Edwina Melville: Difference between revisions
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Edwina Gordon was born at Spooner Plantation in Mahaicony. She grew up in [[Georgetown, Guyana|Georgetown]] and was educated at Bishop’s High School.<ref>Biographical note in ''My Lovely Native Land An Anthology of Guyana'' ed A.J. Seymour and Elma Seymour (Longman Caribbean, 1971).</ref> Her first connection to the [[Rupununi savannah]] came when visiting her brother, who was working for the Rupununi Development Company based at the Wariwau Outstation.<ref>See ‘Edwina Melville 1926 -1993’ by Petamber Persaud, ''Sunday Chronicle'' (30 March 2008) p. IV. </ref> Melville then settled in Lethem, in Rupununi, after her marriage to Charles Melville<ref>See note 2 in Anne Spry Rush’s ''Bonds of Empire: West Indians and Britishness from Victoria to Decolonization'' (2011). </ref> in 1950 and had four children: twins Charles and Don, followed by Edward and Wayne. |
Edwina Gordon was born at Spooner Plantation in Mahaicony. She grew up in [[Georgetown, Guyana|Georgetown]] and was educated at Bishop’s High School.<ref>Biographical note in ''My Lovely Native Land An Anthology of Guyana'' ed A.J. Seymour and Elma Seymour (Longman Caribbean, 1971).</ref> Her first connection to the [[Rupununi savannah]] came when visiting her brother, who was working for the Rupununi Development Company based at the Wariwau Outstation.<ref>See ‘Edwina Melville 1926 -1993’ by Petamber Persaud, ''Sunday Chronicle'' (30 March 2008) p. IV. </ref> Melville then settled in Lethem, in Rupununi, after her marriage to Charles Melville<ref>See note 2 in Anne Spry Rush’s ''Bonds of Empire: West Indians and Britishness from Victoria to Decolonization'' (2011). </ref> in 1950 and had four children: twins Charles and Don, followed by Edward and Wayne. |
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Work |
'''Work''' |
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| ⚫ | Melville’s stories and accounts of living in the [[Rupununi savannah|Rupununi]] were published in the important West Indian little magazine [[Kyk-Over-Al (magazine)|Kyk-Over-Al]] edited by [[A. J. Seymour]] out of Guyana''.''<ref>See for example, ‘Poem’ and ‘The Wapishana Indians in the Rupununi Savannah’ by Edwina Melville in ''Kyk-Over-Al'' 5.17 (1953).</ref> Four of Melville’s short stories, rendering life in the hinterland were broadcast to the West Indies via London on the BBC’s now legendary [[Caribbean Voices]] radio programme between 1953 and 1955.<ref>Broadcast scripts are held at the BBC Written Archives in Caversham, UK.: ‘Fishing in the Rupununi Savannahs British Guiana’ (09.08.1953), ‘Memories of Atkinson Field, the US Air Base in British Guiana’ (28.03.1954), ‘The Voice’ (20.06.1954) and ‘Tikersh-Din, The Fire Tiger’ (18.09.1955).</ref> A number of Melville’s poems were also published in A. J. Seymour’s ''A Treasury of Guianese Poetry'' (1980). |
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| ⚫ | Melville’s stories and accounts of living in the [[Rupununi savannah|Rupununi]] were published in the important West Indian little magazine [[Kyk-Over-Al (magazine)|Kyk-Over-Al]] edited by [[A. J. Seymour]] out of Guyana''.''<ref>See for example, ‘Poem’ and ‘The Wapishana Indians in the Rupununi Savannah’ by Edwina Melville in ''Kyk-Over-Al'' 5.17 (1953).</ref> Four of Melville’s short stories, rendering life in the hinterland were broadcast to the West Indies via London on the BBC’s now legendary [[Caribbean Voices]] radio programme between 1953 and 1955.<ref>Broadcast scripts are held at the BBC Written Archives in Caversham, UK.: ‘Fishing in the Rupununi Savannahs British Guiana’ (09.08.1953), ‘Memories of Atkinson Field, the US Air Base in British Guiana’ (28.03.1954), ‘The Voice’ (20.06.1954) and ‘Tikersh-Din, The Fire Tiger’ (18.09.1955).</ref> Two her stories were published in [[Blackwood's Magazine|Blackwood's Magazine:]] 'A number of Melville’s poems were also published in A. J. Seymour’s ''A Treasury of Guianese Poetry'' (1980). |
