A. J. Seymour
Encyclopedia
Arthur James Seymour poet, essayist, memoirist, and editor of the literary journal Kyk-Over-Al
, was born on 12 January 1914, in Georgetown
, British Guiana
, to James Tudor Seymour, a land surveyor, and his wife Philippine, née Dey. He attended the Collegiate School and the Guyanese Academy before entering Queen's College
, British Guiana's most prestigious boys' school, on a Government Junior Scholarship in 1928.
He married Elma Editha Bryce, a teacher, on 31 July 1937. They had three daughters and three sons.
(PPP) government headed by Cheddi Jagan
which was elected in 1953 had been removed from office by the colonial authorities after just four and a half months, sparking a phase of civil and political unrest which was to last for over ten years.
In 1962, Seymour left the civil service and accepted the post of Information and Cultural Collaboration Officer of the Caribbean Organisation, based in Puerto Rico
. He returned to Guiana in 1965, a year before independence, and worked with the Demerara
Bauxite Company (Demba), based in Mackenzie (the town was later renamed Linden
) until 1971; first as Community Relations Officer, later as Public Relations Officer. In 1972 he served as Literary Co-ordinator for the first Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta), held in Guyana
; in 1973 he rejoined the civil service as Deputy Chairman of the Department of Culture and Director of Creative Writing. He retired in 1979.
Over the nearly fifty years of his career, Seymour also held senior positions in a number of cultural institutions; among others, he was Honorary Secretary of the British Guiana Union of Cultural Clubs (1943-50), Deputy Chairman of the Guyana National Trust (1974-75), President of the British Guiana Music Festival Committee, and President of the International P.E.N. Club
's British Guiana Centre.
(sometimes spelled Kykoveral), a literary journal named for an early Dutch fort on the Essequibo
River. Over a 16-year period until 1961 he published 28 issues of this pioneering magazine, including some of the earliest work of writers like Wilson Harris
and Martin Carter
. During this time he also edited and published An Anthology of Guianese Poetry (1954); The Kyk-Over-Al Anthology of West Indian Poetry (1952; rev. ed. 1958); and the Miniature Poets Series (1951-53) of pamphlets, which included work by Carter, Harris, Ivan Van Sertima
, Trinidadian Harold Telemaque, Barbadian Frank Collymore
, and Jamaican Philip Sherlock.
Later anthologies include My Lovely Native Land: An Anthology of Guyana (1971), co-edited with Elma Seymour, and A Treasury of Guyanese Poetry (1980). Starting in 1976, Seymour also wrote five volumes of autobiography.
In 1984, with the help of poet and novelist Ian McDonald, Seymour revived Kyk-Over-Al.
" (this last poem was later set to music by the Guyanese composer Philip Pilgrim).
Seymour's later major collections include Leaves from the Tree (1951), Selected Poems (1965), Patterns (1970), and Selected Poems (1983). A tribute volume called AJS at 70 (1984), edited by Ian McDonald, contained a selection of 15 poems under the title "The Essential Seymour", chosen by Seymour himself.
Seymour died on 25 December 1989, a few weeks shy of his 76th birthday.
In 2000, Seymour's Collected Poems, 1937-1989 was published, edited by Ian McDonald and Jacqueline de Weever.
. However, Seymour continues to be remembered across the Caribbean for his work as editor of Kyk-Over-Al
, in which role he acted as a sort of eminence grise of West Indian letters
. He tirelessly encouraged fellow writers, published their work where and when he could, wrote about them in his critical essays, and publicised them in lecture tours, which in later years took him across the Caribbean and to the United States
, Brazil
, and Germany
, among other countries.
Kyk-Over-Al (magazine)
Kyk-Over-Al is a literary magazine published in Guyana, the only survivor of the three pioneering literary magazines founded in the 1940s that helped define postwar West Indian literature . Kyk-Over-Al is indelibly associated with the Guyanese poet and editor A.J...
