James Berry, OBE, Hon FRSL (28 September 1924 – 20 June 2017), was a Jamaican poet who settled in England in the 1940s. His poetry is notable for using a mixture of standard English and

Jamaican Patois Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with West African influences, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican diaspora. A majority of the non-English ...

. Berry's writing often "explores the relationship between black and white communities and in particular, the excitement and tensions in the evolving relationship of the Caribbean immigrants with Britain and British society from the 1940s onwards".Wilcox, Zoe (18 October 2012)
"British Library acquires the archive of poet James Berry"
Group for Literary Archives & Manuscripts. As the editor of two seminal anthologies, ''Bluefoot Traveller'' (1976) and '' News for Babylon'' (1984), he was in the forefront of championing West Indian/British writing.

Biography

The son of Robert Berry, a

smallholder A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

, and his wife Maud, a seamstress, James Berry was born and grew up in rural Portland,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. He began writing stories and poems while still at school. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, as a teenager, he went to work for six years (1942–48) in the United States, before returning to Jamaica. In his own words: :"America had run into a shortage of farm labourers and was recruiting workers from Jamaica. I was 18 at the time. My friends and I, all anxious for improvement and change, were snapped up for this war work and we felt this to be a tremendous prospect for us. But we soon realised, as we had been warned, that there was a colour problem in the United States that we were not familiar with in the Caribbean. America was not a free place for black people. When I came back from America, pretty soon the same old desperation of being stuck began to affect me. When the '' Windrush'' came along, it was godsend, but I wasn't able to get on the boat.... I had to wait for the second ship to make the journey that year, the SS ''Orbita''." Settling in 1948 in Great Britain, he attended night school, trained and worked as a telegrapher in London, while also writing.Shostak, Elizabeth
"James Berry"
Gale Contemporary Black Biography. He has been reported as saying: "I knew I was right for London and London was right for me. London had books and accessible libraries." He became an early member of the

Caribbean Artists Movement The Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM) was an influential cultural initiative, begun in London, England, in 1966 and active until about 1972,Edward Kamau Brathwaite The Honourable Edward Kamau Brathwaite, CHB (; 11 May 1930 – 4 February 2020), was a Barbadian poet and academic, widely considered one of the major voices in the Caribbean literary canon.Staff (2011)"Kamau Brathwaite." New York University, D ...

, Andrew Salkey 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 ...

, and in 1971 was its acting chair. In 1976 Berry compiled the anthology ''Bluefoot Traveller'' and in 1979 his first poetry collection, ''Fractured Circles'', was published by

New Beacon Books New Beacon Books is a British publishing house, bookshop, and international book service that specializes in Black British, Caribbean, African, African-American and Asian literature. Founded in 1966 by John La Rose and Sarah White, it was the ...

. In 1981 he won the

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

National Poetry Competition The National Poetry Competition is an annual poetry prize established in 1978 in the United Kingdom. It is run by the UK-based Poetry Society and accepts entries from all over the world, with over 10,000 poems being submitted to the competition ...

, the first poet of West Indian origin to do so. Dabydeen, David, John Gilmore, Cecily Jones (eds), ''The Oxford Companion to Black British History'', Oxford University Press, 2007, ''"News for Babylon"'', p. 343. He edited the landmark anthology ''News for Babylon'' (1984), considered "a ground-breaking publication because its publishing house Chatto & Windus was 'mainstream' and distinguished for its international poetry list". Berry wrote many books for young readers, including ''A Thief in the Village and Other Stories'' (1987), ''The Girls and Yanga Marshall'' (1987), ''The Future-Telling Lady and Other Stories'' (1991), ''Anancy-Spiderman'' (1988), ''Don't Leave an Elephant to Go and Chase a Bird'' (1996) and ''First Palm Trees'' (1997). His ''A Story About Afiya'' was published by Lantana in 2020 and named one of the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Best Children's Books of the year. It was also listed in the New York Times list of children's books that "let young minds wonder and wander on their own." His last book of poetry, ''A Story I Am In: Selected Poems'' (2011), draws on five earlier collections: ''Fractured Circles'' (1979), ''Lucy’s Letters and Loving'' (1982, ''Chain of Days'' (1985), ''Hot Earth Cold Earth'' (1995) and ''Windrush Songs'' (2007). In 1995, his "Song of a Blue Foot Man" was adapted and staged at the

Watford Palace Theatre Watford Palace Theatre, opened in 1908, is an Edwardian Grade II listed building in Watford, Hertfordshire. The 600-seat theatre on Clarendon Road was refurbished in 2004. It houses its own rehearsal room, wardrobe, cafe and bar. History The ...

