Miami-based Jamaican writer, Geoffrey Philp, has been awarded a Silver Musgrave Medal in Literature by the Institute of Jamaica. Awarded annually in recognition of excellence in art, science, and literature, the Musgrave Medal is named in memory of Sir Anthony Musgrave, the founder of the Institute and the former Governor of Jamaica.

‘I was one of the fortunate students to have been taught literature at Jamaica College by Dennis Scott, who was also a recipient of a Musgrave Medal,” said Professor Philp. “It was Dennis who read my first attempts at writing poetry and encouraged me to continue writing.”

The author of over twelve books of poetry and fiction, Professor Philp’s poems and short stories have been published in World Literature Today, Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse, sx salon, Caribbean Writer, Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, Pree, and Johannesburg Review of Books. Throughout his career, Professor Philp has earned many awards for his work, including the Marcus Garvey Award for Excellence in Education (2022) and a Luminary Award from the Consulate of Jamaica (2015). One of his poems, “A Prayer for my Children,” is featured on The Poetry Rail at The Betsy–an homage to 12 writers that shaped Miami culture. His forthcoming collection of poems, “Archipelagos,” borrows from Kamau Brathwaite’s “Middle Passage” lecture, Aime Cesaire’s “Discourse on Colonialism,” Sylvia Wynter’s “1492,” and Amitav Ghosh’s paradigm in The Nutmeg’s Curse to explore the relationship between Christianity, colonialism, and genocide in the Plantationocene. He is working on a graphic novel for children, “My Name is Marcus, and a collection of poems, “Letter from Marcus Garvey.”

Professor Philp will accept the award in a ceremony at the Phillip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, University of the West Indies, on Wednesday, November 23, 2002.