Patricia Powell
Encyclopedia
Patricia Powell is a Jamaican writer.
Born in Jamaica, she moved to the United States in her late teens. She received her bachelor's degree at Wellesley College, and an MFA in creative writing from Brown University
, where she studied with Michael Ondaatje
, among others.
She began her teaching career in 1991 in the English Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston
. In 2001, Powell was the Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in Fiction at Harvard University
. In 2003, she was announced as the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at MIT.
Most of her work is not autobiographical, but explores personal themes of rejection, displacement, and healing through the lives of highly varied characters, ranging from a gay Jamaican man dying of AIDS, to a cross-dressing Chinese woman immigrant to Jamaica, to Nanny, a heroine of Jamaican independence.
Born in Jamaica, she moved to the United States in her late teens. She received her bachelor's degree at Wellesley College, and an MFA in creative writing from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, where she studied with Michael Ondaatje
Michael Ondaatje
Philip Michael Ondaatje , OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.-Life and work:...
, among others.
She began her teaching career in 1991 in the English Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the second largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. The university is located on on Harbor Point in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
. In 2001, Powell was the Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in Fiction at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. In 2003, she was announced as the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at MIT.
Most of her work is not autobiographical, but explores personal themes of rejection, displacement, and healing through the lives of highly varied characters, ranging from a gay Jamaican man dying of AIDS, to a cross-dressing Chinese woman immigrant to Jamaica, to Nanny, a heroine of Jamaican independence.
Literary awards
- Pen New England Discovery Award,
- Bruce Rossley Literary Award,
- Ferro-Grumley Award for fiction,
- Lila Wallace Readers Digest Writers Award,
- YWCA Tribute to Outstanding Women Award.
Novels
- Me Dying Trial (1993) ISBN 0435989359
- The Pagoda: A Novel (1998) ISBN 0679454896
- A Small Gathering of Bones (2003) ISBN 0807083674
- The Fullness of Everything (2009) ISBN 1845231139