Vol 24 / No. 1 / April 2016 Volume 24 Number 1 April 2016
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Caribbean Theatre: a PostColonial Story
CARIBBEAN THEATRE: A POSTCOLONIAL STORY Edward Baugh I am going to speak about Caribbean theatre and drama in English, which are also called West Indian theatre and West Indian drama. The story is one of how theatre in the English‐speaking Caribbean developed out of a colonial situation, to cater more and more relevantly to native Caribbean society, and how that change of focus inevitably brought with it the writing of plays that address Caribbean concerns, and do that so well that they can command admiring attention from audiences outside the Caribbean. I shall begin by taking up Ms [Chihoko] Matsuda’s suggestion that I say something about my own involvement in theatre, which happened a long time ago. It occurs to me now that my story may help to illustrate how Caribbean theatre has changed over the years and, in the process, involved the emergence of Caribbean drama. Theatre was my hobby from early, and I was actively involved in it from the mid‐Nineteen Fifties until the early Nineteen Seventies. It was never likely to be more than a hobby. There has never been a professional theatre in the Caribbean, from which one could make a living, so the thought never entered my mind. And when I stopped being actively involved in theatre, forty years ago, it was because the demands of my job, coinciding with the demands of raising a family, severely curtailed the time I had for stage work, especially for rehearsals. When I was actively involved in theatre, it was mainly as an actor, although I also did some Baugh playing Polonius in Hamlet (1967) ― 3 ― directing. -
Swanzy, Henry Valentine Leonard (1915–2004) Gabriella Ramsden Published Online: 12 November 2020
Swanzy, Henry Valentine Leonard (1915–2004) Gabriella Ramsden https://doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.57680 Published online: 12 November 2020 Swanzy, Henry Valentine Leonard (1915–2004), radio producer, was born on 14 June 1915 at Glanmire Rectory, Glanmire, co. Cork, Ireland, the eldest son of the Revd Samuel Leonard Swanzy (1875–1920), rector of Glanmire, and his wife, Joan Frances, née Glenny (1888–1975). His brothers John and Leonard were born in 1917 and 1920 respectively, the latter after the death of their father. The family subsequently moved to England. Henry attended Wellington College and won a scholarship to New College, Oxford, achieving first-class honours in modern history. In order to pursue a career in the civil service, he learned French and German, and he travelled around Europe. After four years in the Colonial Office, where he progressed to assistant principal, he joined the BBC in 1941. On 12 March 1946 Swanzy married Eileen Lucy (Tirzah) Ravilious, née Garwood (1908–1951), daughter of Frederick Scott Garwood, an officer in the Royal Engineers, and widow of the painter, designer, book engraver, and war artist Eric Ravilious. Following her death in March 1951, on 22 July 1952 Swanzy married Henrietta Theodora Van Eeghan (1924–2006), with whom he had two sons and a daughter. Swanzy began his career as a producer for the general overseas service, but it was his involvement in the radio programme Caribbean Voices between 1946 and 1954 that he was best known for. He encouraged writers from the Caribbean to contribute stories and poems. This fostered the careers of many notable West Indian writers, two of whom, Derek Walcott and V. -
Una Marson Podcast
Una Marson - Transcript When World War 2 broke out in 1939, thousands of men and women from across the West Indies were joining up to fight for the Allied cause, whilst others signed up for factory work. Many would be stationed in Britain, nearly four thousand miles from home. The BBC realising that serving men and women would want to send messages to loved ones, launched the programme Call the West Indies, which mixed personal messages, music and inspirational stories of war work. The young woman, who produced and presented the show was a true pioneer, the first black producer on the BBC’s payroll and once described as “the most significant black British feminist of the interwar years.” But her life and work have often been overlooked, so today we remember Una Marson: Una was born near Santa Cruz in rural Jamaica on 6 February 1905 to Reverend Solomon Isaac and Ada Marson. She was the youngest of nine children, three of whom her parents had adopted and the family was relatively prosperous for the time. Her father was a strict baptist preacher and even as a young child, Una was rebellious, fighting against the restrictions imposed upon on her by culture and tradition. But she was extremely bright and her sisters introduced her to poetry which she would describe as “the chief delight of our childhood days”. Una had been born into a British colonial world and was heavily exposed to English classical literature. Early on she felt instinctively opposed to the idea perpetuated at the time that in some way her own race was inferior. -
