Una Marson: Selected Poems (Caribbean Modern Classics)

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Marson's radio programme, Caribbean Voices, was subsequently produced by Henry Swanzy, who took over after she returned to Jamaica. [26] Life after World War II (1945–65) [ edit ] Jenkins, Lee M. "Penelope's Web: Una Marson, Lorna Goodison, M. Nourbese Philip". In The Language of Caribbean Poetry: Boundaries of Expression. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2004. Una Marson: poems of a Jamaican literarypioneer Posted: August 6, 2016 | Author: Zócalo Poets | Filed under: English, English: Jamaican Patois, Una Marson | Comments Off on Una Marson: poems of a Jamaican literarypioneer

Jarrett-Macauley, Delia. The Life of Una Marson. Manchester (UK): Manchester University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0719052842. Reprinted 2010, ISBN 9780719082566.

Abstract

In 1936, Marson attended the 12 th Congress of the International Alliance for Women for Suffrage and Legal Citizenship in Istanbul as a delegate and spoke to a gathering about the pressing need to support the impoverished families of Jamaica.

some money will be available from a private source for social work in the villages on rural institute lines and Miss Marson has been asked to help with the organisation. She hopes that she may start this work in January and we wish her the fullest possible measure of success, as all who have heard her speak about conditions in Jamaica know a great need.’ is reviewed between 08.30 to 16.30 Monday to Friday. We're experiencing a high volume of enquiries so it may take usThe International Woman Suffrage News reported Marson’s presence at the event as a ‘well-deserved success’ and Marson had good news to share: International Woman Suffrage News– 4 December 1936

We also know that clinical depression was a major, life-long problem, and although sometimes embarrassed about it, Marson never hid the truth. In fact, when I neglected to mention her depression in an early article in Jamaica Journal—perhaps out of a misguided desire to shield her reputation—one of her fellow-poets rebuked me. Una would have wanted me to tell the truth, he insisted. Eventually, this appears to have led to what we might refer to now as burnout. Her mental health suffered and she ended up being hospitalised in a psychiatric institution in Jamaica. Upon her recovery, she returned to charitable work and political campaigning, setting up a publishing company that made the work of Jamaican authors accessible to as many people as possible. When she spoke about her work on Woman’s Hour, many years later, she noted that it marked her return to the BBC.Narain, Denise deCaires. "Literary Mothers? Una Marson and Phyllis Shand Allfrey". Contemporary Caribbean Women's Poetry: Making Style. New York & London: Routledge, 2002.

The conflicting details regarding Marson's personal life show that there is very little information available about her. For example, Waters' article quotes Marson's criticisms of Porgy and Bess, yet provides no citation for this work. In combination with this is the limited record of her writings during this time period. Many of her works were left unpublished or circulated only in Jamaica. [31] Most of these writings are only available in the Institute of Jamaica in Kingston, as a special collection at the National Library of Jamaica. [32] Given these constraints, it is difficult to understand the whole of Marson's accomplishments during the final two decades of her life. Marson's poetry was included in the 1992 anthology Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby. [16] Today, Marson is recognised as the first major woman poet of the Caribbean and an outstanding feminist. Marson was a vulnerable yet worldly-woman who dedicated her life to the great causes of her day including gender equality and racial solidarity which she most poignantly portrayed in her poem ‘There will come a time’ (1931) where she looked forward to the day when peoples of the world …will look to each other’s hearts And souls, and not upon their skin … while I live, ‘Tis mine to share in this gigantic task Of oneness for the world’s humanity.

The poem is purposefully juxtaposed with ‘The Stone Breakers’ a raw, gritty composition, written in Jamaican dialect, that centres on the painful physical labour that is demanded from women. ‘Liza me chile, I’s really tired/But wha fe do – we mus’ brok de stone’ was Marson’s way of highlighting how much work in freedom’s name was still left to do. It is popularly believed here that Jamaica is a paradise island with beautiful sea Reynolds’s Newspaper – 21 August 1938 On returning, Una Marson was admitted in the St. Josephs Hospital, Kingston and died there on the 5th May, 1965. She was buried on the 10th of May at the Half-Way-Tree Parish Cemetery. In 1998, Delia Jarrett-Macauley published the original full-length biography The Life of Una Marson, 1905–1965 ( Manchester University Press, reprinted 2010). [35]