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In her first broadcast story, ‘Fishing in the Rupununi’, Melville describes a fishing trip taken by a husband and wife that is rich in local detail and names the trees and fish in Wapishana. ‘The Voice,’ her third work broadcast a year later, centers on the moment when she heard the first short story broadcast with all the challenges and the excitements of listening in from her remote location. [[Henry Swanzy]], the then editor of the ''Caribbean Voices'' programme, was so struck by Melville’s story that he recommended it to be published in ''[[London Calling (magazine)|London Calling]],'' the overseas journal of the BBC, where it appeared on the front page in September 1954.<ref>Edwina Melville ‘The Voice’ (A contribution from a remote part of British Guiana to ‘Caribbean Voices,’ the weekly BBC programme which presents stories and poems of West Indian writers) ''London Calling: Overseas Journal of the BBC'' (September 9, 1954) p.3.</ref> Despite this gesture of recognition, in keeping with other Anglophone Caribbean women writers of the mid-century who did not migrate and whose work was not published by metropolitan publishing houses, Melville’s writings remain almost unknown. [[Alison Donnell]] has discussed Melville’s contribution to [[Caribbean Voices]] in her essay ‘Heard but not Seen: Women’s Short Stories and the BBC’s ''Caribbean Voices'' Programme’.<ref>See ''The Caribbean Short Story: Critical Perspectives,'' Lucy Evans, Mark McWatt & Emma Smith (eds.) (Peepal Tree Press, 2011) pp. 29-43.</ref> |
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In keeping with other Anglophone Caribbean women writers of the mid-century who did not migrate and whose work was not published by metropolitan publishing houses, Melville’s writings remain almost unknown. [[Alison Donnell]] has discussed Melville’s contribution to [[Caribbean Voices]] in her essay ‘Heard but not Seen: Women’s Short Stories and the BBC’s ''Caribbean Voices'' Programme’.<ref>See ''The Caribbean Short Story: Critical Perspectives,'' Lucy Evans, Mark McWatt & Emma Smith (eds.) (Peepal Tree Press, 2011) pp. 29-43.</ref> |
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Melville’s illustrated book ''This is the Rupununi: A Simple Story Book of the Savannah Lands of the Rupununi District, British Guiana'', was published by the Guyana Information Service in 1956. In Michael Swan’s 1958 travelogue, ''The Marches of El Dorado'', which [[V. S. Naipaul]] recommends for the ‘Hollywood-style stories of…Rupunini characters,’<ref>V.S. Naipaul, ''The Middle Passage'' (Penguin, 1969) p.104.</ref> Swan recounts his meeting with Edwina, then in her twenties, and the views she shared, ‘She was strongly against the civilising of the Indians, feeling that their happiness lay in the preservation of their tribal ways and traditions’.<ref>Michael Swan, ''The Marches of El Dorado'' (Penguin Books, 1958) p.170.</ref> Petamber Persaud makes reference to Melville’s work collecting anthropological and ethno-botanical material relating to Amerindian myths and legends, much of which was lost during the [[Rupununi Uprising]] of 1969. |
Melville’s illustrated book ''This is the Rupununi: A Simple Story Book of the Savannah Lands of the Rupununi District, British Guiana'', was published by the Guyana Information Service in 1956. In Michael Swan’s 1958 travelogue, ''The Marches of El Dorado'', which [[V. S. Naipaul]] recommends for the ‘Hollywood-style stories of…Rupunini characters,’<ref>V.S. Naipaul, ''The Middle Passage'' (Penguin, 1969) p.104.</ref> Swan recounts his meeting with Edwina, then in her twenties, and the views she shared, ‘She was strongly against the civilising of the Indians, feeling that their happiness lay in the preservation of their tribal ways and traditions’.<ref>Michael Swan, ''The Marches of El Dorado'' (Penguin Books, 1958) p.170.</ref> Petamber Persaud makes reference to Melville’s work collecting anthropological and ethno-botanical material relating to Amerindian myths and legends, much of which was lost during the [[Rupununi Uprising]] of 1969. |
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Revision as of 15:41, 11 February 2022
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| Born | 1926
Mahaicony, Guyana |
| Died | 1993
Guyana |
| Nationality | Guyanese |
| Occupation | Writer and Politician |
Edwina Melville (1926 -1993) was a Guyanese writer, teacher, politician and advocate of the first-nation Wapishana peoples of the Southern Rupununi, Guyana.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Work
Biography
Edwina Gordon was born at Spooner Plantation in Mahaicony. She grew up in Georgetown and was educated at Bishop’s High School.[2] Her first connection to the Rupununi savannah came when visiting her brother, who was working for the Rupununi Development Company based at the Wariwau Outstation.[3] Melville then settled in Lethem, in Rupununi, after her marriage to Charles Melville[4] in 1950 and had four children: twins Charles and Don, followed by Edward and Wayne.
