Frank Collymore
Encyclopedia
Frank Appleton Collymore MBE
(January 7, 1893 - July 17, 1980) was a famous Barbadian
author
, poet
, stage performer and painter
. His nickname was "Barbadian Man of the Arts".
He was born at Woodville Cottage, Chelsea Road, Saint Michael, Barbados (where he lived all his life). Aside from being a student at Combermere School (from 1903 until 1910), he was also one of its staff members until his retirement in 1958, up to which point he was its Deputy Headmaster. After this, he often returned to teach until 1963.
On the stage, he became a member of the "Bridgetown
Players", which began in 1942.
As an artist, he made many drawings and paintings to illustrate his own writings. He called them "Collybeasts" or "Collycreatures".
In 1942, he began the famous Caribbean
literary magazine
, BIM (published four times a year), for which he is most well-known, and was also an editor until 1975.
Three Literary Awards have been named after him.
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(January 7, 1893 - July 17, 1980) was a famous Barbadian
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, stage performer and painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. His nickname was "Barbadian Man of the Arts".
He was born at Woodville Cottage, Chelsea Road, Saint Michael, Barbados (where he lived all his life). Aside from being a student at Combermere School (from 1903 until 1910), he was also one of its staff members until his retirement in 1958, up to which point he was its Deputy Headmaster. After this, he often returned to teach until 1963.
On the stage, he became a member of the "Bridgetown
Bridgetown
The city of Bridgetown , metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael...
Players", which began in 1942.
As an artist, he made many drawings and paintings to illustrate his own writings. He called them "Collybeasts" or "Collycreatures".
In 1942, he began the famous Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
literary magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, BIM (published four times a year), for which he is most well-known, and was also an editor until 1975.
Three Literary Awards have been named after him.
Collymore's works
- BIM (magazine, 1942–1975)
- Thirty Poems (1944)
- Beneath the Casuarinas (1945)
- Flotsam (1948)
- Collected Poems (1959)
- Rhymed Ruminations on the Fauna of Barbados (1968)
- Notes for a Glossary of Words and Phrases of Barbadian Dialect (1970)
- Selected Poems (1971)
- The Man Who Loved Attending Funerals and Other Stories (1993) (published posthumously)
- Day's End (Year Unknown)
Awards
- Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
- 1958 - University of the West IndiesUniversity of the West IndiesThe University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
M.A. - 1968 - SavacouSavacouSavacou Magazine was founded in 1970 by Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Andrew Salkey, and John La Rose. Savacou grew out of the Caribbean Artists Movement of the 1960's that was mostly concerned with Caribbean artistic production and with consolidating a broad artistic alliance between all 'Third World'...
: A Journal of the Caribbean Artists Movement (January/June), ed. Edward Kamau BrathwaiteEdward Kamau BrathwaiteEdward Kamau Brathwaite is widely considered one of the major voices in the Caribbean literary canon. A professor of Comparative Literature at New York University, Brathwaite is the 2006 International Winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize, for his volume of poetry, Born to Slow Horses.Brathwaite...
, dedicated "A Tribute to Frank Collymore" (1973) - Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee MedalQueen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee MedalThe Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II...
- 1977
External links
- The man who loved to have fun by Phillip Nanton, BWIA Caribbean Beat, January/February 2004.
- The Frank Collymore Hall (most of the content above is taken from Collymore's biography at this site)