Marion Patrick Jones (16 August 1931 – 2 March 2016) was a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The population of Trinidad is notably diverse, with approximately 35% Indo-Trinidadian, 34% ...

novelist, whose training was in the fields of library science and social anthropology. She is also known by the names Marion Glean and Marion O'Callaghan (her married name).

Barbara Fister Barbara Fister (born 1954) is an American author, blogger, librarian, best known for her writing about libraries and the role they play in student learning. She is a frequent contributor to Library Babel Fish for Inside Higher Ed as well as ACRL ...

"O'Callaghan, Marion"
''Third World Women's Literatures: A Dictionary and Guide to Materials in English'', Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 226. Living in Britain during the 1960s, she was also an activist within the black community. She was the author of two notable novels – ''Pan Beat'', first published in 1973, and ''J'Ouvert Morning'' (1976) – and also wrote non-fiction.

Early life

Jones was born in

Woodbrook, Port of Spain The Woodbrook district, west of Downtown, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, was formerly a sugar estate owned by the Siegert family of Angostura bitters fame. The estate was sold to the Town Board in 1911 and developed into a residential neighbo ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

, in 1934. She graduated from St Joseph's Convent — an exclusive

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

girls' school in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

run by Irish nuns, the Sisters of Cluny — winning the Girls' Open Island Scholarship in 1950, and placing third. She attended the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture,

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, one of the first two women to be admitted.

Funso Aiyejina Funso Aiyejina (1 January 1949 – 1 July 2024) was a Nigerian poet, short story writer, playwright and academic. He was Dean of Humanities and Education (until his retirement in 2014) and Professor Emeritus at the University of the West Indies. ...

"Jones, Marion (Marion Glean O’Callaghan)"
in Daniel Balderston, Mike Gonzalez (eds), ''Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Latin American and Caribbean Literature 1900–2003'',

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 2004, p. 287. In the 1950s Jones went to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she earned a diploma in library science, paying for her education by working in a ceramics factory painting the wares. She worked with Manny Spiro to create a trade union. She then returned home to become a chartered librarian, working as Senior Librarian at Carnegie Library,

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

, Trinidad.Jennifer Rahim
"Jones, Marion Patrick"
in Eugene Benson and L. W. Conolly (eds), ''Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English'', Routledge (1994), 2nd edn 2005, p. 741. In the 1960s she continued her studies in Britain, graduating with a BSc degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She did postgraduate studies in social anthropology at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

,Terry Coleman
"From the archive, 12 December 1964: Martin Luther King stops off in the UK"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' (UK), 12 December 2014. writing a thesis on the Chinese community in Trinidad.

Activism in Britain, 1960s

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

and a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, known as Marion Glean during her time in Britain, she played a prominent role within the black community John Rex, review of ''The Politics of the Powerless: A Study of the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination'' by Benjamin W. Heineman, ''American Journal of Sociology'', Vol. 80, No. 5 (March 1975; pp. 1272–75), p. 1274. and "contributed to a series of statements by

post-colonial Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and thei ...

activists on 'race' in the run-up to the

1964 UK general election The 1964 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 15 October 1964. It resulted in the Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, narrowly losing to the Labour Party, led by Harold Wilson; Labour secured a parliamentary ...

, published by Theodore Roszak, editor of ''

Peace News ''Peace News'' (''PN'') is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), and from 1990 to 2004 ...

''."Kalbir Shukra
''The Changing Pattern of Black Politics in Britain''
Pluto Press, 1998, p. 20. As Kalbir Shukra describes in ''The Changing Pattern of Black Politics in Britain'' (1998): "After the election, Glean brought together Alan Lovell and

Michael Randle Michael Randle (born 1933) is an English peace campaigner and researcher known for his involvement in nonviolent direct action in Britain and also for his role in helping the Soviet spy George Blake escape from a British prison. Early life Born ...

, who were pacifists and former members of the Committee of 100, with other friends who had written for ''Peace News'' including an Asian woman, Ranjana Ash (an active member of the

Movement for Colonial Freedom Liberation (founded as the Movement for Colonial Freedom) is a political civil rights advocacy group founded in the United Kingdom in 1954. It had the support of many Members of Parliament, including Harold Wilson, Barbara Castle and Tony Benn, an ...

C. L. R. James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989), Fraser, C. Gerald (2 June 1989)"C. L. R. James, Historian, Critic And Pan-Africanist, Is Dead at 88" ''The New York Times''. . who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson ...

and

Barry Reckord Barrington John Reckord (19 November 1926 – 20 December 2011), known as Barry Reckord, was a Jamaican playwright, one of the earliest Caribbean writers to make a contribution to theatre in Britain. His brother was the actor and director Lloyd ...