Melville was employed as a schoolteacher, shop-holder and as a confidential secretary to the District Commissioner of Lethem.[5] Her dedication to representing the peoples of the Rupununi later took political form when she became a PNC (The People's National Congress) member of the Fifth Parliament of Guyana, 1985-1992, representing District 9.[6]
Work
Melville’s stories and accounts of living in the Rupununi were published in the important West Indian little magazine Kyk-Over-Al edited by A. J. Seymour out of Guyana.[7] Four of Melville’s short stories, rendering life in the hinterland were broadcast to the West Indies via London on the BBC’s now legendary Caribbean Voices radio programme between 1953 and 1955.[8] Two her stories were published in Blackwood's Magazine: 'A number of Melville’s poems were also published in A. J. Seymour’s A Treasury of Guianese Poetry (1980).
In keeping with other Anglophone Caribbean women writers of the mid-century who did not migrate and whose work was not published by metropolitan publishing houses, Melville’s writings remain almost unknown. Alison Donnell has discussed Melville’s contribution to Caribbean Voices in her essay ‘Heard but not Seen: Women’s Short Stories and the BBC’s Caribbean Voices Programme’.[9]
Melville’s illustrated book This is the Rupununi: A Simple Story Book of the Savannah Lands of the Rupununi District, British Guiana, was published by the Guyana Information Service in 1956. In Michael Swan’s 1958 travelogue, The Marches of El Dorado, which V. S. Naipaul recommends for the ‘Hollywood-style stories of…Rupunini characters,’[10] Swan recounts his meeting with Edwina, then in her twenties, and the views she shared, ‘She was strongly against the civilising of the Indians, feeling that their happiness lay in the preservation of their tribal ways and traditions’.[11] Petamber Persaud makes reference to Melville’s work collecting anthropological and ethno-botanical material relating to Amerindian myths and legends, much of which was lost during the Rupununi Uprising of 1969.
- ^ Permission granted by Henry Swanzy Estate.
- ^ Biographical note in My Lovely Native Land An Anthology of Guyana ed A.J. Seymour and Elma Seymour (Longman Caribbean, 1971).
- ^ See ‘Edwina Melville 1926 -1993’ by Petamber Persaud, Sunday Chronicle (30 March 2008) p. IV.
- ^ See note 2 in Anne Spry Rush’s Bonds of Empire: West Indians and Britishness from Victoria to Decolonization (2011).
- ^ See Petamber Persaud (2008) as in note 3.
- ^ http://parliament.gov.gy/GUYANA%20PARLIAMENT%20HISTORY%202009-1.pdf p.86.
- ^ See for example, ‘Poem’ and ‘The Wapishana Indians in the Rupununi Savannah’ by Edwina Melville in Kyk-Over-Al 5.17 (1953).
- ^ Broadcast scripts are held at the BBC Written Archives in Caversham, UK.: ‘Fishing in the Rupununi Savannahs British Guiana’ (09.08.1953), ‘Memories of Atkinson Field, the US Air Base in British Guiana’ (28.03.1954), ‘The Voice’ (20.06.1954) and ‘Tikersh-Din, The Fire Tiger’ (18.09.1955).
- ^ See The Caribbean Short Story: Critical Perspectives, Lucy Evans, Mark McWatt & Emma Smith (eds.) (Peepal Tree Press, 2011) pp. 29-43.
- ^ V.S. Naipaul, The Middle Passage (Penguin, 1969) p.104.
- ^ Michael Swan, The Marches of El Dorado (Penguin Books, 1958) p.170.