Yvonne Weekes
Dr. Yvonne Weekes (Montserrat/Barbados), is a writer, arts educator, and academic. She taught English and Drama in England and Montserrat; and Arts Education and Theatre in Barbados at The University of the West Indies; and directed theater in the Caribbean. Weekes is the author of Volcano—A Memoir (Peepal Tree Press) and the poetry collection Nomad (House of Nehesi Publishers). Her first play “Blue Soap” was published in Contemporary Caribbean Plays: Emancipation Moments (2010). The award-winning writer of poetry, prose, and drama is anthologized in books and journals such as Charting the Journey, Dark Against the Sky, Arts Etc., POUi VI, Wadabagei, Interviewing the Caribbean, and The Hole and Other Stories. She co-authored the poetry collection Pandemic Moment with literary critic, poet and historian the late Sir Professor Howard A. Fergus. Weekes is the editor of the anthology Voices: Monologues and Plays for Caribbean Actors. The high school literary and earth science textbook Disaster Matters: Disasters Matter was edited by Yvonne Weekes and Wendy McMahon. Her work has been translated in Polish and Spanish. A Spanish translation of her FCLE award winning memoir Volcano – Volcán: Memoria De Montserrat was released in September 2024 by Press La Pequeña translated by assistant Professor Sergio Gutiérez Negrón of Oberlin College in Ohio, USA.
Weekes is the director of the film Grief and a narrator of the award-winning documentary Handsworth Songs. In 2023, she co-directed and produced Newton Unsilenced: Narrative Imagined, a film about the historic Newton Burial Ground, Barbados.
The writings of Yvonne Weekes focus on gender-based violence, grief, trauma, and healing after disasters; research areas are autoethnography, student voice, and theatre for social consciousness. Weekes has presented papers and recited her poetry in the Caribbean, South America, and Europe, (Poland at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University) including at The Gallery Speaker’s series, Grenada; Alliouagana Festival of the Word, Montserrat; St. Martin Book Fair, St. Martin; International Poetry Festival of Medellín, Colombia; World Poetry Movement, Venezuela; and Norwich Science Fair, England.
Awards and honors include the Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Award (Barbados, 2005); Best Director, Barbados Film and Visual Awards (Grief, 2018); and the Order of Excellence of Montserrat (Education, Culture, and the Arts. Montserrat, 2024).
