Edward Baugh
{{Short description|Jamaican poet and scholar (1936–2023)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use Jamaican English|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Edward Baugh
| honorific suffix = CD
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Edward Alston Cecil Baugh
| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|01|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = Port Antonio, Colony of Jamaica, British Empire
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|12|09|1936|01|10|df=y}}
| death_place = Kingston, Jamaica
| other_names =
| spouse =
| children =
| occupation = Poet and scholar
| years_active =
| alma_mater = University College of the West Indies;
Queen's University, Canada;
University of Manchester
| known_for =
| notable_works = West Indian Poetry 1900–1970: A Study in Cultural Decolonisation (1971);
Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision (1978)
| awards = Bocas Henry Swanzy Award, 2021
}}
Edward Alston Cecil Baugh CD (10 January 1936 – 9 December 2023) was a Jamaican poet and scholar, recognised as an authority on the work of Derek Walcott,Cooper, Carolyn (27 November 2012), [http://carolynjoycooper.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/6th-edward-baugh-distinguished-lecture/ "6th Edward Baugh Distinguished lecture"]. Jamaica Woman Tongue. whose Selected Poems (2007) Baugh edited, having in 1978 authored the first book-length study of the Nobel-winning poet's work, Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision.[http://www.litencyc.com/php/members/showprofile.php?contribid=46162 "Edward Baugh"], The Literary Encyclopedia.[https://jamaica.loopnews.com/content/professor-edward-baugh-jamaican-poet-and-academic-dies "Professor Edward Baugh, Jamaican poet and academic, has died"], The Loop News, 10 December 2023.
Biography
Edward Alston Cecil Baugh was born on 10 January 1936 in Port Antonio, Jamaica,Grinam-Nicholson, Yvonne (22 July 2001), [http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20010722/out/out1.html "Professor Edward Baugh – Living the years"], The Jamaica Gleaner. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206040324/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20010722/out/out1.html |date=6 February 2015 }}. the son of Edward Percival Baugh, purchasing agent, and Ethel Maud Duhaney-Baugh.[http://westindianencyclopedia.com/wiki/Edward_Alston_Cecil_Baugh "Edward Alston Cecil Baugh"], The West Indian Encyclopedia. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206034230/http://westindianencyclopedia.com/wiki/Edward_Alston_Cecil_Baugh |date=6 February 2015 }}. He began writing poetry at Titchfield High School. He won a scholarship to study English literature at the University College of the West Indies and later did postgraduate studies at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, and at the University of Manchester in England, where he earned a PhD in 1964.
Baugh taught at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies from 1965 to 1967, then at the university's Mona campus from 1968 to 2001, eventually being appointed professor of English in 1978 and public orator in 1985.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mona.uwi.edu/conferences/literatures/profiles/baugh.htm |title=Professor Edward Baugh|publisher= The University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica. |access-date=13 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624141530/http://www.mona.uwi.edu/conferences/literatures/profiles/baugh.htm |archive-date=24 June 2009 |url-status=dead }} He has also held visiting appointments at the University of California, Dalhousie University, University of Hull, University of Wollongong, Flinders University, Macquarie University, University of Miami and Howard University.
In 2012, he was awarded a Gold Musgrave Medal by the Institute of Jamaica.{{cite web|url=http://instituteofjamaica.org.jm/musgrave-awards |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141018165642/http://instituteofjamaica.org.jm/musgrave-awards |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 October 2014 |title=Musgrave Awardees |publisher=Institute of Jamaica |access-date=6 February 2015 }}
In March 2021, Baugh was announced as the co-recipient, together with Mervyn Morris, of the Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters.[http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/two-jamaican-scholars-honoured-with-bocas-henry-swanzy-award_216232?profile=1373 "Two Jamaican scholars honoured with Bocas Henry Swanzy Award"], Jamaica Observer, 5 March 2021.
Baugh died in Kingston early on 10 December 2023, at the age of 87,{{cite news |title=Jamaica has lost 'literary giant' with passing of Edward Baugh, says Grange |url=https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latest-news/jamaica-has-lost-literary-giant-with-passing-of-edward-baugh-says-grange/ |access-date=11 December 2023 |newspaper=Jamaica Observer |date=10 December 2023}} survived by his wife Sheila and their daughters Sarah and Katherine.{{cite news|url=https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20231210/caribbean-literary-giant-edward-baugh-has-died|title=Caribbean literary giant Edward Baugh has died|first=Tanesha |last=Mundle| newspaper=The Jamaica Gleaner|date=10 December 2023|access-date=12 December 2023}}
Scholarly works
His scholarly publications include West Indian Poetry 1900–1970: A Study in Cultural Decolonisation (1971); Critics on Caribbean Literature (1978); Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision (1978), the first book-length study of Walcott's work; and an annotated edition of Walcott's Another Life (2004), with Colbert Nepaulsingh. Chancellor, I Present (1998) collects a number of the citations Baugh prepared and delivered as Public Orator of The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, for the presentation of honorary degrees during the annual presentation of graduates ceremony.
Poetry
Baugh's poems appeared in various magazines and anthologies years before the publication of his first collection, A Tale from the Rainforest (1988). This was followed by It Was the Singing (2000) and Black Sand: New and Selected Poems (2013).{{cite web|title=Baugh's 'Black Sand' Explores The Overlooked|first=Mel |last=Cooke|date=8 December 2013|access-date=21 January 2015|website=The Jamaica Gleaner|url=http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20131208/arts/arts4.html}}
Awards and honours
- 1995: UWI Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and Administration
- 1995: Commander of the Order of Distinction (CD) for contributions to Literature, Education, and the University of the West Indies{{cite web|url=https://global.uwi.edu/media/news/uwi-tribute-edward-baugh|title=UWI Tribute to Edward Baugh|publisher=The University of the West Indies, Global Campus|first=Norval|last=Edwards|author2=Carolyn Cooper|date=12 December 2023|access-date=21 May 2024}}
- 1998: Silver Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica
Selected bibliography
- West Indian Poetry 1900–1970: A Study in Cultural Decolonisation (1971)
- Critics on Caribbean Literature (1978)
- Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision: "Another Life" (1978)
- A Tale from the Rainforest (1988)
- I Was a Teacher Too (1991)
- It Was the Singing (2000)
- Black Sand: New and Selected Poems (2013)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130413022425/http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/interview-with-jamaican-poet-edward-baugh/ "Interview with Jamaican poet, Edward Baugh", Commonwealth Writers.] 21 April 2012.
- {{YouTube|gYUFfrYM3dw|"Part 3: Guest Speaker Professor Emeritus Edward Baugh, CD"}}.
- Newton Duncan, [https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/letters/20231228/farewell-eddie-my-friend "Farewell Eddie, my friend"], The Gleaner, 28 December 2023.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baugh, Edward}}
Category:20th-century Jamaican poets
Category:20th-century Jamaican male writers
Category:21st-century Jamaican poets
Category:21st-century Jamaican male writers
Category:Academic staff of the University of the West Indies
Category:Alumni of the University of London
Category:Alumni of University of London Worldwide
Category:Jamaican literary critics
Category:People from Port Antonio
Category:Recipients of the Musgrave Medal