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. Naipaul, Earl Lovelace and Sam Selvon, as well as editing several significant cultural publications. His seminal text, ''The West Indian Novel and Its Background'' (1970), had a transformational effect on the syllabus 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 ...

(UWI) and the internationalization of

West Indian literature Caribbean literature is the literature of the various territories of the Caribbean region. Literature in English from the former British West Indies may be referred to as Anglo-Caribbean or, in historical contexts, as West Indian literature. Most ...

as an academic discipline."Kenneth Ramchand", NALIS.
/ref> Ramchand is Professor Emeritus of English at the

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...

campus of UWI. Until his resignation in June 2009,"NAPA tension led to resignation"
''Newsday'' 21 March 2010. he was associate provost at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He was for some years an independent Senator in the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago. Ramchand is also an Emeritus Professor at

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

in Hamilton, New York.

Career

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Ramchand holds an MA and PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where he attended as a scholarship student (1959–63). His first book, ''The West Indian Novel and Its Background'', was published in 1970, and he has noted: "I wrote it at just the right time. It was influential in the creation and internationalization of an academic discipline called 'West Indian Literature'; it stimulated the development of graduate studies in the Department of English of the University of the West Indies; and it was seminal in the transformation of the syllabus of 'English' at the University of the West Indies." Ramchand was UWI's first Professor of West Indian Literature and he was Head of the Department of Liberal Arts at St. Augustine for several years."Professor Kenneth Ramchand, Chairman of UTT"
University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He has also been a Senior Fulbright Scholar affiliated to Yale University and the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, a Visiting Professor at Indiana University and

, as well as a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. In 2005 he was appointed chairman of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), a position he held until 2009.

Awards

In 1996, Ramchand was awarded a Trinidad and Tobago Chaconia Medal Gold for his work in Literature, Education and Culture. In 2012, the

National Library of Trinidad and Tobago The National Library and Information System of Trinidad and Tobago (known as NALIS) is a corporate body established by the NALIS Act No. 18 of 1998 to administer the development and coordination of library and information services in Trinidad and ...

honoured him with a NALIS Lifetime Literary Achievement Award. At the 2014 NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Ramchand was honoured alongside Professor Gordon Rohlehr with the Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters, which recognises the lifetime achievement of editors, publishers, critics and broadcasters.Michelle Loubon
"Enjoying every word"
''Trinidad Express Newspapers'', 21 March 2014.

Bibliography

* ''West Indian Narrative: an Introductory Anthology'' (editor). London: Nelson, 1966. * ''The West Indian Novel and its Background''. London: Faber, 1970. * ''An Introduction to the Study of West Indian Literature''. Sunbury-on-Thames: Nelson Caribbean, 1976. * ''West Indian Poetry: An Anthology for Schools'' (editor). London: Longman, 1989. * ''Act of Possession: the New World of West Indian Writing''. Port of Spain: Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, 1991.

Awards

* 1987: BWIA Excellence in Journalism award * 1996: Trinidad and Tobago Chaconia Medal Gold (for Literature, Education, and Culture) * 2014:

Bocas Henry Swanzy Award The NGC Bocas Lit Fest is the Trinidad and Tobago literary festival that takes place annually during the last weekend of April in Port of Spain. Inaugurated in 2011, it is the first major literary festival in the southern Caribbean and largest lit ...

References

External links

* Hannah McGurk
"Kenneth Ramchand"
''UncoverED'' – A collaborative decolonial research project. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramchand, Kenneth Trinidad and Tobago non-fiction writers Members of the Senate (Trinidad and Tobago) Trinidad and Tobago people of Indian descent 1939 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago academics University of the West Indies academics Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Recipients of the Chaconia Medal Trinidad and Tobago male writers Male non-fiction writers