Maggie Harris

Last updated

Maggie Harris is a Guyanese poet, prose writer, and visual artist.

Contents

She was awarded the Guyana Prize for Literature in 2000 and 2014 for her collections of poetry Limbolands and Sixty Years of Loving, and received the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Caribbean region in 2014 for Sending for Chantal.

Early life

Harris is originally from Guyana and migrated to the United Kingdom in 1971. [1] In 2006, she moved to Wales from Thanet, Kent, where she lived since 1973. [2] [3] After ten years she relocated to Thanet, where she currently lives. [4] She attended the University of Kent as a mature student where she received a BA in African and Caribbean studies and an MA in Post-Colonial Studies. [1] She taught creative writing in Broadstairs as part of the adult education offering at the University of Kent and was appointed an International Teaching Fellow at the University of Southampton. [5]

Literary career

Before moving to writing, Harris was a visual artist since her schooldays where she was taught by the Guyanese artist Stanley Greaves. [1] She exhibited her work during the 1980s in libraries and galleries, including at the University of Kent and The Mall Galleries in London. The cover of her book 60 Years of Loving features her artwork.[ citation needed ] In 2002, she founded the first live literature festival, Inscribing the Island, in Thanet to which she invited many Black British and Caribbean writers, including Valerie Bloom and Jackie Kay. [6]

She has published six collections of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir, and has recorded poems for children (Anansi Meets Miss Muffet). Her work has appeared in publications such as The Lampeter Review, Wasafiri , The Caribbean Writer , and Poetry Wales . [3] She has performed her work across the UK and in Barbados, and has represented Kent in Europe. [7] In 2011, she published her memoir Kiskadee Girl (Kingston University Press) which centres on her childhood in the Caribbean.

Two of her poems have been commissioned for public art installations. 'Dear Mr Dickens' appeared at The Catalpa Tree, Rochester Cathedral as part of The Empty Chair Poetry Trail Celebrating Charles Dickens. [8] As a competition winner, her poem 'Canterbury' is on display in Canterbury's Westgate Gardens.[ citation needed ] In 2016, she was commissioned by the BBC to write her poem Lit by Fire about the North Foreland Lighthouse in Broadstairs for National Poetry Day. [9] [10] Her poetry was featured in a number of anthologies, including Red: Contemporary Black British Poetry (Inscribe Print, Peepal Tree Press, 2010) and Out of Bounds: British Black and Asian Poets (Bloodaxe Books, 2012). [11] [12]

Speaking on the themes of her work, she has said: "Generally speaking, as a writer from Guyana, themes of migration and loss, engagement with questions of 'home', history and landscape are intrinsic to my writing. The loss of homeland and 'roots' is a strong undercurrent, as is also the fact of being a woman. Journeying, settlement and motherhood are also essential themes as is the realization of being a creative person, which means that these themes are not necessarily negative ones, but a part of life." [3] Harris has named Leonard Cohen, Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite, Lawrence ScottIsabel Allende, Jean Toomer, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Pauline Melville and Grace Nichols as literary influences. [3]

Awards and recognition

Harris won the Guyana Prize for Literature in 2000 for her first collection of poetry Limbolands and again in 2014 for Sixty Years of Loving. [10] Her collection After a Visit to a Botanical Garden was shortlisted for the prize in 2010. [13] She was awarded a grant by Arts Council England South East for her memoir Kiskadee Girl, [14] which won the Kingston University Life-Writing Competition in 2008. [15] In 2014, she won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Caribbean for her story Sending for Chantal. [16] [17]

In 2016, her collection In Margate by Lunchtime was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and the following year, she won third prize in the International Welsh Poetry Competition for her poem On Watching a Lemon Sail the Sea. [18] [19] In 2020, she won first prize in the Wales Poetry Award for and the thing is. [20] [21]

She has received the University of Kent T S Eliot Prize and the Kent Outstanding Learner award. [4] She was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Abroad Scholarship to the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill.[ citation needed ]

Bibliography

Poetry collections

Short story collections

Memoir

Related Research Articles

Olive Marjorie Senior is a Jamaican poet, novelist, short story and non-fiction writer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was awarded the Musgrave Gold Medal in 2005 by the Institute of Jamaica for her contributions to literature. Senior was appointed Poet Laureate of Jamaica in 2021.

Guyanese literature covers works including novels, poetry, plays and others written by people born or strongly-affiliated with Guyana. Formerly British Guiana, British language and style has an enduring impact on the writings from Guyana, which are done in English language and utilizing Guyanese Creole. Emigration has contributed to a large body of work relating the Guyanese diaspora experience.

Fred D'Aguiar is a British-Guyanese poet, novelist, and playwright of Portuguese descent. He is currently Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

David Dabydeen is a Guyanese-born broadcaster, novelist, poet and academic. He was formerly Guyana's Ambassador to UNESCO from 1997 to 2010 and the youngest Member of the UNESCO Executive Board (1993–1997), elected by the General Council of all Member States of UNESCO. He was appointed Guyana's Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinaire to China, from 2010 to 2015. He is one of the longest serving diplomats in the history of Guyana, most of his work done in a voluntary unpaid capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheenagh Pugh</span> British poet, novelist and translator (born 1950)

Sheenagh Pugh is a British poet, novelist and translator who writes in English. Her book, Stonelight (1999) won the Wales Book of the Year award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Nichols</span> Guyanese poet

Grace Nichols FRSL is a Guyanese poet who moved to Britain in 1977, before which she worked as a teacher and journalist in Guyana. Her first collection, I is a Long-Memoried Woman (1983), won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. In December 2021, she was announced as winner of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

Christopher Meredith FLSW is a poet, novelist, short story writer, and translator from Tredegar, Wales.

