Mark McWatt (born 29 September 1947)"Mark McWatt — Brief Biography".
/ref> is a Guyanese writer and former professor of English at

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

Biography

McWatt was born in 1947 in Guyana, attending many schools throughout the country due to his father's position as a district officer. McWatt attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

(1966–70) and

Leeds University The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...

, where he studied the works of

Wilson Harris Sir Theodore Wilson Harris (24 March 1921 – 8 March 2018) was a Guyana, Guyanese writer. He initially wrote poetry, but subsequently became a novelist and essayist. His writing style is often said to be abstract and densely metaphorical, and ...

and completed a Ph.D. in 1975. He took a position at the

, Cave Hill campus,

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, as an assistant lecturer, then moved up to Professor of West Indian Literature in 1999, until retiring in 2007 as Professor Emeritus. He was founding editor, in 1986, of the ''Journal of West Indian Literature'' and published three collections of poetry, the second of which, ''The Language of Eldorado'' (1994), was awarded the Guyana Prize. His 2005 first work of fiction, ''Suspended Sentences'', was the winner of a

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 ...

in 2006, as well as the

Casa de las Américas Prize The Casa de las Américas Prize (''Premio Literario Casa de las Américas'') is a literary award given by the Cuban Casa de las Américas. Established in 1959, it is one of Latin America’s oldest and most prestigious literary prizes. The award ...

for best book of Caribbean Literature in English or Creole. A review of ''Suspended Sentences'' in the ''Journal of West Indian Literature'' called it "haunting, magical and profane". He co-edited with Stewart Brown the literature compilations ''Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse''Mark McWatt page
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 ''The Caribbean Short Story: Critical Perspectives''. McWatt has said his poetry was inspired first by the Guyana landscape, and how it can "at once alter and respond to interior states". His poems reflect his views of the natural world and the supernatural, including a vampire of Caribbean folklore ("Ol' Higue"), and of marriage and domesticity ("A Man in the House").

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''Interiors'' – Dangaroo Press, 1989 * ''The Language of Eldorado'' – Dangaroo Press, 1994 () * ''The Journey to Le Repentir'' –

, 2009 ()

Fiction

* ''Suspended Sentences: Fictions of Atonement'' – Peepal Tree Press, 2005 ()

As editor

* ''The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse'' – edited with Stewart Brown, 2005 * ''The Caribbean Short Story: Critical Perspectives'' – edited with Lucy Evans, and Emma Smith; Peepal Tree Press, 2011 ()

Biography

Bibliography

Poetry

Fiction

As editor

References

Further reading