Cynthia James

Cynthia James (born 1948) is a Trinidadian Canadian writer and literary theorist.

Cynthia James
Born	1948 (age 75–76) Sangre Grande, Trinidad and Tobago
Occupation	Writer
Alma mater	University of the West Indies at St. Augustine Howard University

Early life and education

Cynthia James was born in Sangre Grande, Trinidad and Tobago, in 1948. She was raised in Salybia, a village on the coast, and her parents were both teachers.^[1][2]

James attended St. George's College in Barataria, and then in 1969 she obtained a bachelor's degree in French, Spanish, and English from the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine. She later graduated with a master of art degree from the university.^[2]

In the 1990s, James went to the United States to study at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she graduated with a Ph.D. in 1998. She lectured at Howard before returning to Trinidad.^[1][3]

Career

James continued her academic career at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, lecturing on language education and other subjects. She also served on the university's advisory board and published extensively in academic journals. Her first book of literary criticism, The Maroon Narrative, was published in 2002; it focuses on Caribbean literature in English.^[3][4][5]

She also worked for many years as a public school teacher in Trinidad.^[6]

Writing

James had early success as a playwright, winning the country's first play-writing competition in 1979 with the work No Resolution.^[2]

She published her first book, the short-story collection Soothe Me Music, in 1990. This was followed by three poetry collections in the '90s: Iere, My Love; Vigil; and La Vega and Other Poems. Her most recent collection, Watermarked, was released in 2014.^[1][3][7]

In 2000, James published her first novel, Bluejean, followed by the novel Sapodilla Terrace in 2006.^[1][3]

Her work has been included in a number of anthologies, including the Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse and Sisters of Caliban: Contemporary Women Writers of the Caribbean.^[3]

In 2013, she was awarded the Caribbean Writer's Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for Fiction.^[8]

Personal life

James currently lives in Toronto, where she moved in the late 2000s.^[9][10]

Selected works

Short stories

• Soothe Me Music (1990)

Poetry

• Iere, My Love (1990)
• Vigil: A Long Poem (1995)
• La Vega and Other Poems (1995)
• Watermarked (2014)

Novels

• Bluejean (2000)
• Sapodilla Terrace (2006)
• I Dreamt You Planting Corn and Marrigolds (2023)

Literary criticism

• The Maroon Narrative (2002)

References

1. The Oxford book of Caribbean verse. Brown, Stewart, 1951-, McWatt, Mark A. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-19-280332-0. OCLC 62127184.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
2. Kuwabong, Dannabang (1997). Apocrypha of Nanny's Secrets: The Rhetoric of recovery in Africarribbean Women's Poetry. OCLC 957450318.
3. "CYNTHIA JAMES (Trinidad and Tobago, 1948)". Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
4. Staff (18 October 1996). "2 Caribbean Writers to Speak". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
5. "Advisory Board". The University of the West Indies at St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
6. "Notes on Contributors". Caribbean Curriculum. 12. 2005.
7. "In the Laundry Room". Small Axe Project. June 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
8. "The Caribbean Writer Announces Volume 26 Prize Winners". University of the Virgin Islands. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
9. "Poems by Cynthia James". Small Axe Project. February 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
10. ""Buxton Lady Under Lock Down" by Cynthia James". Geoffrey Philip. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2020.