Grace Nichols, i is a long-memoried woman

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Published in 1983 by Karnak House,

i is a long-memoried woman

is the first poetry collection by Guyanese writer, Grace Nichols. The collection garnered critical acclaim upon its release, winning the Commonwealth Poetry Prize that same year. As Laurence A. Briener notes, the 1980s brought the increasing presence of women’s work to Caribbean poetry (230). Lorna Goodison’s first collection,

Tamarind Season

, was published in 1980, with other seminal female writers, including NourbeSe Philip and Michelle Cliff, also releasing work in that year. By the time of the

First International Conference on Women Writers of the English-Speaking Caribbean 

in 1988 – seen as a “founding event of Caribbean women’s writing” (Cudjoe 5) – Nichols’ was part of a growing cohort of women writers…

3137 words

Citation: Howley, Ellen. "i is a long-memoried woman". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 May 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14252, accessed 31 October 2024.]

14252 i is a long-memoried woman 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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