Anthony McNeill

Who was Anthony McNeill?

Roy Anthony "Tony" McNeill was a Jamaican poet, considered one of the most promising West Indian writers of his generation, whose career was cut short by his early death.

McNeill was born in Kingston, Jamaica and educated at Excelsior School and St. George's College before leaving to study in the United States. He studied creative writing at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, from which he graduated with a PhD. He returned to Jamaica in 1975, where he worked as a journalist and assistant editor of the Jamaica Journal, as well as in a variety of other jobs, including civil servant, encyclopedia salesman, and janitor.

While a student in the US, McNeill began writing seriously. His first major collection of poems, Reel from "The Life Movie", appeared in 1972 and immediately established his reputation in Jamaica alongside his contemporaries Dennis Scott and Mervyn Morris. This was followed by Credences at the Altar of Cloud and Chinese Lanterns from the Blue Child, published posthumously in 1998. Other significant work remains unpublished.