Combs. As a friend and companion of John Malcolm Brinnin, Read met Tram Combs on a vacation to the Virgin Islands. Bill Read, an educator and writer, discusses a number of topics with Combs including poets, books he wishes to order from Combs' book service, his vacation in the islands, and Brinnin. F17 1957-1964. Includes ALSs and TLSs from Bill Read and carbons of Combs' letters of response. 21 items (29 leaves) 29 pp. Series III. Correspondence between Frank A. Collymore and Tram Combs. 1953-1964. Frank Collymore, a leading poet of the Caribbean Islands and editor of BIM magazine, writes to Tram Combs about various matters. Frequently the discussion is of BIM but occasionally Collymore discusses other poets, the literary culture in Barbados, and his health. Also included are carbons of Combs' letters to Collymore as well as copies of some of his poems which were submitted to BIM for publication. Occasionally the verso of Combs' carbons bear notes, advertisements, and examples of his poetry. The six folders include ALSs, TLSs, and TNSs from Collymore and carbons of letters and Ts poems from Combs. The material is arranged chronologically. 63 items. 3 F18 1953-1954. 8 items (8 leaves) 10 pp. F19 1955-1958. 10 items (10 leaves) 10 pp. F20 1959. Includes poems written by Combs. 5 items (6 leaves) 6 pp. F21 1960. Includes poems written by Combs. 13 items (13 leaves) 13 pp. F22 1961. Includes poems written by Combs. 14 items (15 leaves) 15 pp. F23 1962-1964. 13 items (13 leaves) 16 pp. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • KYK-OVER-AL Volume 2 Issues 8-10
    KYK-OVER-AL Volume 2 Issues 8-10 June 1949 - April 1950 1 KYK-OVER-AL, VOLUME 2, ISSUES 8-10 June 1949-April 1950. First published 1949-1950 This Edition © The Caribbean Press 2013 Series Preface © Bharrat Jagdeo 2010 Introduction © Dr. Michael Niblett 2013 Cover design by Cristiano Coppola Cover image: © Cecil E. Barker All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission. Published by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Guyana at the Caribbean Press. ISBN 978-1-907493-54-6 2 THE GUYANA CLASSICS LIBRARY Series Preface by the President of Guyana, H. E. Bharrat Jagdeo General Editors: David Dabydeen & Lynne Macedo Consulting Editor: Ian McDonald 3 4 SERIES PREFACE Modern Guyana came into being, in the Western imagination, through the travelogue of Sir Walter Raleigh, The Discoverie of Guiana (1595). Raleigh was as beguiled by Guiana’s landscape (“I never saw a more beautiful country...”) as he was by the prospect of plunder (“every stone we stooped to take up promised either gold or silver by his complexion”). Raleigh’s contemporaries, too, were doubly inspired, writing, as Thoreau says, of Guiana’s “majestic forests”, but also of its earth, “resplendent with gold.” By the eighteenth century, when the trade in Africans was in full swing, writers cared less for Guiana’s beauty than for its mineral wealth. Sugar was the poet’s muse, hence the epic work by James Grainger The Sugar Cane (1764), a poem which deals with subjects such as how best to manure the sugar cane plant, the most effective diet for the African slaves, worming techniques, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Caribbean Voices Broadcasts
    APPENDIX © The Author(s) 2016 171 G.A. Griffi th, The BBC and the Development of Anglophone Caribbean Literature, 1943–1958, New Caribbean Studies, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-32118-9 TIMELINE OF THE BBC CARIBBEAN VOICES BROADCASTS March 11th 1943 to September 7th 1958 © The Author(s) 2016 173 G.A. Griffi th, The BBC and the Development of Anglophone Caribbean Literature, 1943–1958, New Caribbean Studies, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-32118-9 TIMELINE OF THE BBC CARIBBEAN VOICES EDITORS Una Marson April 1940 to December 1945 Mary Treadgold December 1945 to July 1946 Henry Swanzy July 1946 to November 1954 Vidia Naipaul December 1954 to September 1956 Edgar Mittelholzer October 1956 to September 1958 © The Author(s) 2016 175 G.A. Griffi th, The BBC and the Development of Anglophone Caribbean Literature, 1943–1958, New Caribbean Studies, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-32118-9 TIMELINE OF THE WEST INDIES FEDERATION AND THE TERRITORIES INCLUDED January 3 1958 to 31 May 31 1962 Antigua & Barbuda Barbados Dominica Grenada Jamaica Montserrat St. Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago © The Author(s) 2016 177 G.A. Griffi th, The BBC and the Development of Anglophone Caribbean Literature, 1943–1958, New Caribbean Studies, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-32118-9 CARIBBEAN VOICES : INDEX OF AUTHORS AND SEQUENCE OF BROADCASTS Author Title Broadcast sequence Aarons, A.L.C. The Cow That Laughed 1369 The Dancer 43 Hurricane 14 Madam 67 Mrs. Arroway’s Joe 1 Policeman Tying His Laces 156 Rain 364 Santander Avenue 245 Ablack, Kenneth The Last Two Months 1029 Adams, Clem The Seeker 320 Adams, Robert Harold Arundel Moody 111 Albert, Nelly My World 496 Alleyne, Albert The Last Mule 1089 The Rock Blaster 1275 The Sign of God 1025 Alleyne, Cynthia Travelogue 1329 Allfrey, Phyllis Shand Andersen’s Mermaid 1134 Anderson, Vernon F.
    [Show full text]
  • Best Performing Arts in Barbados"
    "Best Performing Arts in Barbados" Created by: Cityseeker 6 Locations Bookmarked Valley Resource Centre "Community Spirit Abounds" The Valley Resource Centre is one of twelve community centers established throughout the island to provide training opportunities and other educational and vocational programs. Many of these programs are offered free of cost to members of the community in order to assist them in the development of skills such as computer training, small business by Postdlf development, arts and crafts, and some academic studies. The centers also facilitate seminars and other presentations by government departments and community-based groups. The Valley Resource Centre is located in St. George in a municipal complex which includes a police station, post office and library. -Marsilyn Browne +1 246 437 0621 The Glebe, St. George, Barbados Prince Cave Hall "And the Band Plays On" The Royal Barbados Police Force Band is one of the oldest police bands in the world, having been formed in 1889. It has a fantastic record of excellence in music and has performed throughout the world. The band has its headquarters at District A Police Station in St. Michael, which is where Prince Cave Hall is located. The hall is named for the former by Unhindered by Talent Director of Music of the Royal Barbados Police Force Band, Mr. Prince Cave. The band has a wide repertoire of music, from classical and jazz to dinner music and the latest in calypso and reggae tunes. The band also hosts several concerts each year at the Prince Cave Hall. -Marsilyn Browne +1 246 430 7603 Station Hill, St.
    [Show full text]
  • Poui I (June, 1999)
    Contents Through The Door Open (Susan Brown) ……………………………………………….. 1 Mon Bijou Road (Susan Brown) ……………………………………………………….. 2 I Dream of Evening (Dana Gilkes) ……………………………………..………………. 4 With Thanks (Velma Pollard) ………………………………………………………. 6 Son (Velma Pollard) …………………………………………………………………. 7 Papi Buys a Cadillac (Celia Lisset Alvarez) ………………………………………. 8 Ortaniques (Nailah Folami Imoja) ………………………………………………………. 19 Flight Home (Esther Phillips) ………………………………………………………. 20 His Holyness (Esther Phillips) ………….………………………………………………. 21 Seashells (Esther Phillips) …………………….……………………………………. 23 Island Song (Esther Phillips) ………………………………………………………. 24 Deep Blue (Lorna Pilgrim) …..………………………………….…………………. 25 Night Prayer (Jeanne O’Day) ………………..……………………………………. 28 Eve of the Storm (Jeanne O’Day) …………………………………………………. 30 Gran (Phelan Lowe) ……………..…………………………..……………………. 32 Don’t Worry Be Happy (Jerome S. Wynter) ……………………………………………. 33 Endangered Species (Elizabeth Best) ..…………………………………………………. 34 In Different Races (Obediah Smith) ..…………………………………………………. 37 Mary of Magdala (Hazel Simmons-McDonald) ..………………………………………. 38 Chameleon (Jane Bryce) ..……………...………………………………………………. 40 Aunt Rose’s Honey Advice (Lorna Goodison) ..…………………………………………. 48 Hardanga the Lost Stitch (Lorna Goodison) ..……………………………………………. 49 Mother at Thy Feet is Kneeling (Erna Brodber) ..…………………………………………. 52 A Night Party Extravaganza (Dan Olakunle) ..……………………………………………. 55 You Burst Upon My Morning (Brenda Simmons) ..………………………………………. 61 Koriabo (Mark McWatt) ..………………………………………………………………... 62 Approaching Kurukabaru
