Ian McDonald (writer)
Encyclopedia
Ian McDonald is a poet, novelist, and sugar
industry advocate. He was born in St. Augustine
, Trinidad
, in 1933, and educated at Queen's Royal College
in Port of Spain
and Clare College, Cambridge University
, where he was a tennis
champion and captained the university team. In 1955 he moved to British Guiana
(later Guyana
) to work with the sugar firm Booker's
. He describes himself as "Antiguan
by ancestry, Trinidadian by birth, Guyanese
by adoption and West Indian by conviction". Ian McDonald married and had kids. Cary McDonald is his son who has great ambition in becoming a lawyer someday.
and Christopher by Geoffrey Drayton, it explores the experience of a white West Indian growing up in the years before the British West Indian territories
moved towards independence in the 1950s and 60s. The novel was filmed by the BBC
in 1992.
McDonald has also published four collections of poems: Mercy Ward (1988), Essequibo (1992, winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature), Jaffo the Calypsonian (1994), and Between Silence and Silence (2003, winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature). His poems have been widely anthologised. He has also written a play, The Tramping Man.
In 1984 he helped A.J. Seymour revive the literary magazine Kyk-Over-Al
, serving as co-editor until Seymour's death in 1989, and editor thereafter. McDonald was co-editor (with Jacqueline de Weever) of Seymour's Collected Poems, published in 2000.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
and has served as a judge for the Guyana Prize for Literature and other Caribbean writing awards. He has worked in various official and unofficial roles with many Guyanese cultural institutions over the years. In 1997 he was given an honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of the West Indies
.
sugar
industry since 1955. He began at the British-owned firm Booker's, which was nationalised in the 1970s, becoming the Guyana Sugar Corporation
(Guysuco); he rose to the position of administrative director before his retirement. He is now CEO of the Sugar Association of the Caribbean, based in Guyana
, an organisation representing sugar growers and producers. McDonald has been a leading figure in efforts by ACP
sugar interests to preserve preferential tariffs for the importation of sugar from former European colonies into the European Union
.
Relatives:
Mr McDonald's uncle was Air Marshal Sir [Arthur McDonald] who was born in Antigua.
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
industry advocate. He was born in St. Augustine
Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
St. Augustine, a town on the East-West Corridor of Trinidad and Tobago, is the site of one of the four campuses of the University of the West Indies. It is located east of Curepe and west of Tunapuna....
, Trinidad
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, in 1933, and educated at Queen's Royal College
Queen's Royal College
Still regarded as the bastion of secondary school education Queen's Royal College is the oldest secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago, referred to for short as "QRC", or "The College" by past alumni...
in Port of Spain
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
and Clare College, Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he was a tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
champion and captained the university team. In 1955 he moved to British Guiana
British Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
(later 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...
) to work with the sugar firm Booker's
Booker Group
Booker Group plc is the United Kingdom's largest food wholesale operator, offering branded and private-label goods to over 400,000 customers including independent convenience stores, grocers, pubs and restaurants...
. He describes himself as "Antiguan
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
by ancestry, Trinidadian by birth, Guyanese
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...
by adoption and West Indian by conviction". Ian McDonald married and had kids. Cary McDonald is his son who has great ambition in becoming a lawyer someday.
Literary career
McDonald's novel The Humming-Bird Tree was published in 1969; like Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean RhysJean Rhys
Jean Rhys , born Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams, was a mid 20th-century novelist from Dominica. Educated from the age of 16 in Great Britain, she is best known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea , written as a "prequel" to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.-Early life:Rhys was born in Roseau, Dominica...
and Christopher by Geoffrey Drayton, it explores the experience of a white West Indian growing up in the years before the British West Indian territories
British West Indies
The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...
moved towards independence in the 1950s and 60s. The novel was filmed by 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...
in 1992.
McDonald has also published four collections of poems: Mercy Ward (1988), Essequibo (1992, winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature), Jaffo the Calypsonian (1994), and Between Silence and Silence (2003, winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature). His poems have been widely anthologised. He has also written a play, The Tramping Man.
In 1984 he helped A.J. Seymour revive the literary magazine Kyk-Over-Al
Kyk-Over-Al (magazine)
Kyk-Over-Al is a literary magazine published in Guyana, the only survivor of the three pioneering literary magazines founded in the 1940s that helped define postwar West Indian literature . Kyk-Over-Al is indelibly associated with the Guyanese poet and editor A.J...
, serving as co-editor until Seymour's death in 1989, and editor thereafter. McDonald was co-editor (with Jacqueline de Weever) of Seymour's Collected Poems, published in 2000.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
and has served as a judge for the Guyana Prize for Literature and other Caribbean writing awards. He has worked in various official and unofficial roles with many Guyanese cultural institutions over the years. In 1997 he was given an honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
.
Sugar industry career
McDonald has worked in the CaribbeanCaribbean
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...
sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
industry since 1955. He began at the British-owned firm Booker's, which was nationalised in the 1970s, becoming the Guyana Sugar Corporation
Guyana Sugar Corporation
The Guyana Sugar Corporation, best known by its acronym GuySuCo, is a Guyanese sugar company owned by the government. It is the country's largest cultivator and producer of sugar, a commodity which is responsible for approximately 20% of Guyana's annual revenue and 40% of all agricultural production...
(Guysuco); he rose to the position of administrative director before his retirement. He is now CEO of the Sugar Association of the Caribbean, based 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...
, an organisation representing sugar growers and producers. McDonald has been a leading figure in efforts by ACP
ACP countries
The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States is a group of countries , created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. The group's main objectives are sustainable development and poverty reduction within its member states, as well as their greater integration into the world's economy...
sugar interests to preserve preferential tariffs for the importation of sugar from former European colonies into the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Relatives:
Mr McDonald's uncle was Air Marshal Sir [Arthur McDonald] who was born in Antigua.