Tory of the Anglophone Caribbean
Book Reviews 365 Glyne A. Griffith, The BBC and the Development of Anglophone Caribbean Litera- ture, 1943–1958. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. xi + 230 pp. (Cloth US$99.99) Postwar Sunday evenings have become an iconic moment in the literary his- tory of the Anglophone Caribbean. Glyne A. Griffith’s study returns us to the 1940s and 1950s to reassess Caribbean Voices, the weekly radio program broad- cast from London to the West Indies that has become synonymous with the rise of contemporary Caribbean writing. Although any study of Anglophone Caribbean letters will acknowledge the program’s importance, this is the first time it has received a book-length treatment. What Griffith finds is “a vir- tual community … produced by the intersection of radio broadcast and let- ter writing” (p. 118). In its approach, the study complements recent analyses of the intersection between broadcasting technologies and national/transna- tional cultural production, fromTodd Avery’s Radio Modernism (2006) to Emily C. Bloom’s The Wireless Past: Anglo-Irish Writers and the BBC, 1931–1968 (2016). This turn to the cultural practices of sound is part of a challenge to the primacy of textual cultural studies, but the irony for Griffith to negotiate is that only the scripts of Caribbean Voices remain. The focus on a “Critics’ Circle” and “A Sustaining Epistolary Community” (Chapters 2 and 4) enables Griffith to trace the central role of Irish editor Henry Swanzy in shaping Caribbean letters, and to attend to the transnationalism and migrant aesthetics that were central to the formation of Caribbean Voices. -
Una Marson: Feminism, Anti-Colonialism and a Forgotten fight for Freedom Alison Donnell
CHAPTER FIVE Una Marson: feminism, anti-colonialism and a forgotten fight for freedom Alison Donnell When we think about the factors that have contributed to the begin- nings of a West Indian British intellectual tradition, we would com- monly bring to mind the towering figure of C. L. R. James and his comrades of the pre-Windrush generation, such as George Padmore. It would also be important to acknowledge the generation of nationalist writers and thinkers based in the Caribbean itself, such as Roger Mais and Victor Stafford Reid. We might also think of the BBC’s Caribbean Voices which provided a much needed outlet, as well as a valuable source of income, for new writers and writings, and also, of course, of the talented community of male writers and intellectuals, such as George Lamming, Sam Selvon and V. S. Naipaul, who had come to London in the 1950s. Yet what is so commonly neglected in accounts of West Indian and black British literary and intellectual histories of the first half of the twentieth century is mention of Una Marson, a black Jamaican woman whose experiences and achievements provided a link to all these major movements and figures. It is perhaps not surprising that Marson’s identity as an intellectual is not straightforward. As an educated, middle-class daughter of a Baptist minister, Marson’s intellectual development took place within the context of a religious home where the activities of playing music and reading poetry were prized, and the conservative and colonial Hampton High School where she received an ‘English public-school education’.1 However, as one of a small number of black scholarship girls, Marson was apprenticed in the operations of racism by the time she left school. -
Jamaican Women Poets and Writers' Approaches to Spirituality and God By
RE-CONNECTING THE SPIRIT: Jamaican Women Poets and Writers' Approaches to Spirituality and God by SARAH ELIZABETH MARY COOPER A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Centre of West African Studies School of Historical Studies The University of Birmingham October 2004 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract Chapter One asks whether Christianity and religion have been re-defined in the Jamaican context. The definitions of spirituality and mysticism, particularly as defined by Lartey are given and reasons for using these definitions. Chapter Two examines history and the Caribbean religious experience. It analyses theory and reflects on the Caribbean difference. The role that literary forefathers and foremothers have played in defining the writers about whom my research is concerned is examined in Chapter Three, as are some of their selected works. Chapter Four reflects on the work of Lorna Goodison, asks how she has defined God whether within a Christian or African framework. In contrast Olive Senior appears to view Christianity as oppressive and this is examined in Chapter Five. -
Ms. Chamberlin, J. Edward Papers Coll. 731 1 Gift of J. Edward
