George William Lamming OCC (8 June 1927 – 4 June 2022) was a Barbadian writer who wrote novels, essays, and poems. He received great praise for his 1953 first book, In the Castle of My Skin. He also worked as a teacher at universities, including as a distinguished visiting professor at Duke University and a visiting professor in the Africana Studies Department of Brown University. He gave many lectures around the world.

Early life and education

George William Lamming was born on June 8, 1927, in Carrington Village, Barbados. His parents were of mixed Afro-Barbadian and English heritage. After his mother, Loretta Devonish, married his stepfather, Lamming spent time in both his birthplace and his stepfather’s home in St. David’s Village. He attended Roebuck Boys’ School and Combermere School through a scholarship. His teacher, Frank Collymore, who founded the important Caribbean literary magazine BIM, inspired Lamming to explore books and begin writing.

Career

George Lamming left Barbados in 1946 to teach at El Colegio de Venezuela, a school for boys in Port of Spain, Trinidad. He later moved to England, where he worked briefly in a factory. He once wrote:

"Migration was not a word I would have used to describe my move to England in 1950 with other West Indians. We believed we were going to a place we had imagined as a heritage and a welcoming country. We did not question this belief. England was not seen as a country with social classes or conflicts, but as a responsibility tied to our history. Most of the people who moved were men seeking work. My friend Samuel Selvon, a writer, and I left for the same reason: to become writers. Between 1948 and 1960, many important West Indian novelists made similar journeys, including Wilson Harris, Edgar Mittleholzer, and Roger Mais."

In 1951, Lamming became a broadcaster for the BBC Colonial Service. His work was published in the Barbadian magazine Bim, edited by his teacher Frank Collymore, and in the BBC radio series Caribbean Voices, which also featured his poems and short stories. Lamming read some of these poems on Caribbean Voices, including works by the young writer Derek Walcott.

Lamming’s first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, was published in London in 1953. It won a Somerset Maugham Award and was praised by notable figures like Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, who wrote the introduction for its U.S. edition. Lamming later said the book aimed to recreate the world of his childhood and the broader Caribbean society. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship and became a professional writer. He traveled widely, visiting the United States in 1955, the West Indies in 1956, and West Africa in 1958. His second novel, The Emigrants (1954), focused on the experiences of migrants and was described as "very thought-provoking" for showing how Black people search for a place in society.

Lamming lived in England for over a decade. Unlike some writers who stayed in England, he returned to his home country and became an important voice for a newly independent nation. He was influenced by the Trinidadian historian C.L.R. James and worked to share his culture and address historical issues.

In 1967, Lamming joined the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, as a writer-in-residence and lecturer. Later, he taught at universities in the United States, including the University of Texas at Austin and Cornell University, and in countries like Denmark, Tanzania, and Australia. He also directed a writing program at the University of Miami.

In 2012, he chaired the judges for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. He also served as chief judge for the Walter Rodney Awards for Creative Writing in 2014.

George Lamming died in Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 4, 2022, four days before his 95th birthday. His son Gordon had died earlier in 2021. His daughter Natasha Lamming-Lee and his long-time partner Esther Phillips survived him.

Writing

George Lamming wrote six novels: In the Castle of My Skin (1953), The Emigrants (1954), Of Age and Innocence (1958), Season of Adventure (1960), Water with Berries (1971), and Natives of My Person (1972). His first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is widely praised and includes a character named G., who is based on Lamming’s own life. This book can be read as both a story about growing up and a tale about the Caribbean. His second novel, The Emigrants, continues the story of the same character, who moves from Barbados to England in search of better opportunities.

Of Age and Innocence (1958) and Season of Adventure (1960) take place on a fictional Caribbean island called San Cristobal. Water with Berries (1971) uses the story of Shakespeare’s play The Tempest to show problems in West Indian society. In a review of Natives of My Person (1972), writer Jan Carew wrote in The New York Times that this book is Lamming’s best work. It explores hidden parts of the colonial past and is described as a groundbreaking and original piece of writing.

By the late 1970s, many of Lamming’s books were no longer in print. In 1978, the publisher Allison and Busby reprinted several of his works, including his 1960 essay collection The Pleasures of Exile. This book discusses the role of West Indians in the post-colonial world and looks at Shakespeare’s The Tempest and its characters, Prospero and Caliban, in new ways. A later essay collection, Coming, Coming Home: Conversations II – Western Education and the Caribbean Intellectual (1995), was also published.

Honours and recognition

In 2008, Lamming was given CARICOM's highest honor, the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC), for his 55 years of work to help people understand Caribbean cultures, fix past hurts, and imagine better futures. CARICOM praised his intellectual effort, clear goals, and strong commitment to freedom and independence.

In March 2011, Brown University held two days of events to celebrate Lamming.

In May 2011, the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) gave Lamming the first Caribbean Hibiscus Award for his lifetime of work. In 2014, he received a Lifetime Achievement Prize from the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.

George Lamming Primary School, located in Flint Hall, St. Michael, was named after him and opened on September 2, 2008.

His work is honored through the George Lamming Pedagogical Centre, located at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI). Each June, which is Lamming's birth month, the center hosts a special lecture series. His personal collection of books is kept at the Sidney Martin Library, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados.

Lamming's 1953 novel, In the Castle of My Skin, was praised by Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, as the work that most deeply connects with the Barbadian people. The book was included in the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, chosen to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in June 2022.

On the day of his death, Prime Minister Mottley called Lamming a national hero and "the quintessential Bajan," saying he always represented the voice and spirit of Barbados and the Caribbean wherever he went.