    [Show full text]
  • A Note on Sam Selvon
    Kunapipi Volume 17 Issue 1 Article 11 1995 A Note on Sam Selvon Henry Swanzy Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Swanzy, Henry, A Note on Sam Selvon, Kunapipi, 17(1), 1995. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol17/iss1/11 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] A Note on Sam Selvon Abstract I can't remember when Sam started to contribute to Caribbean Voices, but it was just after the end of the War, when he was working on the Trinidad Guardian. I can just remember that it was a charming and unpretentious poem. 'Remember Harry's little car, And the vale with daisies.' Later it was about 'When the Yankees came to Trinidad, they had the girls all going mad.' He was one of the first estW Indian writers to make contact with the BBC, when he came to England with George Lamming in 1950. Long afterwards, he came down to see me in Bishops Stortford when he spoke about the literary renaissance in the Caribbean to a local literary society. His contributions were mainly in prose, clear and unpretentious and marked by great accuracy of expression; over the years, I can still remember the sketches he wrote in verse and prose, such as his vision of the shore in Barbados, with the sea making the sky 'tremendously large'. Then there was the birthday broadcast that he and George Lamming made to celebrate the birthday of Frank Collymore, the editor of Bim.
    [Show full text]
  • Frank A. Collymore: a Man of the Threshold
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Research Online Kunapipi Volume 26 Issue 1 Article 17 2004 Frank A. Collymore: A man of the threshold Philip Nanton Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Nanton, Philip, Frank A. Collymore: A man of the threshold, Kunapipi, 26(1), 2004. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol26/iss1/17 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Frank A. Collymore: A man of the threshold Abstract Frank A. Collymore of Barbados, 1893–1980, was perhaps best known as the editor of Bim, the regional literary magazine in the English-speaking Caribbean. He was also a poet, short story writer, eminent amateur actor, school-teacher and artist. Between 1944 and 1971 Collymore published five collections of poetry and an often reprinted study of ‘Barbadian dialect’. In 1991, a collection of his short stories was published posthumously. In his later years he was often described as a ‘literary genius’ and as ‘The Grand Old Man of West Indian literature’. He won honorary awards and wide recognition in the English-speaking region for his role in the development of Caribbean literature. This journal article is available in Kunapipi: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol26/iss1/17 161 161 PHILIP NANTON PHILIP NANTON Frank A. Collymore: A Man of the Frank A.
    [Show full text]
  • Simply Eliot
    Simply Eliot Simply Eliot JOSEPH MADDREY SIMPLY CHARLY NEW YORK Copyright © 2018 by Joseph Maddrey Cover Illustration by José Ramos Cover Design by Scarlett Rugers All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at the address below. [email protected] ISBN: 978-1-943657-25-4 Brought to you by http://simplycharly.com Extracts taken from The Poems of T. S. Eliot Volume 1, The Complete Poems and Plays, The Complete Prose of T. S. Eliot: The Critical Edition, The Letters of T. S. Eliot, Christianity and Culture, On Poetry and Poets, and To Criticize the Critic, Copyright T. S. Eliot / Set Copyrights Limited and Reproduced by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd. Extracts taken from Ash Wednesday, East Coker and Little Gidding, Copyright T. S. Eliot / Set Copyrights Ltd., first appeared in The Poems of T. S. Eliot Volume 1. Reproduced by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd. Excerpts from Ash Wednesday, East Coker and Little Gidding, from Collected Poems 1909-1962 by T. S. Eliot. Copyright 1936 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Copyright renewed 1964 by Thomas Stearns Eliot. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Extracts taken from Murder in the Cathedral, The Cocktail Party, The Confidential Clerk, and The Elder Statesman, Copyright T.
