May 2002

April 2003


April 2012

EARL   LOVELACE

DATE OF BIRTH: 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH: Toco, Trinidad
EDUCATION: Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA (MA)
CAREER:                                     Lovelace was sent to live with his grandparents in Tobago at a very young age, but rejoined his family in Toco when he was 11 years old. His family later moved to Belmont, Port-of-Spain, and then Morvant. Upon leaving secondary school, he first became a proofreader for the Trinidad Guardian newspaper, and then a forest ranger stationed in the isolated village of Valencia where he began writing. He then moved south as an agricultural officer to the more remote village of Rio Claro. After unsuccessfully writing poetry, he made his first impact on the literary world in 1962 when he won first prize for "While Gods Are Falling" in the Trinidad and Tobago Independence literary competition sponsored by British Petroleum (BP). He later became a writer and sub-editor for the Trinidad Express newspaper and then spent 10 years as an English lecturer at the University of the West Indies. In the late 1990s, he was a visiting lecturer at Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA, and, in 1998, joined the faculty of the English Department at Pacific Lutheran University, Washington, USA. Earl Lovelace is the younger brother of painter Lewis Lovelace. His published books include:
  • 1965 - While Gods Are Falling
  • 1968 - The Schoolmaster
  • 1979 - The Dragon Can't Dance
  • 1982 - The Wine of Astonishment
  • 1988 - A Brief Conversion and Other Stories
  • 1996 - Salt
  • 1997 - Crawfie the Crapaud

Lovelace also published a play, Jestina's Calypso, in 1984.

AWARDS:
  • 1962 - BP Trinidad and Tobago Independence Literary Award ($5,000 TT) for "While the Gods Are Falling"
  • 1988 - Trinidad & Tobago Chaconia Medal Gold (for Literature)
  • 1997 - British Commonwealth Writers' Prize for "Salt"
  • 2002 - Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of the West Indies
Compiled by Ronald C. Emrit