Carew, Jan 1925- (Jan Rynveld Carew)

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Carew, Jan 1925- (Jan Rynveld Carew)

PERSONAL:

Born September 24, 1925 (one source says 1920), in Agricola, British Guiana (now Guyana); son of Charles Alan (a planter) and Kathleen Ethel Carew; married Joan Murray, June 14, 1952 (deceased); mar- ried Sylvia Wynter (a writer), c. 1960 (marriage ended July, 1971); married Joy Gleason (a university lecturer), September 28, 1975; children: Lisa St. Aubin, Christopher David, Shantoba. Education: Attended Howard University, 1945-46, Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University), 1946-48, and Charles University, Prague, 1949-50; Sorbonne, University of Paris, M.Sc., 1952.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Evanston, IL. Office—Department of African American Studies, Northwestern University, 2003 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60208-0002.

CAREER:

Teacher, Berbice High School, 1939; customs officer in British Colonial Civil Service, Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), 1940-43; price control officer for government of Trinidad, Port-of-Spain, 1943-44; artist and writer in Paris, France, and Amsterdam, Holland, 1950-51; toured as an actor with Laurence Olivier Company, 1952; University of London, London, England, Extra-Mural Department, lecturer in race relations, 1952-54; British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) Overseas Service, London, broadcaster, writer, and editor, 1952-65; director of culture and advisor to the prime minister of the government of British Guiana, 1962; Latin American correspondent for London Observer, 1962; artist and writer under contract to Associated Television (London, England) on island of Ibiza, Spain, 1963-64; advisor to the publicity secretariat of the government of Ghana, 1965-66; artist and writer, commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) to do numerous programs in Toronto, Ontario, 1966-69; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, senior fellow, Council of Humanities, and lecturer in Third World literature and creative writing, 1969-72; Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, professor of African American and Third World studies, 1973-87, professor emeritus, 1987—, chairman of department of African American Studies, 1973-76. Hampshire College, visiting professor, 1986-87; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, visiting Clarence J. Robinson Professor, 1989-91; Illinois Wesleyan University, visiting professor of international studies, 1992—. Guest lecturer at Livingston College, Douglass College, and Rutgers University, 1969-72; consultant for English language and literature programs at New York University, 1969-72; guest lecturer at University of Surinam Teacher's Training College, 1975. Exhibitions of paintings at Imperial Institute, London, 1948; Cleveland Public Library, Ohio, 1949; Commonwealth Institute, London, England, 1953. Toured Federal Republic of Germany as an official guest of the Ministry of Culture, 1963 and 1967; toured Soviet Union as a guest of the Soviet Writer's Union, 1963 and 1965. Consultant, National Council of Churches, Fifth Commission, 1975—, Pan African Skills Project, Inc., 1978—, Organization of American States, Cultural Division, 1980—, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, 1983—, and Futures Conference Project, 1986—; director of Caribbean Foundation for Rural Development and Education in Surinam, 1975—; advisor on appropriate technology, government of Jamaica, 1976-78; cofounder and codirector, Third World Energy Institute International, 1977—, Caribbean Society for Culture and Science, 1978—, and Jamaica Support Committee, 1980; member of board of directors, Linear Alpha, Inc., 1978—; chairman of executive board, Black Press Institute, 1982—; advisor and member of board of directors, Kindred Spirits Project, 1982—; advisor, Illinois Senate Committee on Higher Education, 1984—.

MEMBER:

Association of Caribbean Studies (president, 1982—), Caribbean Society for Culture and Science, American Association of University Professors, American Union of Writers, American Association of Retired Persons.

AWARDS, HONORS:

The Big Pride (television play) was selected as best play of the year by the London Daily Mirror, 1964; Canada Arts Council grant, 1969, for significant contributions to the arts; Princeton University summer grantee, 1970-71; Rutgers University summer grantee, 1970-72; Burton International Fellowship, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, 1973 and 1974; Illinois Arts Council award for fiction, 1974, for short story "Ti-Zek"; American Institute of Graphic Arts Certificate of Excellence, 1974, for The Third Gift; Jan Carew Annual Lectureship Award established by Princeton University, 1975; Casa de las Americas award for poetry, 1977; Pushcart prize, 1979, for essay "The Caribbean Writer and Exile"; Walter Rodney Award, Association of Caribbean Studies, 1985; National Film Institute Award for screenplay Black Midas, 1985; HANSIB Publication award, London, 1990.

WRITINGS:

Streets of Eternity (poetry), privately printed, 1952.

