E. A. Markham

Edward Archibald Markham FRSL (1 October 1939 – 23 March 2008), popularly known as Archie Markham, was a Montserratian poet, playwright, novelist and academic. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1956, where he remained for most of his life, writing as well as teaching at various academic institutions. He was known for writing subtle, witty and intelligent poetry, which refused to conform to the conventions, and stereotypes, of British and Caribbean poetry alike.

Life

E. A. Markham was born into a large, middle-class family in Harris, Montserrat, in 1939. He attended the only grammar school on the island, before emigrating to the UK at the age of 17.

leftIn a long itinerant period, he took a Voluntary Service Overseas position for two years (1983–85) in Papua New Guinea, working as media co-ordinator for the provincial authorities in Enga province. aged 68.

Poetry and other works

Although Markham is mainly known for his poetry, he worked in many artistic genres across the years, producing plays, short stories, a novel and an autobiography as well as multiple collections of poetry. He found his first "artistic outlet" in drama, writing and producing a play called The Masterpiece while still at university in the early 1960s. In addition to his creative writing, Markham also edited two important anthologies of Caribbean writing: Hinterland: Caribbean Poetry from the West Indies and Britain (1979) and The Penguin Book of Caribbean Short Stories (1996).