Cherry Natural

Last updated

Cherry Natural (born Marcia A. Wedderburn, 1960) is a Jamaican dub poet, author, motivational speaker and self-defense instructor. She has published three books of poetry and in received the Mutabaruka Award for Best Spoken Word Poet at the International Reggae & World Music Awards in 2019.

Contents

Cherry Natural
Born
Marcia Alrica Wedderburn

(1960-04-20)April 20, 1960
NationalityJamaican
Occupation(s)Poet, Writer, Self Defense Instructor
AwardsMutabaruka Award for Best Spoken Word Poet

Early life

Cherry Natural was born April 20, 1960, as Marcia Alrica Wedderburn in Saint Andrew Parish. [1] : 127  Her father nicknamed her 'Cherry' because of her skin tone as an infant and as an adult added 'Natural' as a nod to holistic living. [1] : 127  She spent the first six years of her life in Darliston with her grandmother Hilda, who influenced Cherry's interest in storytelling. [1] : 127, 129 

Career

Cherry's poetry focuses on the everyday experiences of Jamaican life. [2] Louise Bennett-Coverley is among her influences. [3] Cherry has worked closely with Poet Laureate of Jamaica, Lorna Goodison who said of her book the Lyrical Contortionist, "Cherry Natural's powerful new strong-woman anthems are guaranteed to strengthen and lift up the fallen. They are crafted with the prevision of Martial Arts moves...to the point, with maximum impact and skillful loves turns and surprises." [4] Natural has also worked with Jamaican poet Malachi Smith to visit students across Jamaica to spread the word about the importance of poetry. [5] As reported in the Jamaica Daily Observer, Retired Poet Laureate Professor Mervyn Morris described Cherry as a "'rhythmic warrior poet' whose versus are 'enlivened by clever rhyme, wit and sarcasm." [6] In 2019 she was awarded the Mutabaruka Award for Best Spoken Word Poet at the International Reggae & World Music Awards. [7] [5]

Self-defense instruction

A certified martial arts instructor, Cherry has a black belt in martial arts. [5] [8] In 2008, Cherry lead a series of workshops at IU Bloomington covering self-defense, creative writing, and performance poetry. [2]

In 2017 and 2018, Cherry worked with Lorna Goodison to create the program All Flowers Are Roses. [9] [5] The program taught taught self-defense skills and poetry to girls aged 11-14. The program was offered in collaboration with the National Library of Jamaica. Loop News Jamaica quoted Denzil, then Secretary in the Jamaican Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport as saying: "The coupling of the two disciplines is a unique approach to develop self-awareness, discipline and confidence. It is necessary to encourage Jamaica’s young women to stand up for each other and defend themselves through their words and actions." [10]

Writing

In addition to her own poetry collections, her work appeared in a collection edited by Afua Cooper, Utterances and incantations: women poetry and dub (1999). [13] Her writing was also studied as part of a PhD thesis analyzing the creative processes of dub poets, Mapping Creative Interiors: Creative Process Narratives and Individualized Workscapes in the Jamaican Dub Poetry Context by John D. Galuska. [1]

Albums

Performances

Awards

Related Research Articles

The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual Canadian literary award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. The award was established in 1980 to honour poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.

The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is an annual literary award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redemption Song</span> 1980 song by Bob Marley

"Redemption Song" is a song by Jamaican singer Bob Marley. It is the final track on Bob Marley and the Wailers' twelfth album, Uprising, produced by Chris Blackwell and released by Island Records. The song is considered one of Marley's greatest works. Some key lyrics derived from a speech given by the Pan-Africanist orator Marcus Garvey titled "The Work That Has Been Done."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean "Binta" Breeze</span> Jamaican dub poet and storyteller (1956–2021)

Jean "Binta" Breeze MBE was a Jamaican dub poet and storyteller, acknowledged as the first woman to write and perform dub poetry. She worked also as a theatre director, choreographer, actor, and teacher. She performed her work around the world, in the Caribbean, North America, Europe, South-East Asia, and Africa, and has been called "one of the most important, influential performance poets of recent years".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillian Allen</span> Musical artist

Lillian Allen is a Canadian dub poet, reggae musician, writer and Juno Award winner.

dbi Young Canadian musician-poet

d’bi.young anitafrika is a Jamaican-Canadian feminist dub poet, activist, and singer for the band D’bi and the 333. Their work includes theatrical performances, four published collections of poetry, twelve plays, and seven albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Philp</span>

Geoffrey Philp is a Jamaican poet, novelist, and playwright. Philp used to reside in Jamaica, where he was born and attended Jamaica College, but he relocated in 1979 to Miami, Florida. He is the author of the novel Benjamin, My Son (2003), and six poetry collections: Exodus and Other Poems (1990), Florida Bound (1995), Hurricane Center (1998), Xango Music (2001), Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas (2005), and Dub Wise (2010). He has also written two books of short stories, Uncle Obadiah and the Alien (1997) and Who's Your Daddy? and Other Stories (2009); a play, Ogun's Last Stand (2005), and the children's books Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories (2007) and Marcus and the Amazons (2011). He also has a blog where he critiques other people's literary works.

Allan Hope, better known as Mutabaruka, is a Jamaican Rastafari dub poet, musician, actor, educator, and talk-show host, who developed two of Jamaica's most popular radio programmes, The Cutting Edge and Steppin' Razor. His name comes from the Rwandan language and translates as "one who is always victorious". His themes include politics, culture, Black liberation, social oppression, discrimination, poverty, racism, sexism, and religion.