Stewart Brown is an English poet, university lecturer and scholar of African and Caribbean Literature.

Narmala Shewcharan is a Guyanese-born novelist and anthropologist who lives in the UK. She holds an MA and a PhD from Brunel University.

Michael Arthur Gilkes was a Caribbean literary critic, dramatist, poet, filmmaker and university lecturer. He was involved in theatre for more than 40 years, as a director, actor and playwright, winning the Guyana Prize for Drama in 1992 and 2006, as well as the Guyana Prize for Best Book of Poetry in 2002. He was also respected for his insight into and writings on the work of Wilson Harris.

Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. It was founded after a paper shortage in Guyana halted production of new books in the region, and was named after the sacred peepal trees transplanted to the Caribbean with Indian indentured labourers, after founder Jeremy Poynting heard a story of workers gathering under the tree to tell stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tishani Doshi</span> Indian writer (born 1975)

Tishani Doshi FRSL is an Indian poet, journalist and dancer based in Chennai. In 2006 she won the Forward Prize for her debut poetry book Countries of the Body. Her poetry book A God at the Door has been shortlisted for the 2021 Forward Prize under best poetry collection category. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoë Skoulding</span> Poet born 1967

Zoë Skoulding FLSW is a poet, living in Wales, whose work encompasses translation, editing, sound-based vocal performance, literary criticism and teaching creative writing. Her poetry has been widely anthologised, translated into over 25 languages and presented at numerous international festivals.

Christine Evans is a poet of Welsh origin, born in the West Riding of Yorkshire and writing in English. She lives in North Wales. Her book Cometary Phrases was Welsh Book of the Year in 1989.

Elly Niland is a Guyanese-born poet, playwright and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siobhan Campbell</span> Irish poet and critic

Siobhan Campbell is an Irish poet and critic. She is the author of six poetry collections. Campbell has developed creative writing workshops for military veterans as well as story-gathering protocols for work with refugees. Her recent research into creative writing as social practice has led her to work with patients in palliative care. Educated at University College Dublin and at Lancaster University, Campbell also pursued post-graduate study at NYU and the New School, New York City. Campbell is on faculty at The Open University, Dept. of English.

Rhian Edwards is a Welsh poet. Her debut collection of poetry, Clueless Dogs, was named the Wales Book of the Year in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Jenkins</span> Trinidadian writer

Barbara Jenkins is a Trinidadian writer, whose work since 2010 has won several international prizes, including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the Wasafiri New Writing Prize.

Zoë Brigley or Zoë Brigley Thompson is a Welsh poet, editor of Poetry Wales, and assistant professor in the Department of English of Ohio State University.

Jean Earle (1909-2002) was a British poet known for her prolific work during the last two decades of her life.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Publishing, T. S. S. (2016-10-31). "The Short Story Interview: Maggie Harris". TSS Publishing. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  2. "Maggie Harris | Seren Books". www.serenbooks.com. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Maggie Harris Interview". Confluence. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  4. 1 2 "Maggie Harris". www.estuaryfestival.com. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  5. "Maggie Harris". Cultured Llama. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  6. "Taking a walk down memory lane". Guyana Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  7. "Maggie Harris". Poetry and Music in Portsmouth and Southsea. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  8. "THE EMPTY CHAIR 2020 | Wordsmithery". wordsmith. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  9. "BBC Radio Kent - BBC Radio Kent Breakfast, National Poetry Day: Maggie Harris". BBC. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  10. 1 2 "Our Network | WRITING OUR LEGACY" . Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  11. "Red | Peepal Tree Press". www.peepaltreepress.com. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  12. "Out of Bounds | Bloodaxe Books". www.bloodaxebooks.com. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  13. "Sasenarine Persaud: Poets & Co: Guyana Prize for Literature - 2010 Shortlist". Sasenarine Persaud. 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  14. "about Maggie". www.poetrypf.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  15. WalesOnline (2011-10-13). "Author Maggie Harris on her Caribbean childhood and finding peace in Wales". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  16. "Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2014 Regional Winners". Commonwealth. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  17. Foundation, Commonwealth (2023-01-23). "Introducing Commonwealth Foundation Creatives". Commonwealth Foundation. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  18. "Edge Hill Short Story Prize longlist announced". Edge Hill University. March 9, 2016. Archived from the original on July 3, 2016.
  19. "Maggie Harris wins third prize, Welsh Poetry Competition | Seren Books". www.serenbooks.com. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  20. admin (2021-03-24). "Wales Poetry Award 2020: Winners Announced". Poetry Wales. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  21. "and the thing is". www.estuaryfestival.com. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  22. "cane arrow press". canearrowpress.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  23. "Canterbury Tales on a Cockcrow Morning". Cultured Llama. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  24. "Writing on Water | Seren Books". www.serenbooks.com. Retrieved 2023-03-13.