Ms. Chamberlin, J. Edward papers Coll. 731 Gift of J. Edward Chamberlin 2015 Includes Lorna Goodison material such as drafts, proofs and notes for From Harvey River; early drafts of ‘Supplying Salt and Light/Oracabessa’; Travelling Mercies; By Love Possessed; drafts for unpublished ‘The Book of Amber’; Controlling the Silver; personal and professional correspondence, including Rex Nettleford, Derek Walcott and others; ink doodles and drawings within texts; appearances; photographs; “Run of poetry by Canadian Poets (each illustrated) in Saturday Night, January 1989 – January 1995. Poetry editor J. Edward Chamberlin”; and various other material related to the lives and work of Lorna Goodison and J. Edward Chamberlin Extent: 17 boxes and items (3 metres) Box 1 Lorna Goodison 26 folders From Harvey River Drafts, proofs Folders 1-8 Lorna Goodison From Harvey River Clean word processed draft Folders 9-14 Lorna Goodison From Harvey River Edited draft with images, holograph notes and some correspondence Folders 15-22 Lorna Goodison From Harvey River Word processed draft with holograph revisions Folders 23-26 Lorna Goodison From Harvey River Clean word processed draft, variously paged Box 2 Lorna Goodison 23 folders From Harvey River Drafts, proofs Folders 1-7 Lorna Goodison From Harvey River Clean word processed draft, variously paged Folders 8-14 Lorna Goodison From Harvey River Word processed draft with revisions 1 Ms. Chamberlin, J. Edward papers Coll. 731 Folders 15-17 Lorna Goodison From Harvey River Word processed draft Folder 18 ‘early -
The Year That Was
Kunapipi Volume 2 Issue 1 Article 18 1980 The Year That Was Anna Rutherford University of Aarhus, Denmark Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Rutherford, Anna, The Year That Was, Kunapipi, 2(1), 1980. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol2/iss1/18 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] The Year That Was Abstract Australia It's been a year for the bizarre in Australian fiction: a transvestite who is a Byzantine empress/ station hand/ whore-mistress; a narrating foetus; a plantation owner who takes you out at night to wrestle renegade pineapples to the ground; characters with words stamped on their foreheads and one with a coffin owinggr out of his side ... This journal article is available in Kunapipi: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol2/iss1/18 The Year That Was AUSTRALIA It's been a year for the bizarre in Australian fiction: a transvestite who is a Byzantine empress/ station hand/ whore-mistress; a narrating foetus; a plantation owner who takes you out at night to wrestle renegade pine apples to the ground; characters with words stamped on their foreheads and one with a coffin growing out of his side ... Little did Synge know when he said there should be material for drama with all those 'shepherds going mad in lonely huts'! The theme of the year's most remarkable book, Patrick White's The Twybom Affair Oonathan Cape) is caught early when one of its charac· ters remarks, 'The difference between the sexes is no worse than their appalling similarity'. -
Victor Stafford Reid Was Born on May 1, 1913, in Kingston, Jamaica, to Alexander and Margaret Reid
Biography Victor Stafford Reid was born on May 1, 1913, in Kingston, Jamaica, to Alexander and Margaret Reid. Victor, his two brothers and one sister grew up in Kingston where they attended school. He was educated at Central Branch Primary and the Kingston Technical High School. During his early life, Reid was employed in various positions. He also traveled to several countries. He worked as a farm overseer, a news- paper reporter, advertising executive, and journalist and at different times edited the weekly newspaper Public Opinion and the news magazine Spotlight. In addition, he held several posts in the Jamaican Government. These included serving as Chair- man of the Jamaica National Trust Commission (1974- 1981) and a trustee of the Historic Foundation Research Centre (1980). In 1935, he married Victoria Monica Jacobs. The marriage produced four children, Shirley, Vic Jr., Sonia and Peter. His extensive travels helped to shape his passion of writing. One of his greatest influences was his exposure to Anancy stories and other folk tales of Jamaica which he heard from several story-tellers, but particularly from his mother. Most of his fiction is set in rural Jamaica with which Reid identified and to which he returned frequently, for reinvigora- tion and inspiration. He made Jamaica, its history and its peo- ple the focus of his works; several, of which have become standard text books for studies in Jamaica and the Caribbean. He died on August 25, 1987,at the age of 74. Who was Victor Stafford Reid Victor Stafford Reid (Vic Reid) was one of a handful of writers to emerge from the new literary and nationalist movement that seized Jamaican sentiment in the period of the late 1930s. -
Laurence A. Breiner October 2013
