Previous Story
Kamla Mourns Passing of Michael Anthony
Posted On 28 Aug 2023
MICHAEL ANTHONY
It is with great sadness that our nation learned of the passing of the literary icon and historian, Michael Anthony.
Born in 1932, Michael Anthony was the last of that great generation of writers that included VS Naipaul, Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite and Sam Selvon who went to London in the 1950s and wrote our stories for the world to learn and delight in. It is not an exaggeration to say that they were the generation of Titans that imagined us into nationhood on the global stage.
Anthony wrote 35 books over his lifetime of writing, more than any other Trinidadian author. His most read included The Year in San Fernando (a particular favourite of mine), Towns and Villages of Trinidad, Annaparima, A Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago, The Making of Port-of-Spain, and Green Days by the River which was made into a film, 50 years after its publication. His work remains relevant, perhaps even moreso today, as Professor Ken Ramchand has noted.
Anthony was firmly rooted in Mayaro and San Fernando, even though he lived in the UK, Brazil, the US and ended up living in Maraval. His work explored adolescent and rural life in Trinidad like no other. Iconic Caribbean publisher, Ian Randle, has referred to Anthony as “the most widely read Caribbean writer of our generation”.
Michael Anthony received numerous national and international awards, including the Hummingbird Medal (Gold), a Guggenheim Award, an Honorary Doctorate from the UWI, the NALIS Lifetime Literary Award, a position teaching creative writing at the University of Richmond, Virginia, the Mayaro Legacy Award, among others.
His passing is a profound loss for our country and the region.
Michael Anthony’s writing lives on, and we must continue to read and learn from them. Let us honour his memory, keep his work alive, and do all we can as a country to continue his legacy.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP
Leader of the Opposition
27th August 2023