    [Show full text]
  • Collection of John Malcolm Brinnin-Kimon Friar Correspondence and Brinnin Literary Manuscripts
    Special Collections Department Collection of John Malcolm Brinnin-Kimon Friar Correspondence and Brinnin Literary Manuscripts 1933 - 1988 (bulk dates 1936 - 1950) Manuscript Collection Number: 257 Accessioned: Gift of Kimon Friar, June 1991. Extent: 4 linear ft. Content: Correspondence, photographs, phonograph recordings, poems, and short stories. Access: Written permission is required for access during the lifetime of the correspondents. Processed: June 1992 and revised July 2000 by Anita A. Wellner. for reference assistance email Special Collections or contact: Special Collections, University of Delaware Library Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 (302) 831-2229 Table of Contents Biographical Notes Scope and Contents Note Arrangement Note Series Outline Contents List Biographical Notes John Malcolm Brinnin Poet and biographer John Malcolm Brinnin was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on September 13, 1916, to John A. Brinnin and Frances Malcolm Brinnin. When he was young his family moved to Detroit, Michigan. Brinnin graduated from the University of Michigan in 1942 and within a year entered graduate school at Harvard University. Brinnin, who was also a critic, anthologist, and teacher, taught at Vassar, Boston University, the University of Connecticut, and Harvard. He was Director of the Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association Poetry Center (the 92nd Street Y) in New York City during one of the Center's most successful periods (1949-1956). Brinnin was the first person to bring Welsh poet Dylan Thomas to the United States and was responsible for all of Dylan Thomas's reading tours in this country. Brinnin's best known work, Dylan Thomas in America, published in 1955, provides a personal memoir of Dylan Thomas's trips to America as Brinnin observed them, and carries a moving account of the period of Thomas's death in 1953.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Contributors
    Notes on Contributors STELLA ALGOOBAKSH is an Associate Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research is primarily in the area of Postcolonial and Canadian literature. She is the author of Austin C. Clarke: A Biography ( 1994). EDWARD BAUGH is Professor of English, University of the West Indies (Mona). His publications include Critics on Caribbean Literature (1978), Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision ( 1978), and A Tale from the Rainforest (a collection of poems, 1988). HAROLD BARRAIT is Chair of Languages and Letters at the University College of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He has published numerous articles on Commonwealth and Postcolonial writers, and has co-edited Frank Collymore's The Man Who At• tended Funerals, and Other Stories (Heinemann, 1993). FRANK BIRBALSINGH teaches in the Department of English, York University, Toronto. His recent publications include Frontiers of Caribbean Literature (Mac• millan, 1995) and The Rise of West Indian Cricket (Hansib, 1996). WAYNE BROWN lectures in the Department of English, University of the West Indies (St. Augustine). His publications include such collections of poetry as On the Coast (1971) and Voyages (1989), a biographical study of Edna Manley: The Private Years 1900-1938, and Derek Walcott: Selected Poems ( 1 g81 ). JAN CAREW is Director, Centre for Comparative Study of the Humanities, Lincoln University, PA. His recent publications include Ghosts in Our Blood: With Malcolm X in Africa (1994) and The Rape of Paradise: Columbus and the Origin of Western Racism (1994) - AUSTIN CLARKE lives in Toronto. His recent fiction includes two collections of sto• ries, In This City (1992) and There-Are No Elders (1993).
