“Don't live on anyone's eyelash, so when they wink you'll fall.”

Merle Collins, a poet and teacher, was born on September 29, 1950 to Helena and John Collins.  Raised in Grenada, Collins is said to attribute most of her philosophy on writing to her childhood in the Caribbean.  First attending the University of West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, Collins received her bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish in 1972.  After teaching in St. Lucia for a while, Collins returned to Grenada to teach at MacDonald College from 1975 to 1978.  Collins also worked towards getting her master’s degree in Latin American Studies, which she earned from Georgetown University in 1981.  After earning her master’s degree, Collins worked as the coordinator for research in Latin America and the Caribbean for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

In 1979, the People’s Revolutionary Government assumed control of Grenada and gained international recognition, especially from 1981 to 1983.  The United States invaded Grenada on October 25, 1983, an action regarded as “thinly veiled imperialism,” and which inspired Collins and many other Latin American and Caribbean artists (Gale).  A few short months after the United States’ invasion, Collins left Grenada for Britain. 

In Britain, Collins made further study of the Caribbean and earned her doctorate degree in government from the School of Economics and Political Science at the University of London in 1990. 

Collins is now a professor of Creative Writing, Literature, and Caribbean Studies at the University of Maryland. 

Gale Literary Databases. 2002.  Thompson Corporation Co. November 2002 <http://infotrac.galenet.com/menu> 

Writers of the Caribbean. Ed. Cherhona N Murchison.17 June 2002.  East Carolina University. November 2002. <http://www.personal.ecu.edu/deenas/caribbean/carbwtrs.htm>