One of the best known names in Caribbean literature, Sam Selvon, was born on May 20th in 1923!
As an author, Selvon is celebrated for his vivid depictions of Caribbean life and stories of West Indian migration. Many of his later writings drew from his experiences as a member of the Windrush generation of Caribbean immigrants to Britain in the 1950s. His book, “The Lonely Londoners” (1956) is still recognized as one of the first novels to incorporate Caribbean dialects in its telling of working-class migrant life in the UK.
Over the years, Selvon authored a number of books, including “Ways of Sunlight” (1957), “Those Who Eat the Cascadura” (1972) and “Moses Ascending” (1975). In 1976, he co-wrote the screenplay for British film “Pressure” with Horace Ové, celebrated as the UK's first Black dramatic feature-length film.
He was a two-time winner of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, a recipient of the Hummingbird Medal (Gold, 1969) and the Chaconia Medal (posthumously, 1994). In the 1980s, Selvon was honoured with degrees from the University of the West Indies (1985) and Warwick University (1989).
Born in San Fernando, Selvon attended Naparima College before serving 5 years in the West Indian Royal Navy (R.N.V.R) during WWII, on ships in the Caribbean. After the War, Selvon worked as a reporter at the Trinidad Guardian Newspaper (1945-1950). He also wrote stories under pseudonyms and had some of his work broadcast by the BBC. Encouraged by this success, he migrated to the UK in 1950 with the manuscript of his first book “A Brighter Sun” (1952).
In London, Selvon worked several jobs, while his short stories were published by various British magazines. He also produced two television scripts for the BBC: “Anansi the Spider Man” and “Home Sweet India.”
Selvon later moved to Canada, where he became a fellow at the University of Dundee, and a professor in creative writing at the University of Victoria.
He passed away on April 16th 1994 in Trinidad. In 2018, on what would have been his 95th birthday, Selvon was honoured by Google with a “Google Doodle”.
This photo is courtesy of the Sunday Guardian newspaper, May 5th 1963, and is part of the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Newspaper Collection.
(Source: National Archives of T&T, May 20, 2024)

rinidadian author Anthony Joseph has won the TS Eliot prize for his collection Sonnets for Albert. Joseph won the £25,000 poetry prize for his work which is described as an autobiographical collection that weighs the impact of growing up with a largely absent father.

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Joseph migrated to the United Kingdom in 1989 at the age of 21.He lived with his grandparents and loved music and poetry from young. 
He told Loop News in an earlier interview that he grew up in an environment that taught him in order to succeed he had to go away. 
In addition to producing five poetry collections, Joseph has authored three novels among them Kitch: A Fictional Biography of a Calypso Icon, which was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness prize and the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore award and was longlisted for the 2019 OCM Bocas prize for Caribbean literature.
He is also a musician and had eight critically acclaimed albums to his credit.
Joseph is the second Trinidadian to win the lucrative prize.
In 2020 dub poet Roger Robinson won the prize. He was on the panel of judges which included Chair of judges Jean Sprackland, and  2021 Costa book of the year winner Hannah Lowe.
The judges said each of the shortlisted books “spoke powerfully to us in its own distinctive voice”.
Sprackland said: “From this strong field our choice is Sonnets for Albert, a luminous collection which celebrates humanity in all its contradictions and breathes new life into this enduring form."
This year saw a record 201 submissions.  (Source; The Loop, Jan 18, 2023)