“It looked like the fire was spreading. They could hear a crackling sound, like things splintering. The sound got louder. People moved. Some had their hands just under their chin. They forgot their mouths half-opened. They stared.” – from Angel, novel by Merle Collins, 1987

 

Birth Name: Merle Collins

Place of Birth: Aruba

Born: September 29, 1950

Merle Collins is a prolific writer and scholar. She was born in Aruba to Grenadian parents who returned to Grenada shortly after her birth.  She attended the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica where she earned a B.A. in English and Spanish. The bilingual Collins then travelled to the USA to attend Georgetown University where she received an MA in Latin American Studies and a Certificate in Translation, Spanish to English. She went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Government from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, England.

 

Her first collection of poetry Because the Dawn Breaks was published by Karia Press in 1985. Then in 1987, she published her first novel Angel; the coming-of-age novel charts Angel McAllister growing up in colonial Grenada against a backdrop of strike and civil unrest.  This was followed by a collection of short stories, Rain Darling in 1990, and a second collection of poetry, Rotten Pomerack in 1992. Her second novel, The Colour of Forgetting, was published in 1995.

Since 1995, Merle Collins has been a Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of Maryland, in the USA. Collins has also been visiting Professor at St George’s University in Grenada.

Noted Works:

Poetry

• Because the Dawn Breaks, Karia Press, 1985
• Rotten Pomerack, Virago Press, 1992
• Lady in a Boat, Peepal Tree Press, 2003

 

Novels

• Angel, Women’s Press, 1987, Seal Press, 1998
• The Colour of Forgetting, Virago Press, 1995

 

Short stories

• Rain Darling, Women’s Press, 1990,
• The Ladies are Upstairs, Peepal Tree Press, 2011

 

Non-fiction

• Contributed the article, ‘Themes and Trends in Caribbean Writing Today’ in From My Guy to Sci-Fi: Genre and Women’s Writing in the Postmodern World, 1989
• ‘To be Free is Very Sweet’ published in the journal Slavery and Abolition, 1994
• The Governor’s Story, a biography of Hilda Bynoe, 2013

 

Accolades and Awards:

2003: Guggenheim Fellowship recipient for general non-fiction in the Creative Arts.

Sources: Calabash Journal of Caribbean Arts and Letter, Kirkus Reviews, Peepal Tree Press, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, University of Maryland,