Una Marson was at the forefront of a revolution that changed the way Caribbean literature was written. At a time when West Indian literature was rarely written by West Indians, Una Marson was not only a tireless advocate of literature by Caribbean peoples but also the author of four volumes of poetry and three plays. Although it was produced in London, At What a Price, Marson's first play, should probably be considered the first truly Jamaican play in that it was written by a Jamaican about Jamaican issues and performed with Jamaican actors. In West Indian Poetry (1978) Lloyd W. Brown called Una Marson "the earliest female poet of significance to emerge in the West Indies."

Una Maude Marson was born in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, in 1905, the youngest of five children. Her father was the Reverend Solomon I. Marson, a Baptist minister and justice of the peace...