Patricia G. Turnbull (born 1952) is a poet from

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

. In 1991, she was awarded the Cedars Prize for Contemporary Poetry.

Life

Patricia Turnbull was born in Saint Lucia. She gained a BA at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

in 1974, and an MSc in English education from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1986. She has worked as a business communication consultant, a Saint Lucian Creole translator and speech coach, and an English teacher and department chair. Turnbull won the Cedars Prize for Contemporary Poetry in 1991. Man-made destruction of hillside plants – even before St Lucia was threatened by Hurricane Maria in 2017 – moved Turnbull to write a children's book, ''Ti Koko and Kush Kush'' (2018), about an unlikely friendship in a Caribbean garden. At the book's launch, Turnbull called for more community support for literary artists.'I think we are the most ignored' - Local author Dr Patricia G. Turnbull
''Virgin Island News Online'', 20 February 2018. Accessed 6 July 2020.

Works

* (ed.) ''Let's Take a Dip'', by Alein O'Neil. Castries, St Lucia: UNESCO, 1984. * (ed.) ''Boysie and the Genips, and other stories'', by Jennie Wheatley. Kingston: UNESCO, 1984. * ''Rugged Vessels: Poems'', 1992 * ''Ti Koko and Kush Kush'', Philipsburg, St. Martin: House of Nehesi Publishers, 2018. Illustrated by Reuben Vanterpool. * ''Ti Koko and Kush Kush'', Philipsburg, St. Martin: House of Nehesi Publishers, 2024 (Second Printing). Illustrated by Reuben Vanterpool.

References

1952 births Living people Saint Lucian women poets Saint Lucian poets Saint Lucian children's writers University of the West Indies alumni Syracuse University alumni Women children's writers {{Caribbean-writer-stub