{{Short description|Trinidadian Canadian writer and literary theorist (born 1948)}} {{use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox writer | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1948}}<!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per WP:DOB. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = Sangre Grande, Trinidad and Tobago | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Writer and literary theorist | language = | nationality = Trinidadian Canadian | citizenship = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | education = | alma_mater = University of the West Indies at St. Augustine<br>Howard University | period = | genre = <!-- or: | genres = --> | subject = <!-- or: | subjects = --> | movement = | notable_works = | spouse = <!-- or: | spouses = --> | partner = <!-- or: | partners = --> | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc.; or omit --> }} '''Cynthia James''' (born 1948) is a Trinidadian Canadian writer and literary theorist.
== Early life and education == Cynthia James was born in Sangre Grande, Trinidad and Tobago, in 1948. She was raised in Salybia, a village on the coast, and her parents were both teachers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Oxford book of Caribbean verse|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Brown, Stewart, 1951-, McWatt, Mark A.|isbn=978-0-19-280332-0|location=Oxford|oclc=62127184}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Kuwabong, Dannabang|title=Apocrypha of Nanny's Secrets: The Rhetoric of recovery in Africarribbean Women's Poetry|date=1997|oclc=957450318}}</ref>
James attended St. George's College in Barataria, and then in 1969 she obtained a bachelor's degree in French, Spanish, and English from the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine. She later graduated with a master of art degree from the university.<ref name=":1" />
In the 1990s, James went to the United States to study at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she graduated with a Ph.D. in English in 1998. She lectured at Howard before returning to Trinidad.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2018-06-28|title=CYNTHIA JAMES (Trinidad and Tobago, 1948)|url=https://www.festivaldepoesiademedellin.org/en/Revista/ultimas_ediciones/74_75/james.html|access-date=2020-10-05|website=Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín|language=en}}</ref>
== Career == James continued her academic career at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, lecturing on language education and other subjects. She also served on the university's advisory board and published extensively in academic journals. Her first book of literary criticism, ''The Maroon Narrative'', was published in 2002; it focuses on Caribbean literature in English.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|date=1996-10-18|title=2 Caribbean Writers to Speak|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/2-caribbean-writers-to-speak/article_ec4d2e6f-99fc-58a8-beea-76bb9edefa6e.html|access-date=2020-10-05|website=The Buffalo News|language=en}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Advisory Board|publisher=The University of the West Indies at St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago|access-date=2021-11-19|url=https://sta.uwi.edu/crgs/advisoryboard.asp}}</ref>
She also worked for many years as a public school teacher in Trinidad.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2005|title=Notes on Contributors|url=https://journals.sta.uwi.edu/cc/index.asp?action=downloadArticle&articleId=627&galleyId=558|journal=Caribbean Curriculum|volume=12}}</ref>
=== Writing === James had early success as a playwright, winning the country's first play-writing competition in 1979 with the work ''No Resolution.''<ref name=":1" />
She published her first book, the short-story collection ''Soothe Me Music'', in 1990. This was followed by three poetry collections in the '90s: ''Iere, My Love''; ''Vigil''; and ''La Vega'' and other poems.
In 2000, James published her first novel, ''Bluejean'', followed by the novel ''Sapodilla Terrace'' in 2006.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
Her work has been included in a number of anthologies, including the ''Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse'' and ''Sisters of Caliban: Contemporary Women Writers of the Caribbean.''<ref name=":2" />
Her collection, ''Watermarked'', was released in 2014.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=June 2017|title=In the Laundry Room|url=http://smallaxe.net/sxsalon/poetry-prose/laundry-room|access-date=2020-10-05|website=Small Axe Project}}</ref>
==Awards and honours== In 2013, she was awarded the ''Caribbean Writer{{'}}''s Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for Fiction.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Caribbean Writer Announces Volume 26 Prize Winners|url=https://www.uvi.edu/announcements/articles/2013/12/tcw-prizes-announced.aspx|access-date=2020-10-05|website=University of the Virgin Islands|language=en}}</ref>
== Personal life == James currently lives in Toronto, Canada, where she moved in the late 2000s.<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 2012|title=Poems by Cynthia James|url=http://smallaxe.net/sxsalon/poetry-prose/poems-cynthia-james|access-date=2020-10-05|website=Small Axe Project}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-01-27|title='Buxton Lady Under Lock Down' by Cynthia James|url=https://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/2012/01/buxton-lady-under-lock-down-by-cynthia.html|access-date=2020-10-05|website=Geoffrey Philip|language=en}}</ref>
== Selected works ==
=== Short stories === * ''Soothe Me Music'' (1990)
=== Poetry === * ''Iere, My Love'' (1990) * ''Vigil: A Long Poem'' (1995) * ''La Vega and Other Poems'' (1995) * ''Watermarked'' (2014)
=== Novels === * ''Bluejean'' (2000) * ''Sapodilla Terrace'' (2006) * ''I Dreamt You Planting Corn and Marigolds'' (2023)
=== Literary criticism === * ''The Maroon Narrative'' (2002)
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{official website|http://cynthia-james.org/about-me/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Cynthia}} Category:1948 births Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago women writers Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago writers Category:21st-century Trinidad and Tobago women writers Category:21st-century Trinidad and Tobago writers Category:Howard University alumni Category:Living people Category:Scholars of Caribbean literature Category:Trinidad and Tobago academics Category:Trinidad and Tobago poets Category:Trinidad and Tobago women poets Category:Trinidadian and Tobagonian diaspora in Canada Category:University of the West Indies alumni