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Tanya Shirley

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Tanya Shirley at Out of Many Lit Fest in Leeds (city in West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom)

Tanya Shirley (born 1976) is a Jamaican poet.

Life

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Tanya Shirley was born in Jamaica in 1976.[1] She attended high school in Canada before returning to Jamaica to study at the University of the West Indies, where she switched from studying social science to studying English literature.[2] She later gained an MFA in creative writing from the University of Maryland.[3] She teaches in the Department of Literatures as an adjunct lecturer at UWI, Mona.[4]

Shirley's debut poetry collection, She Who Sleeps With Bones (2009), was a best-seller in Jamaica.[1]

In 2017 she married Alan Johnstone, a financial investigator.[5]

Works

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  • She who sleeps with bones. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2009.
  • The merchant of feathers. Leeds: Peepal Tree, 2014.

References

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  1. ^ a b Sharing the Earth: An International Environmental Justice Reader. University of Georgia Press. 15 June 2015. pp. 266–. ISBN 978-0-8203-4770-7.
  2. ^ Mel Cooke, Tanya Shirley - a constantly maturing poet, Jamaica Gleaner, July 24, 2011. Accessed July 11, 2020.
  3. ^ Kei Miller (2007). New Caribbean Poetry: An Anthology. Carcanet. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-85754-941-6.
  4. ^ Tanya Shirley to Launch Poetry Book, Jamaica Gleaner, December 31, 2014. Accessed July 11, 2020.
  5. ^ VOWS: A reservoir of laughter... let us dazzle & sparkle..., Jamaican Observer, July 3, 2017. Accessed July 11, 2020.