Edward Baugh | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edward Alston Cecil Baugh (1936-01-10)10 January 1936 Port Antonio,Colony of Jamaica, British Empire |
| Died | 9 December 2023(2023-12-09) (aged 87) Kingston, Jamaica |
| Alma mater | University College of the West Indies; Queen's University, Canada; University of Manchester |
| Occupation(s) | Poet and scholar |
| Notable work | West Indian Poetry 1900–1970: A Study in Cultural Decolonisation (1971); Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision (1978) |
| Awards | Bocas Henry Swanzy Award, 2021 |
Edward Alston Cecil BaughCD (10 January 1936 – 9 December 2023) was a Jamaican poet and scholar, recognised as an authority on the work ofDerek Walcott,[1] whoseSelected Poems (2007) Baugh edited, having in 1978 authored the first book-length study of theNobel-winning poet's work,Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision.[2][3]
Edward Alston Cecil Baugh was born on 10 January 1936 inPort Antonio, Jamaica,[4] the son of Edward Percival Baugh, purchasing agent, and Ethel Maud Duhaney-Baugh.[5] He began writing poetry atTitchfield High School. He won a scholarship to study English literature at theUniversity College of the West Indies and later did postgraduate studies atQueen's University inOntario, Canada, and at theUniversity of Manchester in England, where he earned a PhD in 1964.
Baugh taught at theCave Hill campus of theUniversity of the West Indies from 1965 to 1967, then at the university's Mona campus from 1968 to 2001, eventually being appointed professor of English in 1978 and public orator in 1985.[6] He has also held visiting appointments at theUniversity of California,Dalhousie University,University of Hull,University of Wollongong,Flinders University,Macquarie University,University of Miami andHoward University.[5]
In 2012, he was awarded a GoldMusgrave Medal by theInstitute of Jamaica.[7]
In March 2021, Baugh was announced as the co-recipient, together withMervyn Morris, of theBocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters.[8]
Baugh died in Kingston early on 10 December 2023, at the age of 87,[9] survived by his wife Sheila and their daughters Sarah and Katherine.[10]
His scholarly publications includeWest Indian Poetry 1900–1970: A Study in Cultural Decolonisation (1971);Critics on Caribbean Literature (1978);Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision (1978), the first book-length study of Walcott's work; and an annotated edition of Walcott'sAnother Life (2004), with Colbert Nepaulsingh.Chancellor, I Present (1998) collects a number of the citations Baugh prepared and delivered as Public Orator of The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, for the presentation of honorary degrees during the annual presentation of graduates ceremony.
Baugh's poems appeared in various magazines and anthologies years before the publication of his first collection,A Tale from the Rainforest (1988). This was followed byIt Was the Singing (2000) andBlack Sand: New and Selected Poems (2013).[11]
