About this Event
This gathering celebrates the life and legacy of Ian Macdonald, a man whose contributions to Guyana’s cultural, literary, and industrial landscape touched many. Our speakers include Clem Seecharan and Jeremy Poynting: respectively reflecting on Ian’s illuminating writing on cricket, and status as one of the foremost poets of the Caribbean region. Juanita Cox will share readings from 'New and Collected Poems: 1957-2017' and a tribute from Barry Newton, former CEO of Booker Tate and former colleague of Ian at Booker and in the sugar industry. The event will also include a recording of a discussion on literature and literary criticism between David Dabydeen, Petamber Persaud and Ian McDonald. The afternoon will conclude with light refreshments, offering guests a chance to share memories and reflect together on a life lived with purpose, generosity, and thoughtfulness. Books by Ian McDonald will also be available for purchase.
Many thanks to John Mair and Clem Seecharan for making generous contributions toward the hire of the hall in Kensington Central Library.
Ian Macdonald — A Life of Leadership, Industry, and Literary Insight
Ian Macdonald was a distinguished professional whose life’s work left a lasting imprint on both the Caribbean sugar industry and the literary landscape of Guyana. After settling in Guyana, he became widely respected for his sharp intellect, steady leadership, and deep commitment to the region’s economic and cultural development.
In the sugar industry, Ian earned recognition as one of its most knowledgeable and influential voices. His career spanned decades of transformation, during which he championed innovation, worker welfare, and sustainable production. He was known for his ability to bring clarity to complex issues, bridging the perspectives of management, labour, and policymakers. His contributions helped shape national conversations around agriculture, industry, and Guyana’s economic future.
Beyond his professional achievements, Ian was also a gifted writer and commentator. His essays, columns, and reflections were admired for their elegance, honesty, and thoughtful engagement with Caribbean life. He wrote with a distinctive voice — measured, humane, and quietly powerful — offering insights into politics, society, culture, and the everyday experiences that define Guyana and the wider region. His literary work enriched public discourse and earned him a loyal readership who valued his wisdom and integrity.
Ian Macdonald’s life was marked by service, intellect, and a deep love for the Caribbean. Trinidad gave him his beginnings; Guyana became his home. In both places, he is remembered as a man of principle, a leader of uncommon steadiness, and a writer whose words will continue to resonate.
His legacy lives on in the industries he strengthened, the readers he inspired, and the communities he served with quiet dedication.
Clem Seecharan - Ian Macdonald’s love of cricket was lifelong and deeply felt, and Clem Seecharan will speak to this with the insight only he can bring. For Ian, cricket was never just a sport — it was a cultural inheritance, a moral education, and a lens through which he understood Caribbean society. His writings on the game were thoughtful, elegant, and steeped in history, revealing his appreciation for its artistry as well as its social significance. Living in Guyana, he became a respected voice on West Indian cricket, celebrating its heroes, analysing its struggles, and honouring its role in shaping regional identity. Clem will reflect on how Ian’s passion for cricket enriched his literary work and how his reflections on the game continue to resonate across the Caribbean.
Jeremy Poynting is Peepal Tree's founder and managing editor. He first developed an interest in Caribbean writing as a student almost sixty years ago. Whilst still working as a lecturer in further education and trade union activist, Jeremy began a PhD at the University of Leeds focusing on the relationship between imaginative literature and ethnic diversity in Trinidad and Guyana. This focused on the presence and writing of Indians in the Caribbean.
His research brought him to the Caribbean for the first time in 1976. A conversation with the Guyanese writer Rooplall Monar in 1984 was the germ that started Peepal Tree, and the press was launched with Monar’s book Backdam People. In 1985 he finally completed the very part-time thesis. His amateur academic ‘career’ was rather cut short by the formal establishment of Peepal Tree Press in 1986. After years of struggling to manage both lecturing work and Peepal Tree, he was able to take early retirement from his college in 1996 to devote his time fully to Peepal Tree.
Jeremy Poynting and Ian McDonald's publisher–author relationship quickly deepened into mutual admiration, long-term collaboration, and the public championing of McDonald’s work. Poynting, as founder and editorial director of Peepal Tree Press, published McDonald’s late-career poetry and frequently wrote about his significance.
Dr Juanita Cox, co-Founder of Guyana SPEAKS, is a leading authority on Guyanese novelist, Edgar Mittelholzer, and editor of Creole Chips and other Writings. She is co-curator of the exhibition In the Grip of Change: The Caribbean and its British Diaspora and serves on the editorial board of Black Histories journal. She is also a trustee of the Oral History Society, a fellow of the Institute of Historical Research, and currently works as a Community Engagement Researcher at the University of Edinburgh on the AHRC funded project, Voices in Slavery's Archives: Law, Place and Testimony in British Guiana.
Juanita, this event's moderator, will share readings from Ian McDonald's 'New and Collected Poems: 1957-2017' and a tribute from Barry Newton, former CEO of Booker Tate and former colleague of Ian at Booker and in the sugar industry.
David Dabydeen's relationship with Ian Macdonald was one of deep intellectual respect and genuine friendship. As fellow writers and thinkers rooted in the Caribbean experience, they shared a commitment to exploring the region’s histories, complexities, and cultural identities. Ian admired David’s literary brilliance and scholarly rigour, while David valued Ian’s clarity of thought, moral steadiness, and his ability to write with both elegance and conviction. Their conversations — often ranging from literature and politics to cricket and Caribbean memory — reflected a mutual appreciation for the craft of writing and the responsibility of public commentary. David’s presence at this event is a testament to the enduring bond they shared and to the profound impact Ian had on those who worked alongside him in Guyana’s literary and cultural life.
Event venue & nearby stays
Kensington Central Library, 12 Phillimore Walk, London, United Kingdom
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