Cecil Gray (February 11, 1923 – March 14, 2020) was a Caribbean poet, former educator, and the author of several textbooks and anthologies of West Indian literature. He resided in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Biography

Gray was born in

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, in 1923, and also lived in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. He obtained a teacher's certificate and an external degree from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

. For over a decade, he served as a Senior Lecturer then as Director of the In-Service Diploma in Education Programme at the Mona and St. Augustine campuses of the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

. Gray's first book of poetry, ''The Woolgatherer'', was largely autobiographical and was published by

Peepal Tree Press Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. It was founded after a paper shortage in Guyana halted production of new bo ...

in 1994. Since then he has published several subsequent collections, including ''Lillian's Songs'' (1996), ''Leaving the Dark'' (1998), ''Plumed Palms'' (2000), ''Careenage'' (2003), ''Only the Waves'' (2005), ''Possession'' (2009), ''Lighthouses'' (2011), and "Evening Candles" (2016). His poetry has also been published in the literary journals ''

Bim ''Bim'' is a 1974 Trinidad and Tobago film written by Raoul Pantin and directed by Hugh A. Robertson. It was described by Bruce Paddington as "one of the most important films to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago and... one of the classics of Ca ...

'' and ''

Savacou ''Savacou: A Journal of the Caribbean Artists Movement'' was a journal of literature, new writing and ideas founded in 1970 as a small co-operative venture, led by Edward Kamau Brathwaite, on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, ...

'' and in anthologies of Caribbean literature. His reading and literature textbooks include ''Bite In'', ''Language for Life'', and ''Swing Into English'', as well a
''West Indian Poetry: An Anthology for Schools''
(with

Kenneth Ramchand Kenneth Ramchand (born 1939) is a Trinidad and Tobago academic and writer, who is widely respected as "arguably the most prominent living critic of Caribbean fiction". He has written extensively on many West Indian authors, including V. S. Naipau ...

). In 1976, Gray was awarded the Medal of Merit Class 1 Gold of the Order of the Trinity by the government of Trinidad and Tobago for contributions to education and culture. Most importantly, his efforts contributed significantly to the introduction and integration of West Indian literature into the official curriculum of West Indian secondary schools.

References

External links

* Cecil Gray
"Encounters With Poetry"
(essay) in ''Writing Life - Reflections by West Indian Writers''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Cecil Trinidad and Tobago poets Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians Canadian people of Trinidad and Tobago descent 1923 births 2020 deaths Trinidad and Tobago male writers Writers from Port of Spain 20th-century male writers Trinidad and Tobago expatriates in Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago expatriates in the United Kingdom