
John Figueroa
In the 1980s he moved to the UK, working for the Open University, was a Fellow at the Centre for Caribbean Studies, University of Warwick, and was an adviser in multicultural education. In his retirement he was a familiar and popular/combative figure at conferences on Caribbean studies as a Foundation Member of ACLALS, the Caribbean Studies Association and the Society for Caribbean Studies.
His work in education is recorded in countless articles and his book, Society, Schools and Progress in the West Indies (1971). Apart from his collections of poetry, his other major contribution to the Caribbean is in his editorship of the anthology Caribbean Voices (vol 1: Dreams and Visions and vol 2: The Blue Horizons 1966 & 1970), the first comprehensive collection of West Indian poetry, and an important landmark in establishing the breadth of creativity in the area. The anthologies drew on the Caribbean Voices broadcasts and made much previously unpublished work available. Figueroa was also the first general editor of the Heinemann Caribbean Writers Series.
His own creative writing was first collected in Blue Mountain Peak: Poetry & Prose (privately published, Jamaica, 1944) and then in Love Leaps Here, (privately published, UK, 1962). His poetry reflects his origins as a Jamaican of Portuguese descent and a Catholic who, whilst deeply committed to the Caribbean, was concerned to maintain his European heritage without apology. He insisted that drums were not the only Caribbean musical instrument (no doubt a dig at Kamau Brathwaite) and championed Derek Walcott's relationship to the classical and European literary tradition. Ironically, one of Figueroa's most effective poems is in Nation language.
The Chase (Peepal Tree, 1991) collects the poetry into an organisation which reflects Figueroa's lifelong preoccupations: a synthesising of the spirit and the flesh, the Caribbean and Europe in one vision.
He died in 1999.
Titles featuring John Figueroa
- The ChasePrice: £9.99
Book reviews for John Figueroa
- The ChasePrice: £9.99
Review written by Laurence A. Breiner for CRNLE Reviews Review written by Landeg White for Poetry Review Review written by Keith Silver for London Magazine Review written by Gerald Guiness for The San Juan Star Review written by Arnold R. Highfield for Caribbean Writer Review written by Andrew Salkey for World Literature Today