(African-Caribbean playwright and actor)." The initial outcome was that a debating group called Multi-Racial Britain was formed; however, when

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

was on his way to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

to receive the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

, Glean arranged with

Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin ( ; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an American political activist and prominent leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin was the principal organizer of the March on Wash ...

for King to come to London to address a meeting, which was chaired by David Pitt. According to ''

''′s report at the time: "Mrs Glean, together with Canon L. John Collins, hastily assembled about 30 Indians, Pakistanis, West Indians, and Africans...at the Hilton Hotel in London, where Dr King spoke for only a few minutes. The whole discussion lasted only an hour and a half, but at the end of it the new movement was formed and Mrs Glean appointed secretary." The movement founded at that gathering in December 1964 was the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD), which was formally launched soon afterwards.Lloyd W. Brown
"Jones, Marion Patrick"
Contemporary Novelists, 2001. Retrieved 25 April 2015 from Encyclopedia.com.

Writings, 1970s

She worked as Director of Social Science Programmes for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from 1965 to 1990, during which time she used her married name Marion O'Callaghan, or Marion Glean O'Callaghan, for her non-fiction writings, particularly on Africa. She was in charge of the anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

programme at UNESCO. As Marion O'Callaghan she wrote "Introductory Notes" for a symposium, ''Sociological Theories; Race and Colonialism'', published by UNESCO in 1980. Her first novel, ''Pan Beat'' (1973), was about

steelband The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro-Trinidadians. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. In 1992, the steelpan was declared Trinidad and Tobago’s national in ...

and the involvement of women in its development. Her other novel, ''J’Ouvert Morning'', was published in 1976, and examines middle-class predicaments in a society with a colonial heritage. These were published under the name Marion Patrick Jones. Lloyd W. Brown commented on her work: "In spite of the soap operatic quality of her narrative materials, Jones's novels succeed as riveting documents of a troubled society in a state of transition. ...despite Jones's melodramatic tendencies, the characters are vividly drawn and the language—especially in ''J'Ouvert Morning'' —is original and invigorating." According to

Jennifer Rahim Jennifer Rahim (1963 – 13 March 2023) was a Trinidadian fiction writer, poet and literary critic. Career Rahim held a BA (1987) and PhD (1993) in literatures in English and an MA in theology (2016), and having joined the University of the W ...

, "The author's invaluable contribution to the region's literature is her sensitive analysis of the Trinidadian urban middle class, as it strives to escape poverty and anonymity." Writing by Jones appears in such collections as ''Her True-True Name: An Anthology of Women's Writing from the Caribbean'' (eds

Pamela Mordecai Pamela Claire Mordecai (born 1942) is a Jamaican-born poet, novelist, short story writer, scholar and anthologist who lives in Canada. Biography Born in Kingston, Jamaica, she attended high school in Jamaica, and Newton College of the Sacre ...

and Betty Wilson, 1989), ''Caribbean Women Writers: Essays from the First International Conference'' (ed. Selwyn R. Cudjoe, 1990) and '' Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent'' (ed.

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 then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...

, 1992). As Marion O'Callaghan, she wrote a weekly commentary column in the ''

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday ''Trinidad and Tobago Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. ''Newsday'' is the newest of the three daily papers after the ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' and the '' Trinidad and Tobago Express'' respectively. The newspaper was f ...

'' newspaper. After retiring from UNESCO in 1990, she lived in Trinidad. She died aged 84 at her home in Port of Spain on 2 March 2016.

Family

Her father Patrick Jones (1876–1965), of African/Chinese heritage, was a leading Trinidadian trade unionist and socio-political activist at the turn of the 20th century.Dermot Keogh
"Big topic, big book"
''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', 23 September 2000. He was also a well known calypsonian who used the sobriquet "Cromwell, the Lord Protector" (popularly called "Chinee Patrick"), and sang what he called "the first political cariso" in 1920. In addition he is notable as the first pyrotechnist in Trinidad and Tobago, manufacturing fireworks from the end of the 1920s.Marion O'Callaghan
"Those fireworks"
''Newsday'', 13 January 2014. She was married to Benedict Glean, and to the late Maurice O'Callaghan, who came to Trinidad from

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to help establish the

Presentation Brothers The Congregation of Presentation Brothers (; English: "Brothers of the Presentation of Mary"; abbreviated F.P.M.) is an international Catholic congregation of laymen founded in 1802 in Waterford, Ireland, by a local Irish businessman, Edmund Ig ...

' school, Presentation College, in

at the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Tim Pat Coogan
''Wherever Green is Worn: The Story of the Irish Diaspora''
Head of Zeus, 2015, p. 591.

Bibliography

Fiction

* ''Pan Beat''. Port of Spain: Columbus, 1973. * ''J'Ouvert Morning''. Port of Spain: Columbus, 1976.

Non-fiction

''Namibia: The Effects of Apartheid on Culture and Education''
Unesco, 1977.
''Southern Rhodesia: The effects of a conquest society on education, culture, and information''
Unesco, 1977.