Eintou Pearl Springer (formerly Pearl Eintou Springer) (born Cantaro village, Santa Cruz,

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 ...

, 24 November 1944) is a poet, playwright, librarian and cultural activist from Trinidad and Tobago. In May 2002, she was named Poet Laureate of

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Background

Springer's work frequently deals with social issues as well as pride in her African heritage. In 2003 she retired as Director of the National Heritage Library of Trinidad and Tobago, having founded the library and been its director since October 1993. She has served as a founding member of various cultural organizations, including the Writers Union of Trinidad and Tobago, the National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NDATT), and the Caribbean Theatre Guild. As an acclaimed performer and actress, she received NDATT's 2004 Vanguard Award, and through her family company, the Idakeda Group, she explores social issues using traditional performance forms. She was honoured as Poet Laureate of Port of Spain from 2002 to 2009. She is the author of several books, including poetry collections, for both adults and children, as well as having her writings published in a range of publications and anthologies, including ''Sturdy Black Bridges: Visions of Black Women in Literature'' (1979, edited by Roseann P. Bell, Bettye J. Parker and

Beverly Guy-Sheftall Beverly Guy-Sheftall (born June 1, 1946, in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American Black feminist scholar, writer and editor, who is the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies and English at Spelman College, in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the fou ...

), ''

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, edited by

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

), and ''Moving Beyond Boundaries, vol. I. International Dimensions of Black Women's Writings'' (1995, edited by

Carole Boyce Davies Carole Boyce Davies is a Caribbean-American professor of Africana Studies and English at Cornell University, the author of the prize-winning ''Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Claudia Jones'' (2008) and the classic ''Black Women, Writing ...

and Molara Ogundipe-Leslie). Springer has received acclaim for her work as a storyteller and dramatist. In 2011, her play ''How Anansi Brings the Drum'' celebrated the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

International Year for People of African Descent The United Nations General Assembly declared the year 2011 as International Year for People of African Descent (in UN resolution A/RES/64/169).

(IYPAD) and was part of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

's Youth Theatre Initiative. Springer is the subject of a 2010 film directed and produced by

Amon Saba Saakana Amon Saba Saakana, formerly known as Sebastian Clarke, is a Trinidad-born writer, journalist, lecturer, filmmaker and publisher, who migrated to Britain in 1965. In the 1970s he founded the publishing imprint Karnak House in London. As an author, ...

, entitled ''Ida's Daughter: The World of Eintou Pearl Springer''.

Personal life

Springer was born in Cantaro in the Santa Cruz valley above

, into a staunchly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

family. She is a devotee of the

Orisha Orishas (singular: orisha) are spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. T ...

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

religion. She has three children and lives in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

, Trinidad, having come "to the traditional African religion as an act of political and ideological self expression." Her daughter Dara Healy is a dancer and a politician in Trinidad, and currently serves as Chairman of the

Democratic National Assembly The Democratic National Assembly (DNA) is a political party in the Trinidad and Tobago. The party is meant to serve as a "third force" is society, providing a "non-tribal" alternative to the ruling United National Congress and the Opposition Peop ...

party. Writer and activist Attillah Springer is also her daughter.

Awards

* 1996: Trinidad & Tobago

Hummingbird Medal The Hummingbird Medal is a state decoration of Trinidad and Tobago, instituted in 1969. The medal is awarded for loyal and devoted service beneficial to the state in any field, or acts of conspicuous gallantry or other outstanding humane action. Th ...

(Silver) for Culture * 2004: Vanguard Award of the National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NDATT)"Eintou Pearl Springer - Biodata"
, Idakeda Group Ltd.

Books

*1986: ''Out of the Shadows'' (poetry). London:

Karia Press Norris Chrisleventon "Buzz" Johnson (2 November 1951 – 11 February 2014), generally known as Buzz Johnson, was a Tobago-born publisher and activist who in the 1970s relocated to England, UK. There he set up a small publishing company called Kar ...

. *1987: ''The Caribbean: the lands and their peoples''. London: Macdonald (previous ed. by Ken Campbell, 1980). *1991: ''Focussed'' (poetry) .l. Triangle. *1995: (Editor) ''The New Aesthetic and the Meaning of Culture in the Caribbean; the dream coming in with the rain: proceedings of the Carifesta V Symposia, Port of Spain, Trinidad, August 1992''. Port of Spain, Trinidad: National Carnival Commission. *2000: ''Moving Into the Light'' (poetry). Kingston, Jamaica:

Ian Randle Ian Randle (born 7 July 1949) is a Jamaican publisher. He is the founder of an eponymous independent publishing company whose main focus is on English-language readers. He has won awards including the Prince Claus Award in 2012 and the 2019 Boc ...

. *2005: ''Loving the Skin I'm In'' (poetry). Port of Spain: Lexicon Trinidad. *2016: ''Survivor: A Collection of Plays for Children and Young Adults''.

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 ...

. .

References

External links

Eintou Pearl Springer page

"Eintou Pearl Springer - Biodata"
Idakeda Group. {{DEFAULTSORT:Springer, Eintou Pearl 1944 births 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago actresses 20th-century women writers 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago actresses 21st-century women writers Living people Poets laureate Recipients of the Hummingbird Medal Trinidad and Tobago activists Trinidad and Tobago dramatists and playwrights Trinidad and Tobago women librarians Trinidad and Tobago women poets