, was born on 12 January 1914, in Georgetown
Georgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
, British Guiana
British Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
, to James Tudor Seymour, a land surveyor, and his wife Philippine, née Dey. He attended the Collegiate School and the Guyanese Academy before entering Queen's College
Queen's College, Guyana
Queen's College is the top secondary school in Guyana;Situated at the South-Easterly Junction of Camp Street and Thomas Lands. Alumni can enter the school through the National Grade Six Assessment and at the Lower 6th Form Level if the academic performance of the student at the Caribbean Secondary...
, British Guiana's most prestigious boys' school, on a Government Junior Scholarship in 1928.
He married Elma Editha Bryce, a teacher, on 31 July 1937. They had three daughters and three sons.
Bureaucrat and public man
In 1933, he joined the British Guiana Civil Service as an unpaid volunteer, working in the Postal and Income Tax Departments before joining the Bureau of Publicity and Information. By 1954, Seymour had worked his way to the position of Head of Government Information Services. This was a troubling time for Guiana; the People's Progressive PartyPeople's Progressive Party (Guyana)
The People's Progressive Party is a political party in Guyana led by Bharrat Jagdeo. The party has been in power since the 1992 elections and currently holds 36 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly.-History:...
(PPP) government headed by Cheddi Jagan
Cheddi Jagan
Cheddi Berret Jagan was a Guyanese politician who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964, prior to independence. He later served as President of Guyana from 1992 to 1997.- Biography :The son of ethnic Indian sugar plantation workers, Jagan...
which was elected in 1953 had been removed from office by the colonial authorities after just four and a half months, sparking a phase of civil and political unrest which was to last for over ten years.
In 1962, Seymour left the civil service and accepted the post of Information and Cultural Collaboration Officer of the Caribbean Organisation, based in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. He returned to Guiana in 1965, a year before independence, and worked with the Demerara
Demerara
Demerara was a region in South America in what is now Guyana that was colonised by the Dutch in 1611. The British invaded and captured the area in 1796...
Bauxite Company (Demba), based in Mackenzie (the town was later renamed Linden
Linden, Guyana
Linden is the second largest town in Guyana after Georgetown, and capital of the Upper Demerara-Berbice region, located at , altitude 48 metres . It was declared a town in 1970, and includes the communities of MacKenzie and Wismar. It lies on the Demerara River and has a population of roughly...
) until 1971; first as Community Relations Officer, later as Public Relations Officer. In 1972 he served as Literary Co-ordinator for the first Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta), held in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
; in 1973 he rejoined the civil service as Deputy Chairman of the Department of Culture and Director of Creative Writing. He retired in 1979.
Over the nearly fifty years of his career, Seymour also held senior positions in a number of cultural institutions; among others, he was Honorary Secretary of the British Guiana Union of Cultural Clubs (1943-50), Deputy Chairman of the Guyana National Trust (1974-75), President of the British Guiana Music Festival Committee, and President of the International P.E.N. Club
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
's British Guiana Centre.
Editor and publisher
In 1945, Seymour founded Kyk-Over-AlKyk-Over-Al (magazine)
Kyk-Over-Al is a literary magazine published in Guyana, the only survivor of the three pioneering literary magazines founded in the 1940s that helped define postwar West Indian literature . Kyk-Over-Al is indelibly associated with the Guyanese poet and editor A.J...
(sometimes spelled Kykoveral), a literary journal named for an early Dutch fort on the Essequibo
Essequibo
Essequibo may refer to:* The Essequibo River is one of the larger South American rivers located in the country of Guyana.* The former Dutch colony of Essequibo, in the region of the river...
