Lucilda Hunter, née Caulker (15 July 1943 – 21 August 2022) was a Sierra Leonean librarian, novelist and biographer, who wrote under the name Yema Lucilda Hunter.Jones, Wilma L.
"Twenty Contemporary African Women Writers: A Bio-Bibliography"
1995. Accessed 15 February 2020.

Life

Yema Lucilda Hunter was born on 15 July 1943 in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

, to parents Richard Edmund Kelfa-Caulker (the first African principal of the

Albert Academy The Albert Academy (AA) is a secondary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The school's motto is ''Esse Quam Vederi'' (Rather to be than to Seem). It is situated at Berry Street in Freetown. Among its alumni are Sierra Leone's first Prime Minister ...

, who later became a diplomat, serving as Sierra Leone High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ambassador to the United States) and Olivette Hannah Stuart (from a prominent African-Caribbean family, whose grandfather, Melvin Stuart, came from the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

in 1878 to work for the colonial administration). She was educated at the

Annie Walsh Memorial School The Annie Walsh Memorial School is an all-girls secondary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was established in 1849 originally in Charlotte, Sierra Leone, Charlotte, a newly established village for recaptives. It is claimed to be the oldest g ...

,Lucilda Hunter
''Sierra Leonean Writers Series''. Accessed 15 February 2020. before undertaking university studies in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She gained a BA degree from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

in 1964, a post-graduate diploma in librarianship from North-Western Polytechnic in 1966, and a master's degree in philosophy from

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

. Hunter worked as a librarian at the Sierra Leone Library Board, in the Medical Library at

Connaught Hospital Connaught Hospital is the principal adult referral hospital in Sierra Leone. Connaught Hospital was opened in 1912 by the Duke of Connaught, Prince Arthur. President Kabbah re-opened the hospital on May 5, 2006, alongside the Princess Christian ...

in Freetown, and with the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

. She took early retirement in 1999, and that year was made a fellow of the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge management, knowle ...

. She lived with her husband in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, where she died, aged 79, on 21 August 2022.

Works

* 1982. ''Road to Freedom''. Ibadan: African Universities Press. (Later reissued in 2016 as ''Finding Freedom''.) * 1989. ''Bittersweet''. London: Macmillan. * 2006. ''Redemption Song''. Freetown: Sierra Leonean Writers Series. * 2012. ''Joy Came in the Morning'', typewritten pre-publication circulation of Chapter One. * 2013. ''Joy Came in the Morning''. Accra: Sierra Leonean Writers Series. * 2014. Nanna. Sierra Leonean Writers Series. * 2015. ''An African Treasure: In Search of Gladys Casely-Hayford''. Freetown: Sierra Leonean Writers Series. * 2018. ''Her Name Was Aina''. Freetown: Sierra Leonean Writers Series. * 2022. ''Deep Waters''. Freetown: Sierra Leonean Writers Series.

References

1943 births 2000 deaths Autobiographers Biographers Farquhar family (Sierra Leone) People of Sierra Leone Creole descent Sierra Leone Creole people Sierra Leonean librarians Sierra Leonean novelists Sierra Leonean people of British descent Sierra Leonean women writers Sierra Leoneans of Bahamian descent Women autobiographers Women biographers Women librarians Alumni of the University of Reading {{SierraLeone-bio-stub