Francis Quamina Farrier
Francis Quamina Farrier, fondly known as Uncle Francis, is a veteran dramatist, playwright, director, journalist, and poet who was born in Georgetown, Guyana, South America on March 12, 1938. Uncle Francis was raised at McDoom Village on the East Bank of Demerara, but because his father was a "bush man", his mother and siblings spent lots of time in the "bush" during his very formative years. Uncle Francis’ education began at the St Ann's Anglican School at Agricola, on the East Bank of Demerara, in Guyana. Later, he attended summer courses in Theatre and Journalism at the University of the West Indies, the St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad. More importantly, he received a grant from the late, E. R. Braithwaite, the renowned British Guianese who was a novelist, writer, actor, educator and diplomat. This grant afforded Uncle Francis the opportunity to attend the Banff School of Fine Arts at the University of Alberta in Canada. Uncle Francis is also the recipient of a three-year bachelor's degree, with honors in the Performance Arts from the University of Middlesex in England.
As dramatist, Uncle Francis’s career began in the mid 1940s, as pre-teen actor at St Ann's Anglican Primary School at Agricola, a village on the East Bank of Demerara, Guyana. He was a part of the Youth Club at Agricola and this experience assisted him with the development of his craft of acting. In 1965, he was the proud recipient of the “Best Actor” prize of an acting competition. Along his acting journey, he has performed at many locations in Guyana, including Georgetown, Linden, Bartica, Anna Regina, Buxton, and New Amsterdam.
As a playwright, Uncle Francis’s journey began in 1964 with play entitled, Border Bridge. In 1966, one of his plays, Timberline, won the first prize at the National Playwriting Competition in Guyana for Guyana’s first independence as cooperative nation. This paved the way for many plays to follow. Currently, he has written approximately 30 plays.
Over too many years to count, this artistic veteran, Uncle Francis has written, directed, and produced many video documentaries, and films. These include but are not limited to the construction of Kuru Kuru Coop College; The first village of Guyana, Victoria, and A Man of the People – about Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham who was the Executive President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Furthermore, Uncle Francis has done stage as well as radio drama productions, with his signature pieces that included The Tides of Susanburg, and The Girl from Susanburg. Mazaruni Journey is his most recent video documentary.
A point to note is that although Uncle Francis has never worked as a full-time journalist, in the early 1990s, he has had the opportunity to be featured as a guest journalist of articles for the Stabroek News, a newspapers printed and circulated in Guyana.
He has also done television journalism that began in mid 1990s. Later, sometime in 2016, he began writing a weekly feature article in the Pepperpot Magazine, which is a section of the Guyana Chronicle Newspapers. also published in Guyana. To date, Uncle Francis continues his writing for this print media outlet and takes pride in noting his inclusion of coverage of the annual folk festival season hosted by the Guyana Cultural Association of New York, of which he is a board member.
As a poet, in 2015, Uncle Francis was approached by the National Library in Guyana to spearhead a team of poets who visited schools to sensitize youth to the value of the arts through poetry. Upon completion of this venture, Uncle Francis continued this journey, offering his time, free of charge to the students of schools across Guyana. In essence, he has done countless poetry and storytelling sessions at not only schools, but at other institutions around Guyana.
In terms of recognition, as a long-time member of the Theatre Guild of Guyana Limited, Uncle Francis has won many prizes for acting, playwriting and directing. In 1978, he was presented with the National Award of the Medal of Service for his work in the Performing Arts. This award was presented by the then President of Guyana, Authur Chung. In 1987, he was honored as The Bishops' High School Parent of the Year - an award of which he is most proud. In the 2000, he was selected by the Ministry of Culture to be the Artistic Director for the Guyanese contingent, that headed to the CARIFESTA VII in St. Kitts & Nevis. In 2013, he received the Guyana Cultural Association of New York Award. In 2014, he received the Theater Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. Note: these are just two of the many he has received.