Jacob Ross

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

(born 1956) is a

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

-born poet, playwright, journalist, novelist and creative writing tutor, based in the UK since 1984.

Life and career

Jacob Ross was born in Hope Vale on the Caribbean island of Grenada, where he attended the

Grenada Boys' Secondary School The Grenada Boys' Secondary School (GBSS) is a secondary school on the island of Grenada. Origins The Grenada Boys' Secondary School, initially known as St. George's Grammar School, opened on 2 February 1885 with ten male students at Mrs. Grey's p ...

, later studying at the

University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

, France. Since 1984 he has resided in Britain. He was formerly an editor of ''Artrage'', an intercultural arts magazine, and is now associate fiction editor at

Peepal Tree Press Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. Poet Kwame Dawes has said: "Peepal Tree Press's position as the leading pu ...

and associate editor of ''SABLE'' Literary Magazine. He has judged the

Scott Moncrieff Prize The Scott Moncrieff Prize, established in 1965, and named after the translator C. K. Scott Moncrieff, is an annual £3,000 literary prize for French-to-English translation, awarded to one or more translators every year for a full-length work deem ...

(for French translation), the V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize (2008) and the Tom-Gallon Trust Award (2009). Ross has toured and lectured widely, including in Germany,

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, the Middle East, and

The Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, a ...

.Featured Writers: Jacob Ross
Caribbean Literary Salon, 13 July 2012. In 2000, he was specially commissioned by the

Peabody Trust The Peabody Trust was founded in 1862 as the Peabody Donation Fund and now brands itself simply as Peabody.

to run the Millennium Writers Master class and in November that year became writer in residence for the London Borough of

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

's Community Zone Literature Development Initiative. He was Writer-in-Residence at

St. George's University St. George's University is a private for-profit Medical school in the Caribbean, medical school and international university in Grenada, West Indies, offering degrees in medicine, veterinary medicine, public health, the health sciences, nursing ...

in Grenada and the Darat Al Funun Arts Academy in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

in 2001.

Writing

In 1986 his first collection of short stories, ''Song for Simone'', was published and was described as "one of the most powerful crystallisation of Caribbean childhood since

George Lamming George William Lamming OCC (8 June 19274 June 2022) was a Barbadian novelist, essayist, and poet. He first won critical acclaim for '' In the Castle of My Skin'', his 1953 debut novel. He also held academic posts, including as a distinguished ...

's ''

In the Castle of My Skin ''In the Castle of My Skin'' is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London, and subsequently published in New York City by McGraw-Hill. The novel won a Somerset ...

''." ''Song of Simone'' has been translated into several languages. Of Ross's second collection, ''A Way to Catch the Dust and Other Stories'' (1999),

Bernardine Evaristo Bernardine Anne Mobolaji Evaristo (born 28 May 1959) is an English author and academic. Her novel ''Girl, Woman, Other'' jointly won the Booker Prize in 2019 alongside Margaret Atwood's ''The Testaments'', making her the first Black woman to win ...

wrote in ''

Wasafiri ''Wasafiri'' is a quarterly British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing. Founded in 1984, the magazine derives its name from a Swahili word meaning "travellers" that is etymologically linked with the Arabic word "safari ...

'': "These stories are refined, timeless and startlingly beautiful and if Walcott is the poet laureate of the Caribbean Sea then with this collection, Ross becomes a major contender as its chief prose stylist.... Ross, following in the tradition of

Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized f ...

and

Morrison Morrison may refer to: People * Morrison (surname), people with the Scottish surname Morrison * Morrison Heady (1829–1915), American poet * Morrison Mann MacBride (1877–1938), Canadian merchant Places in the United States * Morrison, Colorad ...

, displays all the brilliance of a great storyteller in action." His first novel, ''Pynter Bender'', was published in 2008. It was shortlisted for 2009's

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

, the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

' "Best First Novel" and the ''

Caribbean Review of Books ''The Caribbean Review of Books'', or ''CRB'', is a literary magazine based in Port of Spain, Trinidad, reviewing books of Caribbean interest—by Caribbean authors or about the Caribbean—and publishing original fiction, poetry, and other liter ...

'' "Book of the Year". Ross is also the editor of ''Closure: Contemporary Black British Short Stories'', published by

. His second novel, '' The Bone Readers'', was published in 2016 was awarded the inaugural

Jhalak Prize The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour is an annual literary prize awarded to British or British-resident BAME writers. £1,000 is awarded to the sole winner. The Jhalak Prize was launched in 2016 and was created by writers ...

. In November 2017, Ross published his collected stories, ''Tell No-One About This''.

David Constantine David John Constantine (born 1944) is an English poet, short story writer, novelist, and translator. Life and career Born in Salford, Constantine read Modern Languages at Wadham College, Oxford, and was a Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford, ...

wrote:

Awards and recognition

* 2006: Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

* 2017: Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour for '' The Bone Readers''.Natasha Onwuemezi
"Jacob Ross wins inaugural Jhalak Prize"
''

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddes ...

'', 17 March 2017.

Selected writings and editorial work

*''Song for Simone and Other Stories'' (London: Karia Press, 1986; ) *''Behind the Masquerade: The Story of Notting Hill Carnival'' (with

Kwesi Owusu Kwesi Owusu (24 October 1954 – 22 March 2025) was a Ghanaian writer, filmmaker and creative entrepreneur. He was considered "one of Ghana’s leading filmmakers and communications specialists" and was also the author of five books. In the 1980s ...

) (Arts Media Group, 1988; ) *''Voice, Memory, Ashes: Lest We Forget'' (co-edited with Dr Joan Anim-Addo) (London: Mango Publishing, 1998; ) *''A Way to Catch the Dust and Other Stories'' (London: Mango Publishing, 1999; ) *''Ridin' n Risin: Short stories by new black writers'' (Black Inc) and ''Turf'' (co-edited with Andrea Enisuoh) *''Pynter Bender'' (Harper Perennial, 2008; ) *'' The Bone Readers'' (Peepal Tree Press, 2016; ) *''Black Rain Falling'' (London: Hachette, 2020; )

References

External links

Jacob Ross - Writer
- Author's website
Jacob Ross at openDemocracy
at Grassroutes, University of Leicester

(interview with Jacob Ross), '' The Star'' (

Amman, Jordan Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the List of largest cities in the ...

), 3 October 2000.
The Jacob Ross Website.

Jacob Ross
at wordfactory.
Jacob Ross
at Peepal Tree Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Jacob Living people 1956 births 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British poets 20th-century British short story writers 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British novelists 21st-century British poets Black British writers British male dramatists and playwrights British male novelists British male poets British male short story writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Grenadian dramatists and playwrights Grenadian male writers Grenadian novelists Grenadian poets Grenadian short story writers Grenoble Alpes University alumni