Marc Matthews (born 1940s) is a Guyanese writer, actor, broadcaster and producer.

Biography

Marc Matthews was born in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

in the 1940s. He received, he reports, "a mid-Victorian education" at Queen's College, Georgetown. He worked as an operator, producer and presenter on Radio Demerara, as a scriptwriter and documentary researcher/ presenter for Guyana Broadcasting Service, and as a tutor in drama at the Cyril Potter Teachers Training College. He was a co-director/founder of Jaiai Independent Broadcasting Unit, and with Peter Kempadoo produced ''Our Kind Of Folk'' for radio in Guyana. In the 1960s, Matthews was in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, as a freelance reporter, involved with the UK

Black Power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...

movement and alternative theatre productions. He was closely involved with the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM), being, along with

Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson Order of Distinction, OD (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poetry, dub poet and activist. In 2002, he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in th ...

, one of the most prominent younger poets to come out of CAM in the 1970s. Unlike with Johnson, Matthews's pioneering role as a

nation language "Nation language" is the term coined by scholar and poet Kamau Brathwaite McArthur, Tom,"Nation language" ''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language'', 1998. that is now commonly preferred to describe the use of non-standard English in t ...

performance poet has not been fully recognised, perhaps because his roots and material were always more Guyanese than

Black British Black British people or Black Britons"Black Briton, N." ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford UP. December 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1136579918. are a multi-ethnic group of British people of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Sub-Saharan ...

. Similarly, because of its nature as live theatre rather than as published scripts, his important work, first with fellow Guyanese Ken Corsbie in ''Dem Two'' in 1974, then in 1975 in ''All Ah We'', which added

John Agard John Agard FRSL (born 21 June 1949) is a Guyanese-born British playwright, poet and children's writer. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

and Henry Muttoo, has largely vanished from the record, if not the memory of those who witnessed them. Only Matthews's record ''Marc-Up'' (1987) survives as a record of those days. As the tyranny of the Burnham years worsened, Matthews settled in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, though he made one attempt to return to live in Guyana after the return of democratic government in the 1990s. In 1987, Matthews won the Guyana Prize for his first collection of poetry, ''Guyana My Altar'' ( Karnak House, 1987). (Kairi in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

had produced an early unbound pamphlet by Matthews, ''Eleven O'Clock Goods'', in 1974.) His collection ''A Season of Sometimes'' was published by

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 ...

in 1992. His work has also been anthologized in collections such as ''The Heinemann Book of Caribbean Poetry'' (1992) and ''The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse in English''.Paula Burnett (ed.), ''The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse in English'', Penguin Books, 1986; Penguin Classics, 2005. Around 2005, Matthews, working under the pseudonym "Tramping Man", formed a musical collaboration named Burn Brothers with two London-based producers, Jean Philippe Altier and Adam Hoyle. They were joined by saxophonist Florian Brand and performed a number of gigs in and around London in 2007. A record entitled ''Fire Exit'' was recorded and released in April 2008.

Selected bibliography

* ''Eleven O'Clock Goods'', Kairi, 1974. * ''Guyana My Altar'' (poetry), Karnak House, 1987. * ''A Season of Sometimes'', Peepal Tree Press, 1992

References

External links

Marc Matthews – “Jumbie Picnic” video
Guyanese Online.

Geoffrey Philp, 18 July 2008. * Marc Matthews

24 September 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Marc Guyanese writers 1940s births Living people Spoken word artists 20th-century Guyanese writers Caribbean Artists Movement people Guyanese actors Recipients of the Wordsworth McAndrew Award Year of birth missing (living people)