Mark McWatt (born 29 September 1947)"Mark McWatt — Brief Biography".
/ref> is a Guyanese writer and former professor of English at University of the West Indies.

Biography

McWatt was born in Guyana, attending many schools throughout the country due to his father's position as a district officer. McWatt attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

(1966–70) and

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, where he studied the works of

Wilson Harris Sir Theodore Wilson Harris (24 March 1921 – 8 March 2018) was a Guyanese writer. He initially wrote poetry, but subsequently became a novelist and essayist. His writing style is often said to be abstract and densely metaphorical, and his sub ...

and completed a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1975. He took a position at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

, as an assistant lecturer, then moved up to Professor of West Indian Literature in 1999, until retiring in 2007 as Professor Emeritus. He was founding editor, in 1986, of the ''Journal of West Indian Literature'' and published three collections of poetry, the second of which, ''The Language of Eldorado'' (1994), was awarded the Guyana Prize. His first work of fiction, ''Suspended Sentences'', was the winner of a

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

in 2006, as well as the

Casa de las Américas Prize The Casa de las Américas Prize (''Premio Literario Casa de las Américas'') is a literary award given by the Cuban Casa de las Américas. Established in 1959, it is one of Latin America’s oldest and most prestigious literary prizes. The award ...

for best book of Caribbean Literature in English or Creole. A review of ''Suspended Sentences'' in the ''Journal of West Indian Literature'' called it "haunting, magical and profane". He co-edited the literature compilations ''Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse''Mark McWatt page
at

Peepal Tree Press 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 bo ...

. and ''The Caribbean Short Story: Critical Perspectives''. McWatt has said his poetry was inspired first by the Guyana landscape, and how it can "at once alter and respond to interior states". His poems reflect his views of the natural world and the supernatural, including a vampire of Caribbean folklore ("Ol' Higue"), and of marriage and domesticity ("A Man in the House").

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''Interiors'' - Dangaroo Press, 1989 * ''The Language of Eldorado -'' Dangaroo Press,1994 () * ''The Journey to Le Repentir'' -

, 2009 ()

Fiction

* ''Suspended Sentences: Fictions of Atonement'' - Peepal Tree Press, 2005 ()

As editor

* ''The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse'' - 2005 (edited with

Stewart Brown Stewart Brown (born 1951 in Southampton, UK) is an English poet, university lecturer and scholar of African and Caribbean Literature.

) * ''The Caribbean Short Story: Critical Perspectives'' - edited by Mark McWatt, Lucy Evans, and Emma Smith; Peepal Tree Press, 2011 ()

Biography

Bibliography

Poetry

Fiction

As editor

References

Further reading