Michael Anthony (born 10 February 1930) is a

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

author and historian, who was named one of the "50 most influential people in

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 ...

Early life and education

Born in the county of

Mayaro, Trinidad Mayaro is a town in the region of Mayaro–Rio Claro on the island of Trinidad in Trinidad and Tobago. See also * List of cities and towns in Trinidad and Tobago * Rio Claro, Trinidad and Tobago References Populated places in Tri ...

, on 10 February 1930, to Nathaniel Anthony and Eva Jones Lazarus, Michael Anthony was educated on the island at Mayaro Roman Catholic School and Junior Technical College in

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

. He subsequently took a job as a laundry worker in

Pointe-à-Pierre Pointe-à-Pierre ( ) is a town in Trinidad and Tobago. It lies north of San Fernando and south of Claxton Bay. It is most famous as the site of the country's largest (and now, only) oil refinery which used to be run by Petrotrin, the state-owned ...

for five years but had ambitions to become a journalist. Later on, poems of his were published by the ''

Trinidad Guardian The ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' (together with the ''Sunday Guardian'') is the oldest daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper is considered the newspaper of record for Trinidad and Tobago. History Its first edition was published ...

'' in 1954. Yet it was not enough for him to secure a new job locally and Anthony decided to further his career in the United Kingdom.

Career outside Trinidad

Anthony's voyage to the UK on board the ''Hildebrandt'' took place on December 1954. In England he held several jobs, including as a sub-editor at

Reuters news agency Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

(1964–1968), while developing his career as a writer, writing short stories for the

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

programme '' Caribbean Voices''. In 1958 he married Yvette Phillips and they had four children — Jennifer, Keith, Carlos and Sandra Anthony. Four years later, Anthony published his first book, ''The Games Were Coming'', a cycling story inspired by real events. He followed up its success with ''The Year in San Fernando'' and ''Green Days by the River''. He eventually returned to Trinidad in 1970, after spending two years as part of the Trinidadian diplomatic corps in Brazil, where his novel ''King of the Masquerade'' is set, and he worked variously as an editor, a researcher for the Ministry of Culture, and as a radio broadcaster of historical programmes. In 1992, he spent time at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

in Virginia, teaching creative writing. In his five-decade career, Anthony has had over 30 titles published, including novels, collections of short fiction, books for younger readers, travelogues and histories. He has also been a contributor to many anthologies and journals, including ''Caribbean Prose'', ''Island Voices'', ''Stories from the Caribbean'', ''Response'', ''The Sun's Eyes'', ''West Indian Narrative'', ''The Bajan'', and ''

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 ...

'' magazine.

Awards and honours

In 1979 Michael Anthony was awarded the

Hummingbird Medal The Hummingbird Medal is a state decoration of Trinidad and Tobago, instituted in 1969. The medal is awarded for loyal and devoted service beneficial to the state in any field, or acts of conspicuous gallantry or other outstanding humane action. Th ...

(Gold) for his contributions to Literature, and he received an honorary doctorate from 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) in 2003."Michael Anthony Book Launch"
, NALIS, 2010.

Bibliography

* ''The Games Were Coming'' (1963) * ''The Year in San Fernando'' (1965; revised edition 1970) * ''Green Days by the River'' (1967) * ''Tales for Young and Old'' (1967) * ''Sandra Street and Other Stories'' (1973) * '' Cricket in the Road'' (1973) * ''King of the Masquerade'' (1974) * '' Glimpses of Trinidad and Tobago'' (1974) * '' Profile Trinidad'' (1974) * '' Streets of Conflict'' (1976) * ''Folk Tales and Fantasies'' (1976) * '' The Making of Port of Spain'' (1978) * ''

All That Glitters All That Glitters or All That Glisters may refer to: * '' All that glitters is not gold'', a well-known saying Literature * ''All That Glitters'' (novel), by V. C. Andrews * ''All That Glitters'', a novel by Michael Anthony * ''All That Glitte ...

'' (1981) (cited by the author as his favourite) * '' Bright Road to El Dorado'' (1983) * '' A Better and Brighter Day'' (1988) * '' The Golden Quest: The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus'' (1992) * ''The Chieftain's Carnival and Other Stories'' (1993) * '' In the Heat of the Day'' (1996) * ''Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago'' (1997) * ''High Tide of Intrigue'' (2001) * '' Towns and Villages of Trinidad and Tobago'' (2001) * ''The Sound of Marching Feet'' (2020)

References

External links

Raymond Ramcharitar Raymond R. Ramcharitar is a Trinidadian poet, playwright, fiction writer, historian and media and cultural critic. Early life Ramcharitar was educated at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, where he earned three degrees: a Bachelor ...

"Michael Anthony cultivates a subtler kind of fiction"
IslandMix, 11-05-2003
"Michael Anthony"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' *Jeremy Poynting
"Michael Anthony"
Contemporary Novelists, 2001. Encyclopedia.com *Carol Brennan
"Michael Anthony"
Contemporary Black Biography. * Shamshu Deen

Trinbagopan.com
"Michael Anthony: Author and Historian"
NALIS, Trinidad and Tobago. * The literary papers of Michael Anthony can be found across repositories in Trinidad and Tobago and in the United States. Part of Anthony's archival collection, th
Michael Anthony Papers
is held a
The Alma Jordan Library
Special Collections, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Port of Spain
The Michael Anthony Papers, 1957-1984
are held at th
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The New York Public Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Michael 1930 births 20th-century novelists 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago historians Foundrymen Living people Trinidad and Tobago novelists International Writing Program alumni People from Mayaro–Rio Claro Trinidad and Tobago male writers Male novelists Male journalists Recipients of the Hummingbird Medal 20th-century male writers

Early life and education

Career outside Trinidad

Awards and honours

Bibliography

Further reading

References

External links