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Geoffrey Philp (born 1958) is aJamaicanpoet,[1]novelist, andplaywright. Philp used to reside in Jamaica, where he was born and attended Jamaica College,[2][3][4][5] but he relocated in 1979 to Miami, Florida.[6] He is the author of the novelBenjamin, My Son (2003),[7] and sixpoetry collections:Exodus and Other Poems (1990),Florida Bound (1995),Hurricane Center (1998),Xango Music (2001),Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas (2005), andDub Wise (2010). He has also written two books of short stories,Uncle Obadiah and the Alien (1997) andWho's Your Daddy? and Other Stories (2009); a play,Ogun's Last Stand (2005), and the children's booksGrandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories (2007) andMarcus and the Amazons (2011). He also has a blog where he critiques other people's literary works.[8]
His work has been mainly influenced byDerek Walcott,Kamau Brathwaite,[9]V. S. Naipaul,Bob Marley, andJoseph Campbell and contains some elements ofmagical realism. Many of hisshort stories focus on the dilemmas facing fatherless children in theCaribbean, the disruptive effects of theJamaican diaspora on family and community life, and the spiritual and political dimensions ofreggae and theRastafari movement. A musical influence on Philp is Bob Marley, who utilized his lyrics to convey many topics such as Caribbean life and mixed diverse aspects of existence in a powerful way.[10]Benjamin, My Son, in particular, examines Caribbean life within the context of establishedChristian religions andAfricanYoruba-based traditions, while using the framework ofDante'sInferno.[11]
Philp's awards include an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Florida Arts Council, an artist-in-residence at theSeaside Institute, Sauza "Stay Pure" Award,Canute Brodhurst Prize andJames Michener fellowships at theUniversity of Miami, where he earned his Master of Arts in Creative Writing. He has been nominated for and received several prizes, the most notable of which is the "Outstanding Writer" award from the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission.[12] His reviews, articles, poems and short stories have also appeared inSmall Axe,Asili,The Caribbean Writer,Gulf Stream, Florida in Poetry: A History of the Imagination,Wheel and Come Again: An Anthology of Reggae Poetry,Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse, and is a contributing writer to Jamaicans.com,[13] and Visible Magazine.[14] He lives inMiami, Florida.
Novel
Short story collection
Poetry collections
Drama
Children's books
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