Claire Adam is a Trinidadian author whose first novel '' Golden Child'' triggered critical acclaim. On 5 November 2019, the ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

'' listed ''Golden Child'' on its list of the 100 most influential novels.

Biography

Claire Adam 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 Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, the youngest of four children of her Trinidadian father and Irish mother. Leaving Trinidad at the age of 18, Adam went to the US where she studied Physics at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. She then lived for some years in Italy and Ireland, before settling in London. She earned an MA degree in Creative Writing at

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

, where she began work on her first novel, ''Golden Child'', which was awarded the 2019

Desmond Elliott Prize The Desmond Elliott Prize is an annual award for the best debut novel written in English and published in the UK. The winning novel can be from any genre of fiction and must exhibit depth and breadth with a compelling narrative. The winner receiv ...

for best debut novel. ''Golden Child'' also won the 2020

McKitterick Prize The McKitterick Prize is a United Kingdom literary prize. It is administered by the Society of Authors. It was endowed by Tom McKitterick, who had been an editor of ''The Political Quarterly'' but had also written a novel which was never publ ...

, the 2019 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, and was longlisted for the

Jhalak Prize The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour is an annual literary prize awarded to British or British-resident BAME writers. £1,000 is awarded to the sole winner. The Jhalak Prize launched in 2016 and was created by writers Sunn ...

and the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

First Book Award.

References

21st-century Trinidad and Tobago writers Living people Trinidad and Tobago women novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of Desmond Elliott Prize 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago women writers {{Trinidad-writer-stub