Geoffrey Drayton (13 February 1924 – 2017) was a Barbadian novelist, poet and journalist.
Geoffrey Drayton | |
---|---|
Born | [1] near Bridgetown, Barbados | 13 February 1924
Died | 2017 (aged 92–93) Spain |
Occupation | Writer, novelist, essayist, poet |
Alma mater | Cambridge University |
Notable works | Christopher (London: Collins, 1959), Zohara (Secker & Warburg, 1961) |
Life
editGeoffrey Drayton was born in Barbados, and received his early education there. In 1945, he went to Cambridge University,[2] where he read economics, after which he spent some years teaching in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, returning to England in 1953.[3] He worked as a freelance journalist in London and Madrid. From 1954 to 1965 he worked for Petroleum Times, becoming its editor. In 1966 he became a petroleum consultant for the Economist Intelligence Unit.[4]
Drayton was the author of one volume of poetry, Three Meridians (1950), and two novels: Christopher (1959), which was first published in part in Bim magazine,[3] and Zohara (1961). He also wrote short stories, such as "Mr. Dombey, the Zombie", which was broadcast on the BBC programme Caribbean Voices.[3]
Drayton later lived in Spain, where he died in 2017.[1]
Works
editNovels
edit- Christopher, London: Collins, 1959; Heinemann Caribbean Writers Series, 1972.
- Zohara, London: Secker and Warburg, 1961.
Poetry
edit- Three Meridians, Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1950.
- "The Phantom", Bim, no. 5 (February 1945), p. 32
- "Strindbergian Sonata", Bim, no. 6, p. 16
- "Nostalgia", Bim, no. 7, p. 52
- "L'Infinito de Leopardi (Translated from the Italian)", Bim, no. 8, p. 6
- "Memories", Bim, no. 9, p. 12
- "On An Etching By Picasso", Bim, no. 9, p. 57
- "The Ancient Carib", Bim, no. 10, p. 116–117
- "Singing Negress", Bim, no. 11, p. 242
- "Old Black Beggar", Bim, no. 11, p. 246
- "To The Poets Of The Caribbean", Bim, no. 11, p. 248
- "Morgan Lewis", Bim, no. 13, p. 67
- "Negro Divers", Bim, no. 13, p. 67
- "Double Game", Bim, no. 13, p. 6
- "Translation from Catallus (Lyrics No-72: On Lesbia's Infidelity)", Bim, no. 14, p. 120
- "Speculations On Uranium", Bim, no. 16, p. 230
- "The Star", Bim, no. 17, p, 7
- "The Cobbler", Bim, no. 18, p, 106
Short stories
edit- "Swiss Comedy", Bim, no. 5 (February 1945), pp. 11–13, 57–59
- "Dear Mother", Bim, no. 6, pp. 27–28, 91–93
- "No Honour Among Thieves", Bim, no. 7, pp. 32–33, 105–107
- "Narcissus", Bim, no. 9, pp. 10–12
- "Mr. Dombey", Bim, no. 19, pp. 180-182
- "Manrique", Bim, no. 22, pp. 72–73
- "Christopher", Bim, no. 26, pp. 92–118
- "The Redfern Farewell", Bim, no. 27, pp. 159–162
- "Sunset Over San Remo", Bim, no. 31, pp. 173–175
- "Shadow And Shape", Bim, no. 32, pp. 224–227
- "Return To The Island", Bim, no. 40, pp. 252–256
- "The Moon And The Fisherman", Bim, no. 45, pp. 17–20
Non-Fiction
edit- "Farrago (Extracts from a notebook)", Bim, no.12, pp. 281–287
- "Revisiting Barbados", Bim, no.14, pp. 83–84
Criticism
edit- A. N. Forde, "Christopher" (review), in Bim, vol. 8, no. 29 (June/December 1951), p. 64.
- John Harrison, "Three Meridians" (review), in Bim, vol. 4, no. 14 (June 1951), pp. 144–5.
- Kenneth Ramchand, "Terrified Consciousness", in Journal of Commonwealth Literature, no. 7 (July 1969), pp. 8–19.
- Derek Walcott, "Zohara" (review), in Trinidad Guardian, 12 November 1961, p. 26.
References
edit- ^ a b Armstrong, Thomas, "Lifting the lid on Geoffrey Drayton and his outsider role in Barbadian literature", Arts Etc, 2 May 2022.
- ^ Drayton, Geoffrey, "Return to the Island", BBC Home Service, 28 February 1962 (via Radio Times).
- ^ a b c Hughes, Michael, "Drayton, Geoffrey", A Companion to West Indian Literature, Collins, 1979, pp. 42–3.
- ^ Myers, Robin, ed., A Dictionary of Literature in the English Language from 1940 to 1970, Pergamon Press, 1978.
External links
edit- Thomas Armstrong, "Lifting the lid on Geoffrey Drayton and his outsider role in Barbadian literature", Arts Etc.