Roger Mais Biography.

In Kingston Jamaica on August 11^th, 1905, Roger Mais was born. He was a journalist, playwright, novelist and a poet. He also wrote several plays, reviews and short stories for the newspaper Focus and the Jamaica Daily Gleaner, focusing his articles on social injustice and inequality.

Being raised into a middle-class family with full access to cultured traditions, Mais often incorporated a romantic idea into his writing. He drew from his Western education inspirations that lead to his use of tragic, visionary and poetic elements with books and plays. His belief in individualism and the writer’s freedom to pursue imagination are reflected in many of his early works. Mais had won ten first prizes in West Indian literature competitions. His integral role in the development of political and cultural nationalism is evidenced in his being awarded the high honor of the Order of Jamaica in 1978. Mais launched his career as a journalist and contributor for the weekly newspaper, Public Opinion from 1939 to 1952. He used this approach to reach his local audience and to primarily push for a national identity and anti-colonialism.

Unfortunately for Roger Mais, he died at somewhat a young age of 49 years from cancer.