Wilson Harris
Encyclopedia
Sir Theodore Wilson Harris (born 24 March 1921) is a Guyanese
writer. He initially wrote poetry, but has since become a well-known novelist and essayist. His writing style is often said to be abstract and densely metaphorical, and his subject matter wide-ranging.
Wilson Harris was born in New Amsterdam
in what was then called British Guiana. After studying at Queen's College
in the capital of Guyana, Georgetown
, Harris became a government surveyor, before taking up a career as lecturer and writer. The knowledge of the savannas and rain forests he gained during his time as a surveyor formed the setting for many of his books, with the Guyanese landscape dominating his fiction.
Harris came to England in 1959 and published his first novel Palace of the Peacock in 1960. This became the first of a quartet of novels, The Guyana Quartet, which includes The Far Journey of Oudin (1961), The Whole Armour (1962), and The Secret Ladder (1963). He subsequently wrote the Carnival trilogy: Carnival (1985), The Infinite Rehearsal (1987), and The Four Banks of the River of Space (1990).
His most recent novels include Jonestown
(1996), which tells of the mass-suicide of followers of cult leader Jim Jones
, The Dark Jester (2001), his latest semi-autobiographical novel, The Mask of the Beggar (2003), and The Ghost of Memory (2006).
Harris also writes non-fiction and critical essays and has been awarded honorary doctorates by several universities, including the University of the West Indies
(1984) and the University of Liège
(2001). He has twice won the Guyana Prize for Literature.
Harris was knighted
in the 2010 Birthday Honours.
The Far Journey of Oudin, 1961
The Whole Armour, 1962
The Secret Ladder, 1963
Heartland, 1964
The Eye of the Scarecrow, 1965
The Waiting Room, 1967
Tumatumari, 1968
Ascent to Omai, 1970
The Sleepers of Roraima (illustrated by Kay Usborne), 1970
The Age of the Rainmakers (illustrated by Kay Usborne), 1971
Black Marsden: A Tabula Rasa Comedy, 1972
Companions of the Day and Night, 1975
Enigma of Values: An Introduction, 1975
Da Silva da Silva's Cultivated Wilderness/Genesis of the Clowns, 1977
The Tree of the Sun, 1978
The Angel at the Gate, 1982
Carnival, 1985
The Guyana Quartet (Palace of the Peacock, The Far Journey of Oudin,The Whole Armour, The Secret Ladder), 1985
The Infinite Rehearsal, 1987
The Four Banks of the River of Space, 1990
Resurrection at Sorrow Hill, 1993
The Carnival Trilogy (Carnival, The Infinite Rehearsal, The Four Banks of the River of Space), 1993
Jonestown, 1996
The Dark Jester, 2001
The Mask of the Beggar, 2003
The Ghost of Memory, 2006
The Well and the Land, 1952
Eternity to Season, 1954
Tradition, the Writer and Society: Critical Essays, 1967
History, Fable and Myth in the Caribbean and Guianas, 1970
Fossil and Psyche, 1974
Explorations: A Series of Talks and Articles 1966- 1981, 1981
The Womb of Space: The Cross-Cultural Imagination, 1983
The Radical Imagination (essays), 1992
Selected Essays, 1999
1992 Premio Mondello dei Cinque Continenti
2002 Guyana Prize for Literature (Special Award)
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
writer. He initially wrote poetry, but has since become a well-known novelist and essayist. His writing style is often said to be abstract and densely metaphorical, and his subject matter wide-ranging.
Wilson Harris was born in New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam, Guyana
New Amsterdam , located in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region, 62 miles from the capital, Georgetown, is one of the largest towns in Guyana. It is located four miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean mouth of the Berbice River, on its eastern bank, immediately south of the Canje River...
in what was then called British Guiana. After studying at Queen's College
Queen's College, Guyana
Queen's College is the top secondary school in Guyana;Situated at the South-Easterly Junction of Camp Street and Thomas Lands. Alumni can enter the school through the National Grade Six Assessment and at the Lower 6th Form Level if the academic performance of the student at the Caribbean Secondary...
in the capital of Guyana, Georgetown
Georgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
, Harris became a government surveyor, before taking up a career as lecturer and writer. The knowledge of the savannas and rain forests he gained during his time as a surveyor formed the setting for many of his books, with the Guyanese landscape dominating his fiction.
