Namba Roy
Namba Roy | |
---|---|
Born | Nathan Roy Atkins 25 April 1910 |
Died | 16 June 1961 | (aged 51)
Occupation(s) | Novelist, artist |
Spouse | Yvonne Roy (née Shelley) |
Children | Tamba, Jacqueline and Lucinda Roy |
Namba Roy (25 April 1910 – 16 June 1961)[1][2][3] was a Jamaican novelist and artist. He was the father of writer and educator Lucinda Roy.
Biography
Born Nathan Roy Atkins
He joined the Merchant Navy at the start of World War II[8] and served on munitions ships and oil tankers until 1944, when he was discharged due to illness and disembarked in Britain (Jamaica being still a British colony, Jamaicans were then regarded as British citizens).[6] He eventually found employment and settled in London (where Namba Roy Crescent is in Lambeth).[9][10] He later used the African name Namba together with his middle name,[4] changing his name by deed poll in 1956.[1]
Self-taught as a painter and sculptor, Roy exhibited his art in London and Paris,[11] first showing his work in London in 1952.[12] In a tribute after his death, his widow Yvonne Roy wrote: "His most tender subject, the mother and her child, he portrayed over and over again, always finding something new and more wonderful as the image took shape, either from beneath his chisel, or appearing in all the vivid colours of his birthplace, from his brush. These subjects were predominantly Christian, presenting the Child Jesus and His Mother as coloured, identifying his people with God—refusing to subscribe to a colour bar of the spirit."[2] Roy himself noted in an article in The Guardian: "It was Sir Jacob Epstein himself who pointed out to me the similarity of the head and torso of the ivory-carved Christ in my 'Crucifixion' to his colossal and magnificent 'Ecce Homo.' The same out-of-proportion head in contrast to the torso. I had not realised it before and was a little embarrassed until I saw the look of pleasure on the face of this great man."[13]
Roy's novel Black Albino was published in 1961, with a foreword by
Personal life
Roy and his English wife Yvonne (née Shelley), an actress,[15] who met in 1950,[7] had three children: Tamba, Jacqueline and Lucinda.[16]
Namba Roy died in London in June 1961, aged 51.[2][4]
Bibliography
- Black Albino (London: New Literature, 1961; Harlow, Longman, 1968, 1971, 1986)
- No Black Sparrows (London, Heinemann, 1989)
References
- ^ a b c d Mervyn Morris, "'Strange Picni': Namba Roy's Black Albino", Jamaica Journal, Vol. 17, No. 1, February 1984 (pp. 24–27), p. 25. Via University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries.
- ^ a b c d e Yvonne Roy, "The Maker of Madonnas", The Guardian, 15 September 1961 (Women's Page, p. 8).
- ^ "Namba ROY (JAMAÏQUE/1910–1961)", Association ASCODELA, 9 March 2011 (in French).
- ^ ISSN 0021-4124(pp. 34–38), p. 34.
- ^ John Thieme (2004). "Roy, Namba (1910–61)". In Eugene Benson; L.W. Conolly (eds.). Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. Routledge.
- ^ a b c d Beshoff (1983), p. 35.
- ^ a b c Marie Stewart, "Forum: 'I would like to speak of Namba Roy'....", Arts Jamaica, Vol. 3, Nos 3 & 4, July 1985 (pp. 17, 18, 23), p. 17. Via University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries.
- ^ "London Diary: Namba Roy", Kingston Gleaner, 17 July 1982.
- ^ "Namba Roy Close", LondonTown.
- ^ "Area Information for Namba Roy Close, London, SW16 2QD", StreetCheck.
- ^ "Kenneth Ramchand, ed. West Indian Narrative: An Introductory Anthology. Part III". via ChickenBones: A Journal.
- ^ Beshoff (1983), p. 38.
- ^ Namba Roy, "So grows the head", The Guardian, 13 October 1960.
- ^ Morris, "'Strange Picni': Namba Roy's Black Albino", Jamaica Journal, Vol. 17, No. 1, February 1984, p. 27.
- ^ "Lucinda Roy", The Literary Encyclopedia.
- ^ "Namba Roy (1910-1961)", PetrineArcher.com.