{{Short description|Jamaican academic and poet (born 1937)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Use British English|date=March 2012}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Mervyn Morris | honorific_suffix = OM | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Mervyn Eustace Morris | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1937|02|21|df=y}} | birth_place = Kingston, Colony of Jamaica, British Empire | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Poet and academic | years_active = | education = Munro College | alma_mater = University College of the West Indies<br>St Edmund Hall, Oxford | known_for = Poet Laureate of Jamaica, 2014–2017 | notable_works = | awards = Bocas Henry Swanzy Award }} '''Mervyn Eustace Morris''' <small>{{Post-nominals|country=JAM|OM}}</small> (born 21 February 1937)<ref>[http://www.mona.uwi.edu/library/professor-hon-mervyn-morris-om "Professor The Hon. Mervyn Morris, OM"], The Library - University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica.</ref> is a poet, writer, editor and professor emeritus at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. His poetry is well respected throughout the Caribbean, which has consistently ranked him among the top West Indian poets. He was also one of the first academics to espouse the importance of nation language in helping to define in verse important aspects of Jamaican culture. Morris was Poet Laureate of Jamaica from 2014 to 2017.<ref name="National Library">{{cite web|url=https://nlj.gov.jm/poetlaureate/professoremeritusmervynmorris/|title=Poet Laureate of Jamaica 2014–2017 {{!}} Professor Emeritus Mervyn Morris, OM|website=National Library of Jamaica|date=7 June 2021|access-date=8 February 2025}}</ref>
== Biography == Mervyn Morris was born in Kingston, Jamaica,<ref name="Wasairi" /> and attended Munro College.<ref name="National Library" /> He went on to study at the University College of the West Indies (UWI) and as a Rhodes Scholar at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. In 1970, he began lecturing at UWI, where he went on to be appointed a Reader in West Indian Literature.<ref name=Wasairi>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wasafiri.org/article/interview-mervyn-morris/|title=An Interview with Mervyn Morris|first=Arifa |last=Akbar|magazine=Wasafiri|date=4 May 2017|access-date=20 April 2023}}</ref> In 1992, he was a UK Arts Council Visiting Writer-in-Residence at the South Bank Centre. He lives in Kingston, Jamaica, where he is Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing & West Indian Literature.<!-- Morris has taught at the University of the West Indies since the 1960s.--><ref>[http://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?owner_id=510 "Mervyn Morris"], Carcanet Press.</ref>
In 2009, Morris was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit.
On 15 April 2014, Morris was announced as the Poet Laureate of Jamaica, the first to be accorded the title since the country's independence<ref name="National Library" /> (the previous holders being Tom Redcam, who was appointed posthumously in 1933, and J. E. Clare McFarlane, appointed in 1953).<ref>Henry, Balford (22 May 2024), [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Mervyn-Morris-first-Jamaican-Poet-Laureate-since-Independence_16473936 "Mervyn Morris first Jamaican Poet Laureate since Independence"], ''Jamaica Observer'', 16 April 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Prof-Mervyn-Morris-officially-invested-as-Poet-Laureate-of-Jamaica "Prof Mervyn Morris officially invested as Poet Laureate of Jamaica"], ''Jamaica Observer''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023063725/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Prof-Mervyn-Morris-officially-invested-as-Poet-Laureate-of-Jamaica |date=23 October 2014 }}.</ref> The investiture ceremony took place at King's House on 22 May 2014.<ref>Braham, Andrea (23 May 2014), [http://jis.gov.jm/official-poet-laureate-professor-mervyn-morris/ "It's Official for Poet Laureate Professor Mervyn Morris"], Jamaica Information Service.</ref><ref>Rowe, Marcia (24 May 2014), "[http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20140524/ent/ent4.html Poet Laureate Morris Honoured At King's House]", ''Jamaica Gleaner''. Retrieved 24 May 2014.</ref>
In March 2021, Morris was announced as the co-recipient, together with Edward Baugh, of the 2021 Bocas Henry Swanzy Award.<ref>[http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/two-jamaican-scholars-honoured-with-bocas-henry-swanzy-award_216232?profile=1373 "Two Jamaican scholars honoured with Bocas Henry Swanzy Award"], ''Jamaica Observer'', 5 March 2021.</ref>
== Works == Morris has published several volumes of poetry, and has edited the works of other Caribbean writers. His collections include ''The Pond'' (revised edition, New Beacon Books, 1997), ''Shadowboxing'' (New Beacon Books, 1979), ''Examination Centre'' (New Beacon Books, 1992) and ''On Holy Week'' (a sequence of poems for radio, Dangaroo Press, 1993). He also edited ''The Faber Book of Contemporary Caribbean Short Stories'' (1990) and published ''"Is English We Speaking", and Other Essays'' (Ian Randle Publishers, 1999). In 2006, Carcanet Press published his ''I been there, sort of: New and Selected Poems''.<ref>[http://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781857548297 Carcanet Press - ''I been there, sort of''], Carcanet Press.</ref><ref>[https://nlj.gov.jm/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Mervyn-Morris-Bibliography.pdf "Mervyn Morris Bibliography].</ref>
The best known poems by Morris include: "Little Boy Crying", "Family Pictures", "Love Is", "One, Two", "Home", "The Roaches", "The Pond" and "Critic".
