Buckingham Palace visit irks, inspires Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner

WHEN JAMAICAN Kwame M.A. McPherson won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in June last year, it was the first time a Jamaican had won this prestigious global literature prize. And many things, including a requested visit to Buckingham Palace in London, have happened for the UK-born McPherson since that historic achievement.

The Gleaner chanced upon him recently, and the subject of the Buckingham Palace visit was broached. He was invited by The Royal Commonwealth Society to a reception by Queen Camilla for The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2023. It was part of the Queen Victoria-created Royal Commonwealth Society’s 140th anniversary.

It was an occasion that irked and inspired this prolific writer who attended London Metropolitan University and the University of Westminster and who had also won the Poetic Soul prize (2007) and was the first Jamaican Flash Fiction Bursary Awardee for the prestigious Bridport Prize (2020).

On the day of the visit, November 16, 2023, after being checked and searched by armed police, McPherson entered the Buckingham Palace grounds. He followed a path that took him to the back of a “magnificent” building. After climbing the stairs, he was shown the cloakroom where he left his luggage since he had just landed and went directly from the airport. No cameras or phones were allowed in the main hall, where people of note were hobnobbing.

Upon Queen Camilla’s entrance into the room, she was introduced by the host, after which the ceremony began. A video about the Royal Commonwealth Society and previous winners was shown. For each winner, a presentation was made by a well-known person. Queen Camilla then complimented the young people before giving them their awards. After the ceremony, The Queen went around the room speaking to guests before exiting the space.

Apart from The Queen herself, McPherson met Ben Okri, a Booker Prize winner; the governor of Nigeria’s Lagos state government; Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, the honorable commissioner in the Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment of Nigeria’s Lagos state government; and Dr Stephen Gichuhi, senior lecturer, University of Nairobi, Kenya. But what stood out for him more than any other was the magnificence of the building, and what he did not see in it.

“What struck me was that this building was built on the blood, sweat, and tears of my ancestors. In the main room, where the event was held, there are huge framed paintings on the walls, dozens, and each one depicts something about English history. There is nothing about African people or a picture denoting that, not even one. If there were, I didn’t see it.

“Not that I expected to see one. It was just the significance of what that meant. In the bastions of this palace, it was obvious to me that our story has never been told and never will. Everything about their ‘story’ is about their longevity, so-called superiority, and arrogance. Overall, my emotions were about my being more determined to tell our story and narrative,” McPherson, who was born in London to Jamaican parents, and is residing in Jamaica, shared.

He is now working on the novel version of the prize-winning Ocoee, which interweaves Caribbean folklore and stories from African American history. It got its name from Ocoee, a town in Florida, where, in November 1920, dozens of African Americans were murdered in a brutal, racially aggravated attack. The story is about a Jamaican man who is stopped by police while driving through Ocoee.