Petronella Breinburg
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Petronella Breinburg (1927 – 5 November 2019) was a Surinamese British author, playwright and professor and one of the first black British authors to write picture books about black children. ''My Brother Sean'', illustrated by
Errol Lloyd Errol Lloyd (born 1943)"Errol Lloyd. Born 1943 in Jamaica"
and published by
The Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name was used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books from 1987 to 2008. In April 2008, it was revived as an adul ...
in 1973, was followed by a series, including ''Sean Goes to School'', ''Sean's Red Bike'' and ''Doctor Sean''. She also wrote books focused on older children, including her first book ''Legend of Suriname'', ''Us Boys of Westcroft'' and ''Stories from the Caribbean''. Her early books, published at a time where black authored books were rare, provided one of the first opportunities for black children in Britain to read stories they could identify with.


Biography

Breinburg, of mixed European and African heritage, was born in Suriname in 1927. Her father, a policeman, died when she was 12 and the family – there were six children – went to live with her grandmother, near an old Dutch plantation. This grandmother used to terrify the children with tales about the old Dutchman who had owned the plantation. Influenced by a lineage of storytellers, Breinburg enjoyed writing from a young age, winning local competitions from the age of eight and writing her first play at 13. She was educated at St. Rosa and St. Margaret's Convent in Suriname, before training as a teacher.Breinburg, Petronella. 1968. Personal correspondence between Petronella Breinburg and
John La Rose John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
, owner of New Beacon Publishers. Last accessed at The George Padmore Institute. File 145.
After emigrating to Guyana with her husband, she gave birth to two children. In Guyana, she was a member of the
Red Cross Society The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world's largest group of non-governmental organizations working on humanitarian aid, is composed of the following bodies: *The ''International Committee of the Red Cross'' (ICRC), a comm ...
for 10 years, serving for some time as Lieutenant of the Girls Life Brigade. She came to the UK with her two children to join her husband in 1961. Breinburg was a supply teacher in London, where her experience of racism and representation shaped her writing. Breinburg obtained her doctorate in education with linguistics at
University of Keele Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University Coll ...
, with one year at
Amsterdam University The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
and a stint as a research fellow at the linguistic department of the
University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...
. She was then appointed to Goldsmiths' University of London, where she was a senior lecturer and head of the Caribbean Centre. Breinburg published books for children, teenagers, and for adults. She also wrote a number of plays and poetry. Breinburg died on 5 November 2019.


Publications

*''Legends of Suriname'' (1971) *''My Brother Sean'' (1973) *''Sean Goes to School'' (1974) *''Us Boys of Westcroft'' (1975) *''Doctor Sean'' (1975) *''Sean’s Red Bike'' (1976) *''A Girl, Frog and Petticoat'' (1977) *''One Day, Another Day'' (1977) *''Sally-Ann's Umbrella'' (1977) *''Sally-Ann in the Snow'' (1977) *''Sally-Ann's Skateboard'' (1979) *''Tiger, Paleface and Me'' (1979). ''
Nippers Nippers are young surf lifesavers, usually aged between 5 and 14 years old, in clubs across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Unlike senior surf lifesavers, the majority of them do not patrol the beaches. The focus for Nippers tends t ...
'' series. *''Brinsly's Dream'' (1980) *''Stories From The Caribbean'' (1999) *''Jeremia and The Trumpet Man'' (2004) *''Instead of Roses and Rings'' (2005) *''Thoughts of a Creole Woman: A Reminiscence'' (2006) *''A Long Road to Salamanca'' (2007) *''Goodasyu: Crescendo'' (2011) *''Out of a Coloured Box: The Broken Shoes Tale'' (2015)


References


External links


Petronella Breinburg at the Digital Library for Dutch Literature
(in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Breinburg, Petronella 1927 births 2019 deaths 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British women writers Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of Keele University Black British women writers Black British schoolteachers British women educators British women children's writers Surinamese educators Surinamese women educators Surinamese women writers