Geoffrey Drayton
Born(1924-02-13)13 February 1924[1]
near Bridgetown, Barbados
Died2017 (aged 92–93)
Spain
OccupationWriter, novelist, essayist, poet
NationalityBarbadian
Alma materCambridge University
Notable worksChristopher (London: Collins, 1959), Zohara (Secker & Warburg, 1961)

Geoffrey Drayton (13 February 1924 – 2017) was a Barbadian novelist, poet and journalist.

Life

Geoffrey Drayton was born in Barbados, and received his early education there. In 1945, he went to Cambridge University,[2] where he read economics, after which he spent some years teaching in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, returning to England in 1953.[3] He worked as a freelance journalist in London and Madrid. From 1954 to 1965 he worked for Petroleum Times, becoming its editor. In 1966 he became a petroleum consultant for the Economist Intelligence Unit.[4]

Drayton was the author of one volume of poetry, Three Meridians (1950), and two novels: Christopher (1959), which was first published in part in Bim magazine,[3] and Zohara (1961). He also wrote short stories, such as "Mr Dombie the Zombie", which was broadcast on the BBC programme Caribbean Voices.[3]

Drayton later lived in Spain, where he died in 2017.[1]

Works

Novels

  • Christopher, London: Collins, 1959; Heinemann Caribbean Writers Series, 1972.
  • Zohara, London: Secker and Warburg, 1961.

Poetry

  • Three Meridians, Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1950.
  • "The Phantom", Bim, no. 5 (February 1945), p. 32
  • "Strindbergian Sonata", Bim, no. 6, p. 16
  • "Nostalgia", Bim, no. 7, p. 52
  • "L'Infinito de Leopardi (Translated from the Italian)", Bim, no. 8, p. 6
  • "Memories", Bim, no. 9, p. 12
  • "On An Etching By Picasso", Bim, no. 9, p. 57
  • "The Ancient Carib", Bim, no. 10, p. 116–117
  • "Singing Negress", Bim, no. 11, p. 242
  • "Old Black Beggar", Bim, no. 11, p. 246
  • "To The Poets Of The Caribbean", Bim, no. 11, p. 248
  • "Morgan Lewis", Bim, no. 13, p. 67
  • "Negro Divers", Bim, no. 13, p. 67
  • "Double Game", Bim, no. 13, p. 6
  • "Translation from Catallus (Lyrics No-72: On Lesbia's Infidelity)", Bim, no. 14, p. 120
  • "Speculations On Uranium", Bim, no. 16, p. 230
  • "The Star", Bim, no. 17, p, 7
  • "The Cobbler", Bim, no. 18, p, 106

Short stories

  • "Swiss Comedy", Bim, no. 5 (February 1945), pp. 11–13, 57–59
  • "Dear Mother", Bim, no. 6, pp. 27–28, 91–93
  • "No Honour Among Thieves", Bim, no. 7, pp. 32–33, 105–107
  • "Narcissus", Bim, no. 9, pp. 10–12
  • "Mr. Dombey", Bim, no. 19, pp. 180-182
  • "Manrique", Bim, no. 22, pp. 72–73
  • "Christopher", Bim, no. 26, pp. 92–118
  • "The Redfern Farewell", Bim, no. 27, pp. 159–162
  • "Sunset Over San Remo", Bim, no. 31, pp. 173–175
  • "Shadow And Shape", Bim, no. 32, pp. 224–227
  • "Return To The Island", Bim, no. 40, pp. 252–256
  • "The Moon And The Fisherman", Bim, no. 45, pp. 17–20

Non-Fiction

  • "Farrago (Extracts from a notebook)", Bim, no.12, pp. 281–287
  • "Revisiting Barbados", Bim, no.14, pp. 83–84

Criticism

References

  1. 1 2 Armstrong, Thomas, "Lifting the lid on Geoffrey Drayton and his outsider role in Barbadian literature", Arts Etc, 2 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Drayton, Geoffrey, "Return to the Island", BBC Home Service, 28 February 1962 (via Radio Times).
  3. 1 2 3 Hughes, Michael, "Drayton, Geoffrey", A Companion to West Indian Literature, Collins, 1979, pp. 42–3.
  4. ↑ Myers, Robin, ed., A Dictionary of Literature in the English Language from 1940 to 1970, Pergamon Press, 1978.


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