Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 79 (2014) Special Award
Wilson Harris
セオドア・ウィルソン・ハリス
Theodore Wilson Harris
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1921-03-24 （New Amsterdam, British Guiana (now Guyana)）
- Died
- 2018-03-08 （Chelmsford, England） age 96
- Nationality
- Guyanese
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- New Amsterdam, Guyana → Georgetown, Guyana → Holland Park, London, England → Essex, England → Chelmsford, England
Career
- Occupations
- Writer, Novelist, Poet, Essayist, Land surveyor (former), Lecturer
- Active Years
- 1942-2018
- Memberships
- Caribbean Philosophical Association (related award)
- Influenced By
- C. L. R. James, Mikhail Bakhtin, Caribbean oral and mythic traditions
- Influenced
- Nathaniel Mackey, Fred D'Aguiar, Generations of Caribbean experimental writers
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's College, Guyana | — | — | — | 在籍年不詳（第二次世界大戦前後） | Guyana |
Queen's College, Guyana
Period:
在籍年不詳（第二次世界大戦前後）
Country:
Guyana
Attended local prestigious school; later worked as a land surveyor.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Guyana Prize for Literature | — | — | Guyana Prize for Literature | 受賞 |
| 1992 | Premio Mondello dei Cinque Continenti | — | — | Mondello Prize | 受賞 |
| 2002 | Guyana Prize for Literature (Special Award) | — | 特別賞 | Guyana Prize for Literature | 受賞 |
| 2008 | Nicolás Guillén Philosophical Literature Prize | — | — | Caribbean Philosophical Association | 受賞 |
| 2014 | Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Lifetime Achievement) | — | 生涯功労賞 | Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards | 受賞 |
| 2010 | Knight Bachelor | — | — | The Crown (UK Honours) | 叙爵（ナイト・バチェラー） |
Guyana Prize for Literature
1987
Organization:
Guyana Prize for Literature
Result:
受賞
Premio Mondello dei Cinque Continenti
1992
Organization:
Mondello Prize
Result:
受賞
Guyana Prize for Literature (Special Award)
2002
Category:
特別賞
Organization:
Guyana Prize for Literature
Result:
受賞
Nicolás Guillén Philosophical Literature Prize
2008
Organization:
Caribbean Philosophical Association
Result:
受賞
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Lifetime Achievement)
2014
Category:
生涯功労賞
Organization:
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Result:
受賞
Knight Bachelor
2010
Organization:
The Crown (UK Honours)
Result:
叙爵（ナイト・バチェラー）
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Palace of the Peacock
1960 Fiction (experimental, mythic)An expedition on a river becomes a visionary, non-linear narrative that interrogates colonialism and oppositions through mythic and experimental prose.
journeyrivers and naturecolonialismdeath and rebirthmyth
Translations
Jonestown
1996 Fiction (historical-inspired)A novel addressing the mass suicide at Jonestown, exploring cult dynamics and the boundaries between individual and collective psychology.
cult dynamicscollective psychologymemoryviolence
Translations
Carnival Trilogy (Carnival; The Infinite Rehearsal; The Four Banks of the River of Space)
1985 Fiction (series, experimental)A series of novels blending myth, ritual and dream to examine transformations of consciousness and cross-cultural resonances.
dreamsritualtransformationcultural intersection
Translations
Bibliography
- Fetish (poetry, 1951)
- The Well and the Land (poetry, 1952)
- Eternity to Season (poetry, 1954)
- Palace of the Peacock (novel, 1960)
- The Far Journey of Oudin (novel, 1961)
- The Whole Armour (novel, 1962)
- The Secret Ladder (novel, 1963)
- Jonestown (novel, 1996)
- The Ghost of Memory (novel, 2006)
- Tradition, the Writer and Society (essays, 1967)
- History, Fable and Myth in the Caribbean and Guianas (1970)
Translations of Works
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- abstract, densely metaphorical prosenon-linear, experimental narrationmythic and symbolic expressionuses 'quantum' metaphors and conceptual framing
- Recurring Motifs
- journeys and questsrivers and forestsbreakdown of binariesdreams and ritualrebirth and transformation
Legacy
Wilson Harris is regarded as the foremost mythopoetic and experimental writer of the Caribbean, contributing significantly to reinterpretations of history and memory through language and imagination. He is highly regarded in scholarship and archives preserve his papers, though his complexity has limited broader popular readership.
Academic Societies
- Caribbean Philosophical Association (related)
Archives
- Cambridge University Library (Rare Books Department; part of personal library)
- Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin (manuscript and correspondence archives)
Quotes
-
My writing is quantum writing. Do you know of the quantum bullet? The quantum bullet, when it's fired, leaves not one hole but two.
Source: Interview (e.g. with Michael Gilkes) (2010)
Trivia
- Worked for two decades as a land surveyor in Guyana, which deeply influenced his fiction.
- Was knighted in 2010 (Knight Bachelor).
- Received the Anisfield-Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
- Moved to England in 1959 and lived in Holland Park (London) and later in Essex.