Black Midas (novel), Secker & Warburg (London, England), 1958, published as A Touch of Midas, Coward (New York, NY), 1958.

The Wild Coast (novel), Secker & Warburg (London, England), 1958.

The Last Barbarian (novel), Secker & Warburg (London, England), 1960.

Moscow Is Not My Mecca (novel), Secker & Warburg (London, England), 1964, published as Green Winter, Stein & Day (New York, NY), 1965.

Cry Black Power, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, ON, Canada), 1970.

Sons of the Flying Wing, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, ON, Canada), 1970.

Rope the Sun, Third Press, 1973.

(Editor) Out of Time, illustrated by Howard Phillips, Adult Basic Education Centre (Cardiff, Wales), 1975.

The Twins of Ilora, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 1977.

Sea Drums in My Blood (poetry), New Voices (Trinidad), 1981.

Indian and African Presence in the Americas, Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA), 1984.

Grenada: The Hour Will Strike Again (history), International Organization of Journalists Press (Czechoslovakia), 1985.

The Riverman (novella), Africa World Press (Lawrenceville, NJ), 1987.

The Sisters (novella), Africa World Press (Lawrenceville, NJ), 1987.

Fulcrums of Change: Origins of Racism in the Americas and Other Essays, Africa World Press (Lawrenceville, NJ), 1988.

Ghosts in Our Blood: With Malcolm X in Africa, England, and the Caribbean, Lawrence Hill Books (Chicago, IL), 1994.

The Guyanese Wanderer: Stories, Sarabande Books (Louisville, KY), 2007.

JUVENILE AND YOUNG ADULT

The Third Gift, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 1974.

Stranger than Tomorrow: Three Stories of the Future, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1976.

Save the Last Dance for Me, and Other Stories, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1976.

The Lost Love, and Other Stories, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1978.

The Man Who Came Back, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1979.

The Cat People, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1979.

Children of the Sun, illustrated by L. and D. Dillon, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 1980.

Dark Night, Deep Water, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1981.

Dead Man's Creek: Two Stories, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1981.

House of Fear: Two Stories, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1981.

Don't Go Near the Water, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1982.

Time Loop, Hutchinson Education, 1982.

Death Comes to the Circus, Hutchinson Education, 1983.

PLAYS

Miracle in Lime Lane (adaptation of a play by Coventry Taylor), produced in Spanish Town, Jamaica, 1962.

The University of Hunger (three-act), produced in Georgetown, Guyana, at Georgetown Theatre, 1966.

Gentlemen Be Seated, produced in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1967.

Black Horse, Pale Rider (two-act), University of the West Indies Extra-Mural Department, 1970.

Behind God's Back, Carifesta, Volume 2, 1975.

Also author of The Peace Play, 1987, and Black Midas (screenplay).

TELEVISION PLAYS

The Big Pride, Associated Television, 1963-64.

The Day of the Fox, Associated Television, 1963-64.

Exile from the Sun, Associated Television, 1963-64.

The Baron of South Boulevard, Associated Television, 1963-64.

No Gown for Peter, Associated Television, 1963-64.

The Raiders, Associated Television, 1963-64.

The Smugglers, Associated Television, 1963-64.

A Roof of Stars, Associated Television, 1963-64.

The Conversion of Tiho, Associated Television, 1963-64.

Behind God's Back, Canadian Broadcasting Company, 1969.

RADIO PLAYS

Song of the Riverman, British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), 1960-69.

The Riverman, BBC, 1960-69.

The University of Hunger, BBC, 1960-69.

The Legend of Nameless Mountain, BBC, 1960-69.

Ata, BBC, 1960-69.

Anancy and Tiger, BBC, 1960-69.

