Berry, James (1924– )

West Indian author. Many of Berry's stories and poems reflect his West Indian background and celebrate the cultural identity of West Indians living in both the UK and the Caribbean. He won the National Poetry Prize in 1981 was awarded the OBE for services to poetry in 1990.

Born in Jamaica, Berry moved to the USA when he was 17. Hating the racial intolerance he witnessed there, he returned to Jamaica four years later. Finding his homeland now too claustrophobic, he travelled to the UK where he settled in 1948. His works include Fractured Circles (1979), News from Babylon (1984), and Bluefoot Traveller (1985). An anthology of poetry, A Thief in the Village, won the Grand Prix prize in 1987.

Other works include a collection of short stories with a Jamaican setting, Isn't My Name Magical? (1991), Dream Time (1991), Snapshots (1995), Hot Earth, Cold Earth (1995), Playing Dazzler (1996), First Palm Trees (1997), and Everyone Faces Everywhere (1997). His collections of poetry include Lucy's Letters and Loving (1982), Chain of Days (1985), When I Dance (1988), and Future Telling Lady (1991).