River. Over a 16-year period until 1961 he published 28 issues of this pioneering magazine, including some of the earliest work of writers like Wilson Harris
Wilson Harris
Sir Theodore Wilson Harris is a Guyanese writer. He initially wrote poetry, but has since become a well-known novelist and essayist. His writing style is often said to be abstract and densely metaphorical, and his subject matter wide-ranging.Wilson Harris was born in New Amsterdam in what was then...
and Martin Carter
Martin Carter
Martin Wylde Carter was a Guyanese poet, who has been compared in stature to W. B. Yeats and Pablo Neruda, as well as being called "the most Caribbean of Caribbean poets". Of mixed European, East Indian, and African descent, he began publishing in 1950 in Thunder Martin Wylde Carter (June 7,...
. During this time he also edited and published An Anthology of Guianese Poetry (1954); The Kyk-Over-Al Anthology of West Indian Poetry (1952; rev. ed. 1958); and the Miniature Poets Series (1951-53) of pamphlets, which included work by Carter, Harris, Ivan Van Sertima
Ivan van Sertima
Ivan Gladstone Van Sertima was an associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University in the United States....
, Trinidadian Harold Telemaque, Barbadian Frank Collymore
Frank Collymore
Frank Appleton Collymore MBE was a famous Barbadian author, poet, stage performer and painter. His nickname was "Barbadian Man of the Arts"....
, and Jamaican Philip Sherlock.
Later anthologies include My Lovely Native Land: An Anthology of Guyana (1971), co-edited with Elma Seymour, and A Treasury of Guyanese Poetry (1980). Starting in 1976, Seymour also wrote five volumes of autobiography.
In 1984, with the help of poet and novelist Ian McDonald, Seymour revived Kyk-Over-Al.
Poet
In 1936, Seymour began writing poems. By 1937 he had completed his first collection, Verse; his second, More Poems, followed in 1940. The title poem of Over Guiana, Clouds (1944) was a landmark in the development of Seymour's poetic style. Sun's In My Blood (1945) contained at least three poems that have come to be considered classics: "Sun Is a Shapely Fire", "There Runs a Dream", and "The Legend of KaieteurKaieteur Falls
Kaieteur Falls is a high-volume waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana, Potaro-Siparuni region. It is located inKaieteur National Park. It is 226 meters high when measured from its plunge over a sandstone and conglomerate cliff to the first break...
" (this last poem was later set to music by the Guyanese composer Philip Pilgrim).
Seymour's later major collections include Leaves from the Tree (1951), Selected Poems (1965), Patterns (1970), and Selected Poems (1983). A tribute volume called AJS at 70 (1984), edited by Ian McDonald, contained a selection of 15 poems under the title "The Essential Seymour", chosen by Seymour himself.
Seymour died on 25 December 1989, a few weeks shy of his 76th birthday.
In 2000, Seymour's Collected Poems, 1937-1989 was published, edited by Ian McDonald and Jacqueline de Weever.
Legacy
Though a handful of Seymour's poems continue to be well known in Guyana, outside his home country his writing has fallen into obscurity, especially by comparison with that of his friend and colleague Martin CarterMartin Carter
Martin Wylde Carter was a Guyanese poet, who has been compared in stature to W. B. Yeats and Pablo Neruda, as well as being called "the most Caribbean of Caribbean poets". Of mixed European, East Indian, and African descent, he began publishing in 1950 in Thunder Martin Wylde Carter (June 7,...
. However, Seymour continues to be remembered across the Caribbean for his work as editor of Kyk-Over-Al
Kyk-Over-Al (magazine)
Kyk-Over-Al is a literary magazine published in Guyana, the only survivor of the three pioneering literary magazines founded in the 1940s that helped define postwar West Indian literature . Kyk-Over-Al is indelibly associated with the Guyanese poet and editor A.J...
, in which role he acted as a sort of eminence grise of West Indian letters
West Indian literature
Caribbean literature is the term generally accepted for the literature of the various territories of the Caribbean region. Literature in English specifically from the former British West Indies may be referred to as Anglo-Caribbean or, in historical contexts, West Indian literature, although in...
. He tirelessly encouraged fellow writers, published their work where and when he could, wrote about them in his critical essays, and publicised them in lecture tours, which in later years took him across the Caribbean and to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, among other countries.