Novelist and Essayist

Wilson Harris was born in Guyana and studied at Queens College before taking up a career as a lecturer and writer. Harris moved to England in 1959 and his first novel, Palace of the Peacock (1960) was published soon after his arrival . He has twice been winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature.

Born in Guyana in 1921, and studying at Queen’s College, Georgetown, Guyana, Wilson Harris became a government surveyor, before taking up a career as lecturer and writer. The knowledge of the savannas and rain forests he gained during his time as a surveyor formed the setting of many of his books, the Guyanese landscape dominating his fiction.

Wilson Harris’ writing style often departs from accepted norms, and he is known for his broad vision and the abstract complexity of his mystical style. He first wrote poetry, but since has become a well-known novelist and essayist.

He came to England in 1959 and his first novel, Palace of the Peacock (1960) was published soon after his arrival. It became the first of a quartet of novels, The Guyana Quartet, which incorporates The Far Journey of Oudin (1961); The Whole Armour (1962); and The Secret Ladder (1963). He later wrote a trilogy: Carnival (1985); The Infinite Rehearsal (1987); and The Four Banks of the River of Space (1990).

His most recent novels are Jonestown (1996), which tells of the massacre of one thousand followers ordered by cult leader Jim Jones; The Dark Jester (2001) and his latest novel which has autobiographical elements, The Mask of the Beggar (2003).

Wilson Harris also writes non-fiction and critical essays and has been awarded honorary doctorates by several universities, including the Univeristy of the West Indies (1984) and the University of Liège (2001). He has twice been winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature.

From contemporarywriters

Novels
Fetish Miniature Poets Series (Guyana), 1951
Eternity to Season Georgetown (British Guiana), 1954
Palace of the Peacock Faber and Faber, 1960
The Far Journey of Oudin Faber and Faber, 1961
The Whole Armour Faber and Faber, 1962
The Secret Ladder Faber and Faber, 1963
Heartland Faber and Faber, 1964
The Eye of the Scarecrow Faber and Faber, 1965
The Waiting Room Faber and Faber, 1967
Tradition, the Writer and Society: Critical Essags New Beacon, 1967
Tumatumari Faber and Faber, 1968
Ascent to Omai Faber and Faber, 1970
History, Fable and Myth in the Caribbean and Guianas National History and Arts Council, 1970
The Sleepers of Roraima (illustrated by Kay Usborne) Faber and Faber, 1970
The Age of the Rainmakers (illustrated by Kay Usborne) Faber and Faber, 1971
Black Marsden: A Tabula Rasa Comedy Faber and Faber, 1972
Fossil and Psyche University of Texas, 1974
Companions of the Day and Night Faber and Faber, 1975
Enigma of Values: An Introduction Dangaroo, 1975
Da Silva da Silva's Cultivated Wilderness/Genesis of the Clowns Faber and Faber, 1977
The Tree of the Sun Faber and Faber, 1978
Explorations: A Series of Talks and Articles 1966-1981 Dangaroo, 1981
The Angel at the Gate Faber and Faber, 1982
The Womb of Space: The Cross-Cultural Imagination Greenwood Press, 1983
Carnival Faber and Faber, 1985
The Guyana Quartet (contents: 'Palace of the Peacock'; 'The Far Journey of Oudin'; 'The Whole Armour'; 'The Secret Ladder Faber and Faber, 1985
The Infinite Rehearsal Faber and Faber, 1987
The Four Banks of the River of Space Faber and Faber, 1990
The Radical Imagination (essays) Liège Language and Literature, 1992
Resurrection at Sorrow Hill Faber and Faber, 1993
The Carnival Trilogy (contents: 'The Infinite Rehearsal'; 'The Four Banks of the River of Space'; 'Carnival') Faber and Faber, 1993
Jonestown Faber and Faber, 1996
Selected Essays Routledge, 1999
The Dark Jester Faber and Faber, 2001
The Mask of the Beggar Faber and Faber, 2003

Prizes and awards
1987 Guyana Prize for Literature
1992 Premio Mondello dei Cinque Continenti
2002 Guyana Prize for Literature (Special Award)

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