MERLE COLLINS is Professor of Comparative Literature and English. She studied at the University of the West Indies, at Georgetown University, and holds a Ph.D. in Government from the University of London School of Economics. In Spring 1997, she was Faculty Director of the Maryland in Mexico (Study Abroad) program. Her publications include two novels, Angel (The Women's Press, 1987; Seal Press, 1988) and The Colour of Forgetting (Virago, 1995), as well as a collection of short stories, Rain Darling (The Women's Press, 1990). She has also published two volumes of poetry: Because the Dawn Breaks (Karia Press, 1985) and Rotten Pomerack (Virago, 1992). A specialist in Caribbean studies, her critical works include "Themes and Trends in Caribbean Writing Today" in From My Guy to Sci-Fi: Genre and Women's Writing in the Postmodern World  (Helen Carr, ed.; Pandora, 1989), and "To be Free is Very Sweet" in Slavery and Abolition. Before coming to Maryland, Collins taught in both London and Grenada and served in Grenada's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

mc188@umail.umd.edu