World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Lorna Gaye Goodison

ローナ・ゲイ・グッドイソン

Rōna Guddison

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1947-08-01 （Kingston, Jamaica）
Nationality
Jamaican
Languages
English
Religion
Christianity (Anglican)
Residence History
Kingston, Jamaica → Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA → Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia, Canada → Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Career

Occupations
poet, essayist, memoirist, painter, university professor, lecturer
Active Years
1970-2025
Affiliations
University of Michigan (Professor Emerita)
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected), Royal Society of Literature (International Writer)
Influenced By
Derek Walcott, Dante Alighieri (Divine Comedy), John Keats
Influenced
contemporary Caribbean poets, subsequent generations of women poets

Education

St. Hugh's High School
Secondary education
Degree: High school diploma
Period: 1950s–1960s
Year of Graduation: 1964
Country: Jamaica
Attended an Anglican secondary school
Jamaica School of Art
Fine arts
Country: Jamaica
Studied painting in early career
Art Students League of New York
Fine arts (painting)
Country: United States
Studied under painters including Jacob Lawrence

Awards

Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Americas)
1986
Work: I Am Becoming My Mother
Category: 詩
Organization: Commonwealth Writers
Result: 受賞
Musgrave Gold Medal
1999
Organization: Institute of Jamaica
Result: 受賞
Henry Russel Award
2004
Organization: University of Michigan
Result: 受賞
British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
2008
Work: From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her Island
Category: ノンフィクション
Organization: British Columbia Achievement Foundation
Result: 受賞
Order of Distinction (Commander)
2013
Organization: Government of Jamaica
Result: 叙勲（コマンダー）
OCM Bocas Prize for Poetry
2014
Work: Oracabessa
Category: 詩
Organization: NGC Bocas Lit Fest
Result: 受賞
Shirley Verrett Award
2015
Organization: University of Michigan
Result: 受賞
Poet Laureate of Jamaica
2017
Organization: Government of Jamaica / National Library of Jamaica
Result: 任命（2017–2020）
Windham–Campbell Literature Prize
2018
Organization: Yale University
Result: 受賞
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
2019
Organization: The Poetry Society / The Royal Household
Result: 受賞
Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2020
Organization: American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Result: 選出
Honorary Doctorate (Durham University)
2022
Organization: Durham University
Result: 叙位（名誉博士）
Royal Society of Literature (International Writer)
2023
Organization: Royal Society of Literature
Result: 選出

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

I Am Becoming My Mother

1986 Poetry

A collection of poems exploring motherhood, memory and Caribbean identity.

motherhoodmemoryfamily

From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her Island

2007 Memoir / Non-fiction

A lyrical memoir about the author's mother, family history and the island community.

family historymemorycommunity

Oracabessa

2013 Poetry

A book of poems mapping journeys through Spain, Portugal, Canada and Jamaica, blending international English and Jamaican Creole.

journeyplacehistory

Mother Muse

2021 Poetry

Poems orbiting around maternal figures in Jamaican music and culture, celebrating and elegising women.

female experiencemusicelegy

Dante's Inferno (translation / reimagining)

2025 Translation / Poetry

A new translation and reimagining of Dante's Inferno that converses with the original while bringing Caribbean perspectives.

translationdialogue with historycultural reimagining

Bibliography

  • Tamarind Season (1980)
  • I Am Becoming My Mother (1986)
  • Heartease (1988)
  • Selected Poems (1992)
  • Oracabessa (2013)
  • From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her Island (2007)
  • Mother Muse (2021)
  • Dante's Inferno (2025)

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Dante's Inferno (2025)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
distinctive voice blending Jamaican English and international Englishlyrical and narrative-driven linesrich in metaphor and oral traditions
Recurring Motifs
motherhood and mother–daughter relationshipsmemory and generational inheritancehomeland (Jamaica) and migration/exile

Legacy

Lorna Goodison is one of Jamaica's foremost poets, internationally acclaimed for work centered on motherhood, memory and Caribbean history. As the first woman Poet Laureate of Jamaica and a recipient of multiple international awards, she has secured a lasting literary legacy.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected)
  • Royal Society of Literature (International Writer)

Archives

  • Lorna Goodison Papers at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto

In Popular Culture

  • From Harvey River featured on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week (2009)

Quotes

  • “I didn't choose poetry—it chose me.”
    Source: Interview / Introduction to I Am Becoming My Mother (1986)

Trivia

  • Born on 1 August 1947, the same day as Jamaica's Emancipation Day.
  • Often features her own paintings on her book covers.
  • Appointed Jamaica's first female Poet Laureate in 2017.