NEWSMAKER – Lorna Goodison
The Jamaica Observer ‘s Entertainment Desk continues its daily Year In Review of people who made an impact during the year.
ON May 20, World Poetry Day, came the announcement that Lorna Goodison had been named poet laureate of Jamaica. She succeeded Professor Mervyn Morris who was invested in 2014 as Jamaica’s first poet laureate in 61 years.
“Without a doubt, I feel blessed and privileged to take on this honour. It is even more significant that I follow in the footsteps of Mervyn Morris, who played such a vital role in awakening the consciousness of many Jamaicans as it relates to poetry,” Goodison told the Jamaica Observer.
Goodison was then installed during a ceremony at King’s House in St Andrew on May 17, with her tenure as poet laureate for three years and ending May 2020.
Goodison is charged with stimulating a greater appreciation for Jamaican poetry, using poetry as a medium for developing and disseminating cultural heritage, as well as creating avenues for public involvement in poetry. She will present poetry readings and seminars across the island and overseas; promote reading and Jamaican literature with an emphasis on poetry; conduct workshops with aspiring poets, writers and students; participate in and compose poetry for national events and observances; and create a publication related to Jamaican poetry.
The National Library of Jamaica, in making the announcement, said Goodison was selected by a secret ballot vote from a pool of publicly nominated individuals by the Poet Laureate Committee of The Board of Management.
Goodison has published more than 12 books of poetry, including I Am Becoming My Mother (1986), Turn Thanks (1999), Travelling Mercies (2001), Controlling the Silver (2005), and Oracabessa (2012).
Her influential work has been anthologised in several collections, including The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, The HarperCollins World Reader, and The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces.
Among her many awards and accolades are the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for the Americas Region, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-fiction, and a Gold Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica. She is also a member of the Order of Distinction, in the rank of Commander.