Harris came to England in 1959 and published his first novel Palace of the Peacock in 1960. This became the first of a quartet of novels, The Guyana Quartet, which includes The Far Journey of Oudin (1961), The Whole Armour (1962), and The Secret Ladder (1963). He subsequently wrote the Carnival trilogy: Carnival (1985), The Infinite Rehearsal (1987), and The Four Banks of the River of Space (1990).
His most recent novels include Jonestown
Jonestown
Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby...
(1996), which tells of the mass-suicide of followers of cult leader Jim Jones
Jim Jones
James Warren "Jim" Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 mass suicide of 909 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the killings of five other people at a nearby airstrip.Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple in...
, The Dark Jester (2001), his latest semi-autobiographical novel, The Mask of the Beggar (2003), and The Ghost of Memory (2006).
Harris also writes non-fiction and critical essays and has been awarded honorary doctorates by several universities, including the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The 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,...
(1984) and the University of Liège
University of Liège
The University of Liège , in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French.-History:...
(2001). He has twice won the Guyana Prize for Literature.
Harris was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in the 2010 Birthday Honours.
Novels
Palace of the Peacock, 1960The Far Journey of Oudin, 1961
The Whole Armour, 1962
The Secret Ladder, 1963
Heartland, 1964
The Eye of the Scarecrow, 1965
The Waiting Room, 1967
Tumatumari, 1968
Ascent to Omai, 1970
The Sleepers of Roraima (illustrated by Kay Usborne), 1970
The Age of the Rainmakers (illustrated by Kay Usborne), 1971
Black Marsden: A Tabula Rasa Comedy, 1972
Companions of the Day and Night, 1975
Enigma of Values: An Introduction, 1975
Da Silva da Silva's Cultivated Wilderness/Genesis of the Clowns, 1977
The Tree of the Sun, 1978
The Angel at the Gate, 1982
Carnival, 1985
The Guyana Quartet (Palace of the Peacock, The Far Journey of Oudin,The Whole Armour, The Secret Ladder), 1985
The Infinite Rehearsal, 1987
The Four Banks of the River of Space, 1990
Resurrection at Sorrow Hill, 1993
The Carnival Trilogy (Carnival, The Infinite Rehearsal, The Four Banks of the River of Space), 1993
Jonestown, 1996
The Dark Jester, 2001
The Mask of the Beggar, 2003
The Ghost of Memory, 2006
Poetry
Fetish Miniature Poets Series, 1951The Well and the Land, 1952
Eternity to Season, 1954
Nonfiction
Tradition and the West Indian Novel (lecture), 1965Tradition, the Writer and Society: Critical Essays, 1967
History, Fable and Myth in the Caribbean and Guianas, 1970
Fossil and Psyche, 1974
Explorations: A Series of Talks and Articles 1966- 1981, 1981
The Womb of Space: The Cross-Cultural Imagination, 1983
The Radical Imagination (essays), 1992
Selected Essays, 1999
Prizes and awards
1987 Guyana Prize for Literature1992 Premio Mondello dei Cinque Continenti
2002 Guyana Prize for Literature (Special Award)
External links
- Wilson Harris: An Overview
- The Wilson Harris Bibliography
- Guardian article on Harris by Maya Jaggi
- Caribbean Review of Books page on Harris
Further reading
- Adler, Joyce SparerJoyce Sparer AdlerJoyce Sparer Adler was an American critic, playwright, and teacher. She was a founding member of the faculty of the University of Guyana, writer of important critical analyses of Wilson Harris and Herman Melville, and 1988 president of the Melville Society.-Biography:Joyce Sparer Adler was born in...
. Exploring the Palace of the Peacock: Essays on Wilson Harris. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2003. ISBN 976-640-140-3 - Hena Maes-Jelinek. The Labyrinth of Universality. Wilson Harris's Visionary Art of Fiction. (Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi, 2006), 564 pp.
- Barbara J. Webb. Myth and History in Caribbean Fiction: Alejo Carpentier, Wilson Harris, and Edouard Glissant. (Amherst: U of Massachusetts P., 1992).
- Wilson Harris Collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...