Fred D'Aguiar
Encyclopedia
Fred D'Aguiar is an author of poetry, novels, and drama.
D'Aguiar was born in London. His parents were Guyanese. He spent his childhood, from the age of two to twelve, in Guyana
. His work has received much, and growing, acclaim. His Bill of Rights, about the Jonestown
Massacre of 1978, was a finalist for the 1998 T. S. Eliot Prize
. He was Judith E. Wilson Fellow at Cambridge University (1989–90), Visiting Writer at Amherst College
, Amherst, Massachusetts
(1992–94), and was Assistant Professor of English at Bates College
, Lewiston, Maine
(1994–95). He was Professor of English and Creative Writing
at the University of Miami
. Since 2003, he has held the position of Professor of English and Co-Director of the Master of Fine Arts
in Creative Writing
at Virginia Tech. He was also Northern Arts Literature Fellow at Newcastle and Durham
Universities.
He trained as a psychiatric nurse before reading African and Caribbean Studies at the University of Kent
, Canterbury
, graduating in 1985. His first collection of poetry, Mama Dot (1985), was published to much acclaim. Along with Airy Hall (1989) (named after the village in Guyana where he spent his childhood), it won the Guyana Poetry Prize
in 1989 and was followed by British Subjects (1993). His first novel, The Longest Memory (1994), tells the story of Whitechapel, a slave on an eighteenth-century Virginia plantation and won both the David Higham Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award. It was adapted for television and televised by Channel 4 in the UK. His long poem Sweet Thames was broadcast as part of the BBC
"Worlds on Film" series in 1992, winning the Commission for Racial Equality
Race in the Media Award.
His plays include High Life, which was first produced at the Albany Empire in London in 1987, and A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death, performed at the Royal Court Theatre
, London, in 1991.
He is also the author of the novels Dear Future (1996), set on a fictional Caribbean
island, and Feeding the Ghosts (1997), inspired by a visit D'Aguiar made to the Merseyside Maritime Museum
in Liverpool and based on the true story of a slave who survived being thrown overboard with 132 other men, women and children from a slave ship
in the Atlantic.
Recent poetry includes Bill of Rights (1998), a long narrative poem about the Jonestown
massacre in Guyana in 1979, which is told in Guyanese versions of English, fusing patois, Creole and nation-language with the standard vernacular; and a new long narrative poem, Bloodlines, the story of a black slave and her white lover, published in 2000.
His fourth novel, Bethany Bettany (2003), is centred on a five-year-old Guyanese girl, Bethany, whose suffering symbolises that of a nation seeking to make itself whole again.
D'Aguiar was born in London. His parents were Guyanese. He spent his childhood, from the age of two to twelve, in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
. His work has received much, and growing, acclaim. His Bill of Rights, about the Jonestown
Jonestown
Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby...
Massacre of 1978, was a finalist for the 1998 T. S. Eliot Prize
T. S. Eliot Prize
The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is awarded by the Poetry Book Society to "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland" in any particular year. The Prize was inaugurated in 1993 in celebration of the Poetry Book Society's 40th birthday and in...
. He was Judith E. Wilson Fellow at Cambridge University (1989–90), Visiting Writer at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
(1992–94), and was Assistant Professor of English at Bates College
Bates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
, Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...
(1994–95). He was Professor of English and Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
. Since 2003, he has held the position of Professor of English and Co-Director of the Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
in Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
at Virginia Tech. He was also Northern Arts Literature Fellow at Newcastle and Durham
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
Universities.
He trained as a psychiatric nurse before reading African and Caribbean Studies at the University of Kent
University of Kent
The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
, Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, graduating in 1985. His first collection of poetry, Mama Dot (1985), was published to much acclaim. Along with Airy Hall (1989) (named after the village in Guyana where he spent his childhood), it won the Guyana Poetry Prize
Literature of Guyana
Guyanese literature has been produced by a number of authors, most of whom write in the English language. Many Guyanese-born writers have emigrated abroad.-History of Guyanese literature:...
in 1989 and was followed by British Subjects (1993). His first novel, The Longest Memory (1994), tells the story of Whitechapel, a slave on an eighteenth-century Virginia plantation and won both the David Higham Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award. It was adapted for television and televised by Channel 4 in the UK. His long poem Sweet Thames was broadcast as part of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
"Worlds on Film" series in 1992, winning the Commission for Racial Equality
Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to tackle racial discrimination and promote racial equality. Its work has been merged into the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.-History:...
Race in the Media Award.
His plays include High Life, which was first produced at the Albany Empire in London in 1987, and A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death, performed at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
, London, in 1991.
He is also the author of the novels Dear Future (1996), set on a fictional Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
island, and Feeding the Ghosts (1997), inspired by a visit D'Aguiar made to the Merseyside Maritime Museum
Merseyside Maritime Museum
The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is part of National Museums Liverpool and an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage...
in Liverpool and based on the true story of a slave who survived being thrown overboard with 132 other men, women and children from a slave ship
Slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves to Americas....
in the Atlantic.
Recent poetry includes Bill of Rights (1998), a long narrative poem about the Jonestown
Jonestown
Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby...
massacre in Guyana in 1979, which is told in Guyanese versions of English, fusing patois, Creole and nation-language with the standard vernacular; and a new long narrative poem, Bloodlines, the story of a black slave and her white lover, published in 2000.
His fourth novel, Bethany Bettany (2003), is centred on a five-year-old Guyanese girl, Bethany, whose suffering symbolises that of a nation seeking to make itself whole again.
Prizes and awards
- 1983 Minority Rights Group Award
- 1984 T. S. Eliot PrizeT. S. Eliot PrizeThe T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is awarded by the Poetry Book Society to "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland" in any particular year. The Prize was inaugurated in 1993 in celebration of the Poetry Book Society's 40th birthday and in...
- 1985 GLC Literature Award
- 1985 Malcolm X Prize for Poetry Mama Dot
- 1989 Guyana Poetry PrizeLiterature of GuyanaGuyanese literature has been produced by a number of authors, most of whom write in the English language. Many Guyanese-born writers have emigrated abroad.-History of Guyanese literature:...
Mama Dot and Airy Hall - 1993 Commission for Racial EqualityCommission for Racial EqualityThe Commission for Racial Equality was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to tackle racial discrimination and promote racial equality. Its work has been merged into the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.-History:...
Race in the Media Award Sweet Thames - 1994 David Higham Prize for FictionDavid Higham Prize for FictionThe David Higham Prize for Fiction was inaugurated in 1975 to mark the 80th birthday of the late David Higham, literary agent, and was awarded annually to a citizen of the Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland, Pakistan, or South Africa for a first novel or book of short stories...
The Longest Memory - 1994 Whitbread First Novel Award The Longest Memory
- 1996 Guyana Prize for LiteratureLiterature of GuyanaGuyanese literature has been produced by a number of authors, most of whom write in the English language. Many Guyanese-born writers have emigrated abroad.-History of Guyanese literature:...
Dear Future - 1997 James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction)James Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
(shortlist) Feeding the Ghosts