Barbara Gloudon

Barbara Gloudon OD, OJ, IOJ (born 1935) is an Afro-Jamaican journalist, author, playwright and theatre chair. After a distinguished career as a journalist, where she was honored with two Seprod Awards from the Press Association of Jamaica and as an officer in the Order of Distinction, Gloudon began working as a scriptwriter for the Little Theatre Movement (LTM) and writing radio drama. She hosted a radio talk show for thirty years and became chair of the LTM. Having received numerous awards and honors, Gloudon was granted the Order of Jamaica in 1992 and in 2012 became a fellow of the Institute of Jamaica.

Barbara Gloudon
Born
Barbara Joy Goodison

1935 (age 85–86)
Malvern, Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica
NationalityJamaican
Occupationjournalist, playwright, theatre chair
Years active1953–present

Early life

Barbara Joy Goodison was born in Malvern, Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica to Doris (née Harvey) and Vivian M. Goodison. Her father worked as a chauffeur and mechanic and Goodison grew up in a middle-class family. One of her sisters became the first female Poet Laureate of Jamaica, Lorna Goodison.[1] She attended St. George's Elementary School and went on to further her education at St Andrew High School for Girls in Kingston, as well as completing an international writing studies program at the University of Iowa. While in high school, she participated in theatrical performances and studied drama with Jean Watson.[2]

Career

In 1953, Goodison began her career at The Gleaner newspaper, working as a reporter.[3] Simultaneously, she also worked as a columnist, using the pseudonym "Stella" at the Jamaica Star.[2] On 23 April 1960, Goodison married the chemist and food technologist, Ancile Gloudon a native of Port of Spain, Trinidad. The couple would subsequently have three children, Lisa, Jason and Anya and work together to build their first home.[4] She would work as a features editor, editor and reporter at both The Gleaner and The Star until 1978.[2][3] In 1964, the inaugural year of the Seprod Awards for Journalism, and again in 1968, Gloudon won recognition from the Press Association of Jamaica.[5] One of the regular beats she covered was the arts and theater. Showing a particular talent for reporting on the cast, as well as the event, Gloudon was invited by the government to cover the art revolution in Britain in the 1960s.[6]

Upon her return to Jamaica, after nearly a month in the UK in 1969, Gloudon was invited by Greta Fowler, who with her husband Henry had founded Jamaica's Little Theatre Movement (LTM), to write a script for the annual pantomime production. Since the Americans had just landed a man on the moon, Gloudon wrote Moonshine Anancy. Selected for production, the piece marked a turning point in the LTM productions, as before Moonshine Anancy, they were more British than Jamaican.[6] The first entry into the annual invited submission contest was followed by more than 30 scripts submitted for the National Pantomime event.[7][8] She was honored as an officer in the Order of Distinction in 1975 for her journalistic services.[9] Leaving journalism in 1978, Gloudon worked until 1981 as the director of the Jamaica Tourist Board and then opened her own public relations firm. From the late 1980s, she hosted a radio talk-show, Hotline, broadcast by Radio Jamaica Rediffusion (RJR 94 FM).[2] The show focused on personal, local, and international problems in a thought-provoking commentary on cultural and social issues and Gloudon broadcast it until 2015.[2][7] In addition to her broadcasting and writing, Gloudon traveled regionally discussing Caribbean themes, and specifically focused on the cultural and socio-economic concerns of women.[10]

In the 1990s, Gloudon became the chair of the LTM and directed the annual Boxing Day debut of the National Pantomime.[11] In 1992, Gloudon was honored with the Order of Jamaica which was recognized at the Caribbean Media Awards ceremony hosted by the Caribbean Publishing and Broadcasting Association and Caribbean Broadcasting Union.[12] She was elected as vice-chair of the International Programme for the Development of Communication in 1996 and served in that capacity until 1998, when she was elected IPDC's rapporteur. She was re-elected as rapporteur in 2000.[13] Gloudon was awarded 2006 Gleaner Honour for her contributions to art and culture.[8] In 2012, she and Sylvia Wynter were elected as fellows of the Institute of Jamaica, the organization in Jamaica which recognizes people who have distinguished themselves as representatives of the country's culture, history or science.[14] Gloudon was inducted into the Jamaican Press Association Hall of Fame in 2013 and continues to write as a journalist for The Jamaica Observer in addition to her role at the LTM.[2]

Selected works

Scripts
  • 1969, Moonshine Anancy[6]
  • 1972, Hail Columbus[15]
  • 1975, The Witch[15]
  • 1978, Johhny Reggae[15]
  • 1981, The Pirate Princess[15]
  • 1983, Ginneral B[15]
  • 1985, Trash[15]
  • 1986, River Mumma and the Golden Table, in conjunction with Aston Cooke[15]
  • 1989, Schoolers, based on a scene by Owen Ellis and Michael Nicholson[15]
  • 1990, Fifty Fifty[15]
  • 1990, A Carol for Moneybags", an adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"[16]
  • 1991, Man Deh Yah[15]
  • 1992, Reggae Son[15]
  • 1993, Anansi Come Back[15]
  • 1994, Moonsplash[15]
  • 1995, Schoolers 2[15]
  • 1998, Anansi Web[15]
  • 1999, Bugsie the Millennium Bug, in collaboration with Conliffe Wilmot-Simpson[15]
  • 2001, Chicken Merry—Hawk Deh Near, in collaboration with the Pantomime Workshop[15]
  • 2002, Miss Annie[15]
  • 2003, Combolo[15]
  • 2004, Iffa Nuh So[15]
  • 2005, Zu-zu Macca[15]
  • 2006, Howzzat[15]
  • 2013, The Golden Macca Fat[17]
  • 2014, Princess Boonoonoonoos[18]
  • 2015, Runeesha and the Birds[6]
  • 2016, The Upsies and Downsies[19]
  • 2017, Dapper Dan[20]

Other media
  • 1980s Wrong Move, radio serial drama[2]
  • 1991, Stella seh. Kingston, Jamaica: Institute of Jamaica Publications. 1991. ISBN 978-9-768-01713-0.[7]

References

Citations
  1. Baines 2017.
  2. Green-Stewart 2016.
  3. Howell 1985, p. 35.
  4. Ustanny 2004, pp. 111–112.
  5. The Gleaner 1969, p. 65.
  6. Davidson 2015.
  7. The Gleaner 2007, p. 44.
  8. Campbell 2006, p. 29.
  9. The Gleaner 1975, p. 23.
  10. The Gleaner 2003, p. 17.
  11. The Gleaner Company 2001.
  12. The Gleaner 1992, p. 3.
  13. The Gleaner 2000, p. 13.
  14. The Gleaner 2012, p. 48.
  15. The Gleaner 2006a, p. 62.
  16. Reckord, Michael (4 January 1990). "Kingston Gleaner Newspaper Archives, Jan 4, 1990, p. 8". NewspaperArchive.com. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  17. The Jamaica Observer 2013.
  18. Johnson 2014.
  19. Johnson 2016.
  20. Johnson 2017.

Bibliography
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