    [Show full text]
  • Henry Swanzy, the BBC, and the Development of Caribbean Literature
    "This is London calling the West Indies:" Henry Swanzy, the BBC, and the development of Caribbean literature Glyne Griffith (Do note quote or paraphrase without requisite citation) Introduction Glyne Griffith (Do not quote or paraphrase without requisite citation) Let us begin near the end, that is to say the end of the BBC Caribbean Voices radio program. The end would eventually come in April, 1958, but there is much to be told and much to be written before we arrive at an ending. The year is 1953 and Henry Swanzy, the editor of the BBC Caribbean Voices literary radio program sends a letter dated November 271h from his Oxford Street office in London to his submissions agent, Gladys Lindo in Jamaica. The letter seeks Mrs. Lindo's advice on the appropriateness of editorial comments which Swanzy intends to make during the next scheduled summary of the previous six months of Caribbean Voices broadcasts to the Caribbean. The following extract indicates some of the concerns which Swanzy conveys to Mrs. Lindo: . ..On wider details, I am thinking of referring in the next summary to the death of Seepersad Naipaul, and to the illness of Sam Selvon, and the failure to send [Derek] Walcott to Europe. The last two would be critical remarks, and perhaps you think they would not be suitable in a thing like a summary. It does seem to me that the powers- that-be ought to be made aware of the value of literary work, from the prestige point of view, and the neglect of West Indian writers is really shocking.
    [Show full text]
  • An Assessment of Henry Swanzy's Contribution to the Development of Caribbean Literature
    Kunapipi Volume 20 Issue 1 Article 7 1998 What Does Mr Swanzy Want? Shaping or Reflecting? An Assessment of Henry Swanzy's Contribution to the Development of Caribbean Literature Philip Nanton Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Nanton, Philip, What Does Mr Swanzy Want? Shaping or Reflecting? An Assessment of Henry Swanzy's Contribution to the Development of Caribbean Literature, Kunapipi, 20(1), 1998. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol20/iss1/7 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] What Does Mr Swanzy Want? Shaping or Reflecting? An Assessment of Henry Swanzy's Contribution to the Development of Caribbean Literature Abstract In November 1954, after a period of eight years as editor of the BBC radio programme Caribbean Voices, Henry Swanzy left London for Accra to take up a further appointment in broadcasting. Those eight years established for him a unique position in Caribbean literature. He had presided over a series of regular weekly programmes, at first lasting 20 minutes and then 29 minutes after 1947. These programmes became, perhaps, the most important focus for the development and promotion of the region's literary output. Swanzy estimated that the programmes' first six years introduced to its audience over 150 d1fferent contributors from the English-speaking Caribbean. This journal article is available in Kunapipi: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol20/iss1/7 What Does Mr Swanzy Want? 11 PHILIP NANTON What Does Mr Swanzy Want? Shaping or Reflecting? An Assessment of Henry Swanzy's Contribution to the Development of Caribbean Literature In November 1954, after a period of eight years as editor of the BBC radio programme Caribbean Voices, Henry Swanzy left London for Accra to take up a further appointment in broadcasting.
    [Show full text]
  • 179 Although This Is a Largely Satisfying Biography, Algoo-Baksh
    BOOK REVIEWS 179 Although this is a largely satisfying biography, Algoo-Baksh, one feels, treats Clarke's notorious return to Barbados and his sojourn there as Acting General Manager of the Caribbean Broadcasting Cor• poration too leniently. Clarke's goal was to use television and radio as tools in the Barbadianization of the masses. Algoo-Baksh insists that Clarke wanted Barbadians to "profit from the insights he had acquired in his quest to comprehend his own identity"; and he also wanted "to foster in the Barbadian people both a profound self-respect and an appreciation of their own culture and society" (125). However commendable a goal, Clarke's attempt to become Barbados's cultural messiah might have been regarded as decidedly pretentious, to say nothing of impertinent. The Barbadian masses were not interested in cultural salvation, and indeed Algoo-Baksh euphemistically describes the entire exercise as "an ambitious venture" (126). Algoo-Baksh, fur• thermore, claims that in The Prime Minuter (1977) "Clarke's resent• ments are focused to serve his art, rather than his art the resentments" (142). Some readers will not be persuaded by this claim, for the novel is arguably an exorcism of his turbulent and abortive tenure as man• ager and sometimes reads like a revenge book. Algoo-Baksh has mined and brought to the surface revealing facts about Clarke's life and attitudes that are valuable for a thorough study of his work. There is no question of Clarke's valuable contribution to Canadian literature. Algoo-Baksh has explained his attempt to "shake [Canadian] society out of its complacency, to disabuse it of its belief in its innocence" (185).
    [Show full text]