Laurence A. Breiner October 2013 Department of English Boston University 236 Bay State Road Boston, MA 02215 (617) 358-2544 [email protected] Boston College B.A. (English, summa cum laude) 1968 Yale University M.Phil. (Comparative Literature) 1971 Yale University Ph.D. ( " " ) 1973 Dissertation: The Development of a Language of Representation for Science: 1550-1650 Academic Positions 2004 -Visiting Professor, American Studies, University of Tokyo 2000- - Professor of English 1981-2000 - Associate Professor of English, with tenure 1980-81 - Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities 1976-78 - Research Fellow, University of the West Indies, Mona (Jamaica) 1973-81 - Assistant Professor of English, Boston University 1972-73 - Instructor, Boston University Fall, 1971 - convener, "Introduction to Comparative Literature," Hall seminar in Yale's Branford College Spring, 1971 - teaching assistant, "Classical Comedy," Yale University Grants and Fellowships Henderson Senior Fellow, Humanities Foundation, Boston University, 2010-2011 Grant-in-Aid, Folger Institute, March, 2001 Senior Fellow, Society of Fellows, Boston University, 1998-99 Rockefeller Fellow, Center for the Study of Black Literature and Culture, University of Pennsylvania, 1991-1992 Senior Fellow, Society of Fellows, Boston University, 1989-90 Seed grant, Boston University Graduate School, June 1988 ACLS Grant-in-Aid for research in Venice, 1984 National Endowment for the Humanities Grant, 1980-81 Joint Committee on Latin American Studies, ACLS/SSRC, 1976-77 Woodrow Wilson Fellow, 1968 -
Contributor Biographies
137 Contributor Biographies Theresa Abodeeb-Gentile is an Associate Professor of Education and the Director of Elementary Education at the University of Hartford, CT, USA. Dr. Abodeeb-Gentile received her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Literacy Language and Culture. She has been a class- room teacher and literacy specialist in Massachusetts for 16 years. She continues to be active in schools, while doing both professional development and research. Her scholarship interests include: intersections of pedagogy, learning, literacy, identity and inclusive education. Edward Baugh is Professor Emeritus of English, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica. Born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, he attended Titchfield High School, the University College of the West Indies (BA, 1957), Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada (MA, 1959) and the University of Manchester, England (PhD, 1964). He joined the Faculty of the University of the West Indies at the Barbados campus in 1965, and transferred to Mona in 1968, from where he retired in 2001. He was Visiting Professor of Caribbean Literature at Howard University, Washington, DC, for the academic year 2001-2002. Edward Baugh was the Chairperson for the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies from 1989 to 1992. Professor Baugh’s three collections of poetry are: A Tale from the Rainforest (Sandberry Press, 1988), It Was the Singing (Sandberry Press, 2000), and Black Sand: New & Selected Poems (Peepal Tree Press, 2013). His poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. He has given readings of his poetry in Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, England and the USA. Two compact discs of him reading his poems have been produced: Edward Baugh: Poems from “It Was the Singing” (New Jersey: Intermedia Foundation, 2002), and Edward Baugh “Reading from his Poems” (The Poetry Archive of Great Britain, 2011). -
Una Marson 1905-1965
I UNA MARSON National Library of Jamaica 1905 - 1965 Una Marson, poe:t;_- author::-,_ j_o_urnalist __an_-cLhro_a_dc_aster w_as born in 1905 in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth and educated at Hampton High School. After leaving school she held various secretarial posts before joining the editorial staffs of the Daily,Gleaner and the Jamaica Standard. In 1929 she broke new ground with the publication of the Cosmpolitan Monthly Magazine, the first magazine in Jamaica to be edited and published by a Jamaican woman. A number of poems and articles by local writers were featured in the magazine. In 1930 her first volume of poems Tropical Reveries was published and for this she was awarded the Silver Musgrave Medal of the Institute of Jamaica. A second volume of poems Heights and Depth was published in 1931. Shortly afterwards she moved to England and identified herself with the league of coloured people, serving as assistant secretary of the organization from 1933 - 1935 and as editor of their magazine, Keys. Her play At What Price produced under the auspices of the league in 1934 was the first play written and performed by coloured colonials to be staged in London. As a member of the Ethiopian Legation in London, she accompanied Emperor Haile Selassie in 1936 to the League of Nations in Geneva, when he sought - unsuccessfully - to arouse the world's conscience against the Italian attack of his country. Disillusioned with the League of Nations, Una Marson returned to Jamaica and resumed her literary and social welfare activities. She published a third volume of poems The Moth and the Stars, wrote two more plays, London Calling and Pocomania which were staged at the Ward Theatre, founded the Readers and Writers Club (1937) and the Kingston Dramatic Club.