Rajkumari Singh

Rajkumari Singh (1923-1979) was an Indo-Caribbean, Guyanese writer, political activist, educator, and cultural leader.[1] Singh and her contemporary, Mahadai Das were two of the first Indian women poets whose work was published in Guyana.[2]

The daughter of Dr. J. B. Singh, a former President of the British Guiana East Indian Association, and Alice Bhagwandai Singh, Rajkumari Singh was a poet, dramatist, and editor whose work has been described as lively and polemical. A "critic of Indian racial chauvinism and gender oppression",[3] she was an active participant in the Guiana Dramatic Society during the period 1929 to 1947. Also known for her essays, including "I am a Coolie", Singh's great-grandmother emigrated to Guyana from India as an indentured labourer. [4] In the 1970s, she was the leader of The Messenger Group, a Guyanese literary collective.[5] She was a Wordsworth MacAndrew Award laureate (2002) and was also honored with Guyana's Arrow of Achievement (1970).[6] Singh, crippled by polio from birth, had eight children.

Selected works

References

  1. "Honoring Rajkumari Singh (1923-1979)". weebly.com. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  2. Naidu, Janet A. "Indian Women of Guyana". Guyana Journal. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  3. Cudjoe, Selwyn Reginald (1990). Caribbean Women Writers: Essays from the First International Conference. Univ of Massachusetts Press. pp. 102–. ISBN 0-87023-732-2.
  4. Donnell, Alison; Welsh, Sarah Lawson (1996). The Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature. Psychology Press. pp. 3, 21, 251–. ISBN 978-0-415-12048-7.
  5. Mahabir, Joy Allison Indira; Pirbhai, Mariam (2013). Critical Perspectives on Indo-Caribbean Women's Literature. Routledge. pp. 142–. ISBN 978-0-415-50967-1.
  6. Cambridge, Vibert C. (30 May 2004). "Rajkumari Singh (1923 - 1979), A New Offering On Racial Conflict Resolution". ecaroh.com. Retrieved 6 March 2015.