Also author of The Origins of Racism and Resistance in the Americas, 1976; Rape of the Sun-People (history), 1976; and The Rape of Paradise, 1992. Contributor to books, including Breaklight (poetry), edited by Andrew Salkey, Hamish Hamilton, 1971; and Bite In (poetry), edited by Cecil Gray, Thomas Nelson, 1971. Work represented in several anthologies, including Stories from the Caribbean, edited by Andrew Salkey, Elek, 1965; Island Voices, edited by Andrew Salkey, Liveright, 1970; West Indian Stories, edited by Andrew Salkey (London, England), 1971; New Writing in the Caribbean, edited by A.J. Seymour, Guyana Lithographic, 1972; Carifesta Anthology, edited by A.J. Seymour, Guyana Lithographic, 1972; The Sun's Eye, edited by Anna Walmsley (London, England), 1973; Anthology of Writing in English, edited by T. Nelson, 1977; and Expressions of Power in Education: Studies of Class, Gender, and Race, edited by Edgar B. Gumbert, Georgia State University, 1984. Reviewer for John O'London's Weekly, Art News and Review, and British Broadcasting Corporation. Contributor of articles, short stories, and essays to periodicals, including New England Review and Bread Loaf Quarterly, New York Times, Saturday Review, New Statesman, African Review, Listener, Journal of African Civilizations, Black Press Review, New Deliberations, Journal of the Association of Caribbean Studies, Black American Literature Forum, Pacific Quarterly, and Race and Class. Editor of De Kim (multilingual poetry magazine in Amsterdam), 1951, Kensington Post, 1953, and African Review (Ghana); publisher of Cotopax (a Third World literary magazine), 1969; member of the editorial boards of Journal of African Civilizations, Obsidian, Caliban, Journal of the Association of Caribbean Studies, and Race and Class. Carew's works have been published in foreign languages including Japanese, Spanish, Russian, and German.

ADAPTATIONS:

Black Midas has been adapted for schools by Sylvia Wynter and illustrated by Aubrey Williams, Longman (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1969.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer, editor, and educator Jan Carew is a prolific and versatile writer who has lived in South and North America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe and whose work includes novels, poetry, plays for theater, television, and radio, screenplays, essays, and books for children and young adults. Much of his work is concerned with the search for identity by colonized peoples; the protagonists of his novels are often educated black men estranged from both the whitedominated cultures in which they have received their formal education and the indigenous cultures of their homelands.

The Guyanese Wanderer: Stories is a collection of tales relating to life in the former British colony. Although Carew himself is a Guyanese expatriate, these stories concentrate on depictions of the unusual characters— many of them peasants or other poverty-stricken members of society—who populate the countryside and cities. "Rather than relying on plot, these brief episodes are profiles of a particular kind of courage," explained a Kirkus Reviews contributor. "Poor people are fostered by the rich and wonder who they may become; bookish children find paths toward education." Carew is "less a fabulist than Kenyan Ngugi wa Thiongo or Argentinian Ernesto Sabato," Travis Fristoe declared in the Library Journal, "but the same sense of moral gravity and [fable-like] conflict runs strongly throughout." Some of the stories are related through shared characters. One repeating character, for instance, is the young man Belfon. In one story, he is surrendered by his mother into the custody of a wealthy benefactor because she can no longer care for him and pursue her new relationship at the same time. In another, he travels to Trinidad for additional schooling, but he learns a life lesson from the wise woman Couvade that he will never forget. "In these 10 sharply observed tales," a Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded, "Carew makes a Guyanese sensibility— its wanderings home and away—palpable."

When asked to comment on the aspiration of Third World peoples and on how he expresses his philosophy of life through his writing, Carew shared the following passages from his novel in progress, Green Mansions of the Sun: "His Carib hero, Kai, said that everyone has a place, a piece of terrain, a spot on earth that was his very own, like the black leopard … if a hunter tried to kill him, that leopard would find his spot in the forest, and once he found it—look out hunter—for on his turf, he was invincible!

"This was something that Atlassa understood, not just the trappings, but the power to make the lowliest believe in themselves. Atlassa succeeded where no one else had, he began with the most despised, he made us all see ourselves as we really were. After his return, he started out by listening to us. No one had ever listened since Christobal and his cutthroat sailors had been discovered by the Amer-indians on their beaches…. After that, it was a long history of colonizers shouting orders, and the colonized never talking back. After long years of listening, Atlassa showed us new images of ourselves without the distortions."

Passages from Carew's essay "The Caribbean Writer in Exile" elaborate upon his philosophy: "The Caribbean writer today is a creature balanced between limbo and nothingness, exile abroad and homelessness at home, between the people on the one hand and the creole and the colonizer on the other…. The writer is, therefore, islanded in the midst of marginal tides of sorrow, despair, hope, whirlpools of anxiety, cataracts of rage….

"‘All people have a right to share the waters of the River of Life and to drink with their own cups, but our cups have been broken,’ laments the Carib poem-hymn. The writer, artist, musician, is directly involved in the creative process of reshaping the broken cups…. Therefore, while we shape exquisite new cups, we must side by side with the disinherited millions of the Third World, confront those who would deny us our fair share of the waters of the River of Life."