.National Theatre Black Plays Archive.
/ref> In 1990, Berry was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to poetry. In September 2004 he was one of fifty Black and Asian writers who have made major contributions to contemporary British literature who featured in the historic "A Great Day in London" photograph at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

. His archives were acquired by the British Library in October 2012."British Library acquires the archive of Caribbean British poet and writer, James Berry"
British Library press release, 16 October 1912. Among other items, the archive contains drafts of an unpublished novel, ''The Domain of Sollo and Sport''. He died in London on 20 June 2017 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Selected publications

* ''Bluefoot Traveller: An Anthology of Westindian Poets in Britain'' (editor), London: Limestone Publications, 1976; revised edition ''Bluefoot Traveller: Poetry by West Indians in Britain'', London: Harrap, 1981 * ''Fractured Circles'' (poetry), London:

, 1979 * ''Lucy's Letters and Loving'', London: New Beacon Books, (1982) * '' News for Babylon: The Chatto Book of Westindian-British Poetry'' (editor), London: Chatto & Windus, 1984 * ''Chain of Days'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1985 * ''A Thief in the Village and other stories'' (for children), London: Hamish Hamilton, 1987 * ''The Girls and Yanga Marshall: four stories'' (for children), London: Longman, 1987 * ''Anancy-Spiderman: 20 Caribbean Folk Tales'' (for children), illustrated by Joseph Olubo, London: Walker, 1988 * ''When I Dance'' (for children), Hamish Hamilton, 1988 * ''Isn't My Name Magical?'' (for children), Longman/BBC, 1990 * ''The Future-Telling Lady and other stories'' (for children), London: Hamish Hamilton, 1991 * ''Ajeemah and his Son'' (for children), USA:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

, 1992 * ''Celebration Song'' (for children), London: Hamish Hamilton, 1994 * ''Classic Poems to Read Aloud'' (editor), London: Kingfisher, 1995 * ''Hot Earth Cold Earth'', Bloodaxe Books, 1995 * ''Playing a Dazzler'' (for children), London: Hamish Hamilton, 1996 * ''Don't Leave an Elephant to Go and Chase a Bird'' (for children), USA:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, 1996 * ''Everywhere Faces Everywhere'' (for children), Simon and Schuster, 1997 * ''First Palm Trees'' (for children), illustrated by Greg Couch, Simon & Schuster, 1997 * ''Around the World in 80 Poems'' (editor – for children), London: Macmillan, 2001 * ''A Nest Full of Stars'' (for children), London: Macmillan, 2002 * ''Only One of Me'' (selected poems – for children), London: Macmillan, 2004 * ''James Berry Reading from his poems for children'', CD, The Poetry Archive, 2005 * ''Windrush Songs'', Bloodaxe Books, 2007 * ''A Story I Am In: Selected Poems'', Bloodaxe Books, 2011

Awards

* 1977–78, C. Day-Lewis Fellowship * 1981,

(for "Fantasy of an African Boy") * 1987, Smarties Prize (for ''A Thief in the Village'') * 1989, Signal Poetry Award (for ''When I Dance'') * 1989, Coretta Scott King Book Award * 1991,

Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards () are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has be ...

* 1993,

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...

(for ''Ajeemah and His Son'') * 2007, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature"Current RSL Fellows"
The Royal Society of Literature.

References

External links

British Library announcement of Berry archive acquisition
16 October 2012 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, James 1924 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Jamaican poets Jamaican male poets Migrants from British Jamaica to the United Kingdom British children's writers Black British writers Anthologists 21st-century Jamaican poets Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Caribbean Artists Movement people Deaths from dementia in England Deaths from Alzheimer's disease