Alvin Gladstone Bennett (1918–2004), [1] also known as A. G. Bennett, [2] was a Jamaican journalist, novelist, and poet. Born in Falmouth, Trelawny Parish, he left his job as a purser in 1954 to become a journalist for The Gleaner. [1] His newspaper columns were often witty and offered "acerbic comments on the affairs of God and humanity". [3] In 1958, he was posted to Britain as the newspaper's British correspondent. [1] He was also a contributor to the South London Press. [4] While in Britain, Bennett engaged in community service; his interactions with the Caribbean immigrant community would inspire his first novel, Because They Know Not, [1] published in 1959. [2] His second satirical novel God the Stonebreaker was published in 1964. [3] [5] Some of his short stories were broadcast by the BBC in the 1960s and 1970s. [1] Bennett was also a prolific poet. His poem, "The Black Man", was published in the Jamaican newspaper Public Opinion in June 1942, [6] whereas his undated anthology of poems, titled Out of Darkness, "displays a degree of irreverence similar to that of his novels", but comprises "conservative" poetry that is "traditional in structure". [3] In 1982, he relocated to Canada, [3] where he would spend the remainder of his life. [1]
Alvin Gladstone Bennett (1918–2004), [1] also known as A. G. Bennett, [2] was a Jamaican journalist, novelist, and poet. Born in Falmouth, Trelawny Parish, he left his job as a purser in 1954 to become a journalist for The Gleaner. [1] His newspaper columns were often witty and offered "acerbic comments on the affairs of God and humanity". [3] In 1958, he was posted to Britain as the newspaper's British correspondent. [1] He was also a contributor to the South London Press. [4] While in Britain, Bennett engaged in community service; his interactions with the Caribbean immigrant community would inspire his first novel, Because They Know Not, [1] published in 1959. [2] His second satirical novel God the Stonebreaker was published in 1964. [3] [5] Some of his short stories were broadcast by the BBC in the 1960s and 1970s. [1] Bennett was also a prolific poet. His poem, "The Black Man", was published in the Jamaican newspaper Public Opinion in June 1942, [6] whereas his undated anthology of poems, titled Out of Darkness, "displays a degree of irreverence similar to that of his novels", but comprises "conservative" poetry that is "traditional in structure". [3] In 1982, he relocated to Canada, [3] where he would spend the remainder of his life. [1]