Lorna Gaye Goodison CD is a Jamaican poet, essayist and memoirist, a leading West Indian writer. She is now Professor Emerita, English Language and Literature/Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan, previously serving as the Lemuel A. Johnson Professor of English and African and Afroamerican Studies. She was appointed Poet Laureate of Jamaica in 2017, succeeding Mervyn Morris. In 2019, she was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

Jamaican literature is internationally renowned, with the island of Jamaica being the home or birthplace of many important authors. One of the most distinctive aspects of Jamaican literature is its use of the local dialect — a variation of English, the country's official language. Known to Jamaicans as "patois", and now sometimes described as "nation language", this creole has become an important element in Jamaican fiction, poetry and theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Bennett-Coverley</span> Jamaican writer, folklorist and educator (1919–2006)

Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley or Miss Lou, was a Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, and educator. Writing and performing her poems in Jamaican Patois or Creole, Bennett worked to preserve the practice of presenting poetry, folk songs and stories in patois, establishing the validity of local languages for literary expression.

Malachi Smith is a Jamaican dub poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorna Dee Cervantes</span> American poet

Lorna Dee Cervantes is an American poet and activist, who is considered one of the greatest figures in Chicano poetry. She has been described by Alurista, as "probably the best Chicana poet active today."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean poetry</span> Poem, rhyme, or lyric that derives from the Caribbean region

Caribbean poetry is vast and rapidly evolving field of poetry written by people from the Caribbean region and the diaspora.

Yasus Afari is a Jamaican dub poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn Marie Souaid</span> Canadian poet, educator, publisher and editor

Carolyn Marie Souaid is a Canadian poet, educator, publisher and editor.

Barbara Joy Gloudon OD, OJ, IOJ was a Jamaican writer. She received two Seprod Awards from the Press Association of Jamaica and Order of Distinction. Gloudon was a scriptwriter for Jamaica's Little Theatre Movement (LTM) and wrote radio drama. She hosted a radio talk show for thirty years and became chair of the LTM. She was granted the Order of Jamaica in 1992 and became a fellow of the Institute of Jamaica in 2012.

Spoken word in Ghana begun to see growth in Ghana from 2010 through Bless The Mic and Ehalakasa.

Melanin Man is an album by the Jamaican musician Mutabaruka, released in 1994. Mutabaruka supported the album with a North American tour that included shows with Speech. "Bone Lie" was a hit in Jamaica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khadijah Ibrahiim</span> Literary activist, theatre maker and writer

Khadijah Ibrahiim is a literary activist, theatre maker and writer from Leeds. She is the founder and artistic director of Leeds Young Authors, and executive producer of the documentary ‘We Are Poets’. She and her work have appeared on BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Galuska, John D. (2007). Mapping creative interiors: Creative process narratives and individualized workscapes in the Jamaican dub poetry context (Thesis thesis). Indiana University.
  2. 1 2 "Outspoken Jamaican poet to offer workshops for students, public at IU Bloomington: IU News Room: Indiana University". newsinfo.iu.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  3. ↑ Preston, Rohan B. (12 September 1997). "CORPS OF FEMALE DUB POETS COMES TO OLD TOWN SCHOOL". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 Natural, Cherry (2018). The lyrical contationist: spoken word poetry. ISBN   978-976-8277-34-3. OCLC   1090798419.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Peru, Yasmine (2019-06-06). "Dub poet Cherry Natural ready to 'do su-uum'". The Gleaner. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  6. ↑ Hendricks, Sharlene (2018-09-09). "Cherry Natural delivers timely trove of poetic messages". Daily Observer (Jamaica).
  7. ↑ "Mutabaruka Award for Best Poet/Spoken Word Entertainer – IRAWMA" . Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  8. ↑ "Digicel supports women's empowerment through self-defence workshop". Jamaica Observer. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  9. ↑ Nurse, Donna Bailey (2020-05-22). "'I did not see these stories being written': Lorna Goodison, winner of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, looks back on a 40-year career as a poet". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  10. ↑ "All Flowers Are Roses – self-defence programme champions girls | Loop Jamaica". Loop News. 2018-08-20. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  11. ↑ Natural, Cherry (1989). Come meck we reason: a collection of inspirational poems. Kingston, Jamaica, W.I.: Careso/Volunteers Social Service. OCLC   21590643.
  12. ↑ Natural, Cherry; Gluska, John D (2004). Earth Woman: selected poems 1989-2001. Bloomington, IN: Rustazumska Productions. ISBN   978-0-9721250-0-0. OCLC   56415993.
  13. ↑ Cooper, Afua (1999). Utterances and incantations: women, poetry and dub. Toronto: Sister Vision Press. ISBN   978-1-896705-28-6. OCLC   1130265340.
  14. ↑ Intellectual Bad Gal, 2013-11-07, retrieved 2022-07-06
  15. ↑ "Self Mastery". Self Mastery. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  16. ↑ "Chopin Theatre :: Event". www.chopintheatre.com. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  17. ↑ "Quickies: Poetry Society features Cherry Natural". The Gleaner. 2011-08-19. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  18. ↑ "This week's must-see Toronto shows". Now. 2014-08-21. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  19. ↑ "Cherry Natural combines poetry, martial arts". The Gleaner. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  20. ↑ "Aunty Roachy Festival Returns: Set for Independence Village today". The Gleaner. 2015-08-03. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  21. ↑ "Love Affair with Literature | Marketing and Communications Office | The University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica". www.mona.uwi.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  22. ↑ "Cherry Natural To Drop New Single & NswNebKaRa To Speak On The Sacred Masculine at Sisterhood Circle". News | CaribNews | Loop News | Newsnow. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  23. ↑ Cunningham, Aaliyah (2019-10-28). "A crowning moment". Daily Observer (Jamaica). Retrieved 2022-07-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.