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‘One Bright Child’ to Support Children in Jamaica

September 19, 2004

The Full Story

‘One Bright Child’, the debut novel by Jamaican writer Pat Cumper, was re-launched in London last Thursday (Sept.16), with part proceeds to go to the Voluntary Organization for the Upliftment of Children (VOUCH) United Kingdom, a charity that supports children in need in Jamaica.
The launch was held at the Jamaican High Commission in London.
Ms. Cumper, who studied at Girton College, University of Cambridge, is well known in Jamaica for her award winning plays for radio and the stage.
‘One Bright Child’ is a true story, based on the life of Ms. Cumper’s mother Gloria Carter, who left Jamaica for London in 1936 to study to become a lawyer. In the process, she became one of the first black women to graduate from Cambridge University.
The novel tells of Ms. Carter’s experience with racial prejudice in London and her realization that as a black woman, she would have to be better than everyone else if she wanted to achieve her ambition of becoming a barrister.
Speaking at the launch, Ms. Cumper described her mother as a “pocket battleship”, who, like many other Jamaican women, always found a way to overcome an obstacle. Ms. Cumper said her mother never regarded the prejudices she faced in the United Kingdom as cruelty, but rather felt it was as a result of ignorance. This outlook, she reasoned, allowed her mother to endure and achieve.
In her remarks, High Commissioner Maxine Roberts congratulated Ms. Cumper, on her literary achievement and noted the rave reviews she had received for her first novel.
Stating that one reviewer had described ‘One Bright Child’ as a “funny, gripping and inspirational book”, Ms. Roberts said that “such a review is not surprising to us, because we have long been aware of Pat’s tremendous talent”. Ms. Cumper served as information attach

Last Updated: September 19, 2004

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