Amryl Johnson (6 April 1944 – 1 February 2001) was a writer born in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

who lived most of her life in Britain.

Life

Johnson was born in

Tunapuna Tunapuna is a town in the East–West Corridor of the island of Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago. Town Tunapuna is located between St. Augustine, Tacarigua and Trincity. Tunapuna is the largest town between San Juan and Arima. It is an importa ...

, Trinidad, and was brought up by her grandparents until the age of 11, when she moved to Britain to join her parents. Busby, Margaret, "Amryl Johnson", ''Daughters of Africa'', London: Jonathan Cape, 1992, p. 587. She attended secondary school in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and went on to study British, African and Caribbean literature at the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

. Much of her work concerned the

diasporic A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

nature of her life and the hostility she faced in Britain. For a time, she taught at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

but generally supported herself by writing and performing. During the late 1980s, she settled in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

. ''Sequins for a Ragged Hem'' (1988) narrates Johnson's second return tour to Trinidad as a spiritual "homecoming" made problematic, among other reasons, by the fact that the house where she was born had been demolished. Johnson's work was included in several anthologies, including '' News for Babylon: The Chatto Book of Westindian-British Poetry'' (1984), ''Let It Be Told: Essays by Black Women in Britain'' (1987), ''Watchers & Seekers: Creative Writing by Black Women in Britain'' (1987), ''

The New British Poetry ''The New British Poetry 1968-88'' was a poetry anthology from 1988, jointly edited by Gillian Allnutt, Fred D'Aguiar, Ken Edwards and Eric Mottram, respectively concerned with feminist, Black British, younger experimental and British poetry reviv ...

'' (1988), ''Delighting the Heart'' (1989), ''Creation Fire: A CAFRA Anthology of Caribbean Women's Poetry'' (1990), ''Taking Reality by Surprise'' (1991), ''

Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'' (1992) and ''OTHER: British and Irish Poetry since 1970'' (1999).

Selected works

* ''Shackles'', poetry (1983) * ''Long Road to Nowhere'', poetry (

Virago A virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. The word comes from the Latin word ''virāgō'' ( genitive virāginis) meaning vigorous' from ''vir'' meaning "man" or "man-like" (cf. virile and virtue) to which the suffix ''-ā ...

, 1985) * ''Sequins for a Ragged Hem'', travel writing (Virago, 1988) * ''Blood and Wine'', audio recording (Cofa Press, 1991) * ''Gorgons'', poetry (Cofa Press, 1992) * ''Tread Softly in Paradise'' (Cofa Press) * ''Calling'', poetry (2000)

References

External links

"Amryl Johnson"
at Spoken Word Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Amryl 1944 births 2001 deaths Trinidad and Tobago poets Trinidad and Tobago women poets Writers from Coventry 20th-century British women writers Black British women writers 20th-century British poets