Una Marson: Selected Poems (Caribbean Modern Classics)

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Although Marson’s poetry has been available online since 2002 as part of the Digital Library of the Caribbean ( www.dloc.com), there was no easily accessible volume until now. I was heartened to learn that Peepal Tree Press, based in England, was about to publish Marson’s poems as part of their Caribbean Modern Classics Series, and I provided them with the cover photo of Marson at the BBC, which I had discovered in my own research, as well as some unpublished poems. Donnell has included others as well, along with scrupulous bibliographic information on every poem. This is truly a publishing landmark for Caribbean women’s literature; Marson’s friends and supporters can only hope that her plays and essays will presently be available to the public as well. West Indies Calling,” a 1943 newsreel featuring Una Marson introducing other West Indian public figures on the BBC So I gave it a try and on the 28th March 1941 I was accepted into the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), given a unform and kit and my training began. Marson, Una. Assorted writings in Linnette Vassell (ed.), Voices of Women in Jamaica, 1898–1939, Mona & Kingston: Dept of History, UWI, 1993.

The child using books which upheld the glory of Empire grew to manhood and womanhood knowing nothing and caring less for the land of his forefathers, Africa and the race to which he belonged. Duty to one’s own country and people should be taught before duty to an Empire that took little interest in their children. They grew up with identity complex…” 1Marson, Una. “The America I Have Discovered – Miami and Washington.” MS1944C, National Library of Jamaica. Jarrett-Macauley, Delia. The Life of Una Marson 1905-1965, Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers, 1998.

On returning, Una Marson was admitted in the St. Josephs Hospital, Kingston and died there on the 5th May, 1965. She was buried on the 10th of May at the Half-Way-Tree Parish Cemetery. The poem is purposefully juxtaposed with ‘The Stone Breakers’ a raw, gritty composition, written in Jamaican dialect, that centres on the painful physical labour that is demanded from women. ‘Liza me chile, I’s really tired/But wha fe do – we mus’ brok de stone’ was Marson’s way of highlighting how much work in freedom’s name was still left to do. Donnell, Alison, and Sarah Lawson Welsh. The Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature. New York, NY: Routledge, 1996.

Anna Snaith, ‘”Little Brown Girl” in a “White, White City”: Una Marson and London, Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature , 27:1 (2008), 93-114, p.97.