== Selected bibliography == === Poetry ===
* ''The Pond'' – New Beacon Books, 1973. {{ISBN|978-0901241160}} (hb * ''On Holy Week'' – Dangaroo Press, 1976. {{ISBN|978-1871049671}} (pb) * ''Shadow Boxing'' – New Beacon Books, 1979. {{ISBN|978-0901241344}} (pb) * ''Examination Centre'' – New Beacon Books, 1992. {{ISBN|978-1873201091}} (pb) * ''I Been There, Sort Of: New and Selected Poems'' – Carcanet Press, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1857548297}} (pb)
=== Non-fiction ===
* ''"Is English We Speaking", and other essays'' – Ian Randle Publishers, 1999. {{ISBN|978-9768123633}} (pb) * ''Making West Indian Literature'' – Ian Randle Publishers, 2005. {{ISBN|976-637-174-1}} (pb) * ''Miss Lou: Louise Bennett and Jamaican Culture'' – Signal Books, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1908493972}} (pb)
=== As editor ===
* ''Seven Jamaican Poets'' - 1971 * ''The Faber Book of Contemporary Caribbean Short Stories'' – Faber & Faber, 1990. {{ISBN|978-0571152995}} (pb) * (with Jimmy Carnegie) ''Lunch Time Medley: Writings on West Indies Cricket'' – Ian Randle Publishers, 2008. {{ISBN|978-9766372828}} (pb) * (with Carolyn Allen) ''Writing Life: Reflections by West Indian Writers'' – Ian Randle Publishers, 2008. {{ISBN|978-9766373290}} (pb)
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
== Further reading == * Glyne Griffith, [http://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/scribe?showdoc=550;doctype=review Review of ''I Been There, Sort of: New and Selected Poems''], in ''The Caribbean Review of Books'' (reprinted at Carcanet). * Shara McCallum, [https://smallaxe.net/sxsalon/discussions/mervyn-morris-appreciation-and-close-reading "Mervyn Morris: An Appreciation and Close Reading"], ''SX Salon'', June 2024.
== External links == * [https://poetryarchive.org/poet/mervyn-morris/ Mervyn Morris] at The Poetry Archive. Retrieved 8 February 2025. * [https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/asu0281/id/145/ "Fiction and Poetry Readings: Mervyn Morris (1993)"], University of Miami Libraries Digital Collection. * Mervyn Morris, [http://www.nlj.gov.jm/poetlaureate/docs/Mervyn%20Morris%20Poet%20Laureate%20Investiture%20Remarks%202014.pdf "Poet Laureate Remarks at Investiture Ceremony], King's House, 21 May 2014". * Geoffrey Philp, [http://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.co.uk/2007/12/interview-with-mervyn-morris.html "An Interview With Mervyn Morris"], 7 December 2007.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Mervyn}} Category:1937 births Category:20th-century Jamaican poets Category:20th-century Jamaican male writers Category:21st-century Jamaican poets Category:21st-century Jamaican male writers Category:Academic staff of the University of the West Indies Category:Academics from Kingston, Jamaica Category:Jamaican male poets Category:Jamaican poets laureate Category:Living people Category:People educated at Munro College Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit (Jamaica) Category:Writers from Kingston, Jamaica