The Life of Una
Marson 1905-65
Publisher: Manchester University Press (2010)
ISBN: 978 0 7190 8256 6
 A
biography of Jamaican feminist, activist and writer Una Marson,
who established herself as a pioneering journalist, playwright and
poet in the early 1920s. She travelled to London in 1932, meeting
leading black figures such as Haile Selassie, before working for
the BBC during World War II.
In this enlightening work, Marson emerges as a prime narrator of
major themes affecting Black women writers of Caribbean origin.
Note:
For permission to quote from the literary works of Una Marson, please contact The National Library of Jamaica, 12 East Street, Kingston, Jamaica.
‘A compelling biography of the Jamaican-born activist’
- Margaret Busby, Sunday Times
‘A balanced and genuinely inspiring appraisal…'
- Kevin Le Gendre, Independent on Sunday
‘Delia Jarrett-Macauley is to be congratulated
in creating this finely written, detailed, narrative which opens
up black life from an era often untouched by the written word'
- Chris Searle, Tribune
'Una Marson is the woman at the centre of that
famous photograph of the war-time BBC World Service team which
includes George Orwell and T.S Eliot. The little-known story of
this young Jamamican daughter of a strict Baptist upbringing,
who emigrated to London in the 1930s and became a writer and poet,
political activist, feminist and broadcaster is painstakingly
excavated from limited sources and sensitively evoked in this
poignantly biographical narrative by Delia Jarrett-Macauley. Una
Marson’s story bridges the gulf between the ‘coloured’
middle-class world of pre-independence Jamaica, the literary life
of war-time London and the emerging ‘politics of colour’
of the inter-war years. The book vividly recaptures the courageous
struggle of this talented Jamaican woman to live an independent
and racially conscious life in the years before the ‘mass’
Caribbean migration of the ‘60s. A significant contribution
to the work of historical memory.'
- Stuart Hall.
‘An excellent book, a very readable biography of a fascinating
woman who led a varied and in many ways an exciting life. Thoroughly
researched and well documented, this is a major event in the field
of Caribbean cultural studies.’
- Dr Stewart Brown, University of Birmingham
‘A work of sustained and original scholarship, this
book will pave the way for further study of Una Marson, her contemporaries
and the various organisations and causes with which she was associated.’
- John Thieme, University of Hull.
‘Delia Jarrett-Macauley’s loving biography of
pioneer Jamaican feminist, poet, playwright and social reformer,
Una Marson, reveals a remarkable individual and gives insight
into the circle of Afro-Caribbeans who resisted colonialism in
the 1920s and 30s. This is a scholarly work, deftly written, which
examines Una Marson’s achievements as a writer, campaigner
and broadcaster, as well as the complext psychological strains
which shadowed her later years.’
- Shiela Rowbotham, University of Manchester.
‘This work traces the life history of the perhaps little
known Jamaican writer, feminist, broadcaster, social worker and
political activist. Delia Jarrett-Macauley has done a great service
by researching and recounting the life of this remarkable woman
and adding further to our knowledge of the history of black people
in Britain.'
- Hakim Adi, Black and Asian Studies Association
‘An excellent biography of a previously little known
woman….it is time Una Marson got some credit.’
- Caroline Benn, North West Labour History
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