Lakshmi Persaud
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lakshmi Persaud is a
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 ...
-born, British-based writer who resides in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England. She is the author of five novels: ''Butterfly in the Wind'' (1990), ''Sastra'' (1993), ''For the Love of My Name'' (2000), ''Raise the Lanterns High'' (2004) and ''Daughters of Empire'' (2012).


Personal life

She was born in 1939 in the small village of Streatham Lodge, later called Pasea Village, in what was then still rural
Tunapuna Tunapuna is a town in the East–West Corridor of the island of Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago. Town Tunapuna is located between St. Augustine, Tacarigua and Trincity. Tunapuna is the largest town between San Juan and Arima. It is an importa ...
,
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 ...
. Her forefathers, Hindus from
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, moved from India to the Caribbean in the 1890s. Both her parents were in the retail business. She attended the Tunapuna Government Primary School, St. Augustine Girls' High School and St. Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain. She left Trinidad in 1957 to study for a B.A. and her Ph.D. at
Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
and her postgraduate Diploma in Education at
University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...
, United Kingdom. Her doctoral thesis was "The Need for and the Possibilities of Agricultural Diversification in Barbados, West Indies" "The need for and the possibilities of agricultural diversification in Barbados, West Indies"
WorldCat.
Dr. Lakshmi Persaud is the wife of economist Professor
Bishnodat Persaud Prof The Honourable Bishnodat Persaud CHB, Ph.D, FRSA (1933 – 24 July 2016) was a Guyanese economist who served as Alcan Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies, and Director of Economic Affairs, Commonwealth S ...
, with whom she moved to the United Kingdom in 1974. She has three children, psychiatrist Rajendra Persaud, financial economist Professor
Avinash Persaud Avinash D. Persaud born 22 June 1966 in Barbados, West Indies) is Emeritus Professor of Gresham College in the UK. He was Chairman of Intelligence Capital Ltd., a company specializing in analyzing, managing and creating financial liquidity in in ...
, and Sharda Dean. She has lived mainly in the UK since the 1970s, with a two-year spell 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 ...
in the 1990s.


Career

Dr. Persaud taught at various schools in the Caribbean including St. Augustine Girl's High School, Bishop Anstey High School and Tunapuna Hindu School in
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 ...
, Queen's College in
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
, and Harrison College and The St. Michael School in
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
. After leaving teaching she became a freelance journalist. Persaud wrote articles on socio-economic concerns for newspapers and magazines for many years. She also read and simultaneously recorded books in Philosophy, Economics and Literature for the Royal National Institute for the Blind in London. She began a new career in the late 1980s writing fiction. Her short story "See Saw Margery Daw" was broadcast by the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 November 1995.


Works

She has published five novels that have been frequently reviewed and discussed in a number of academic publications. *''Butterfly in the Wind'', Leeds, England:
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 ...
, 1990. *''Sastra'', Leeds, England: Peepal Tree Press, 1993. *''For the Love of My Name'', Leeds, England: Peepal Tree Press, 2000. *''Raise the Lanterns High'', London: BlackAmber Publishers, 2004. ** translated into Italian as '' Tenete alte le lanterne,'' Rome: 66thand2nd, 2010. *''Daughters of Empire'', Leeds, England: Peepal Tree Press, 2012. Persaud’s novels deal with the intricacies of Caribbean identity and individual and communal memory. Her first novel ''Butterfly in the Wind'' 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 1990, and in it Persaud records the mental conflicts that attending a Catholic school caused for a Hindu girl. The novel deals in an imaginatively autobiographical way with the first 18 years of her life. Persaud records that her reading of
Edmund Gosse Sir Edmund William Gosse (; 21 September 184916 May 1928) was an English poet, author and critic. He was strictly brought up in a small Protestant sect, the Plymouth Brethren, but broke away sharply from that faith. His account of his childhoo ...
’s ''
Father and Son Father and Son or Fathers and Sons may refer to: Literature * ''Father and Son'' (book), a 1907 memoir by Edmund Gosse *Father and Son (comics), cartoon characters created by E. O. Plauen * ''Fathers and Sons'' (novel), an 1862 novel by Ivan Tur ...
: A Study of Two Temperaments'' and
Laurie Lee Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE (26 June 1914 – 13 May 1997) was an English poet, novelist and screenwriter, who was brought up in the small village of Slad in Gloucestershire. His most notable work is the autobiographical trilogy ...
’s ''
Cider with Rosie ''Cider with Rosie'' is a 1959 book by Laurie Lee (published in the US as ''Edge of Day: Boyhood in the West of England'', 1960). It is the first book of a trilogy that continues with ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning'' (1969) and '' A ...
'' were significant influences in writing this book. It was followed by her second novel, ''Sastra'', which was published in 1993 also by Peepal Tree Press. In one of the episodes, Persaud draws on her tertiary experience. Both novels explore the tensions within
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
between the somewhat puritanical, patriarchal forms orthodox Hinduism took in the Trinidad of her childhood and youth and its latent capacity for a sensuous embrace of life. In October 1994, 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 ...
'' published the bestseller list for Caribbean books published abroad. ''Sastra'' was placed first on the list and ''Butterfly in the Wind'' was fifth. Following extensive visits to Guyana (the birthplace of her husband), she wrote ''For the Love of My Name'', published by Peepal Tree Press in 2000, a novel which moves far from the more familiar domestic Hindu territory of the earlier two novels. Though the fictional island of Maya draws heavily on the actuality of Guyana from the mid-1960s to the 1980s, it has resonances for states throughout the world where political repression and ethnic conflict have gone hand in hand. In March 2004, ''Raise the Lanterns High'' was published by BlackAmber Publishers and in 2012, Persaud's fifth novel, ''Daughters of Empire'', was published by Peepal Tree Press. There has been increasing recognition of Lakshmi Persaud’s work by academic institutions. Her novels are being used as texts in Caribbean and post-colonial literature courses in a number of universities and extracts from her novels have been used in English exams in the Caribbean.


Awards

In recognition of her work,
Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020â ...
established a 'Lakshmi Persaud Research Fellowship' at its Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies. In 2012, in recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of
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 ...
, the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) awarded Lakshmi Persaud with a Lifetime Literary Award for her significant contribution to the development of Trinidad and Tobago’s Literature. In October 2013, Persaud was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate, Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.), by The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, in recognition of her literary contributions.


References


External links


Home pagePublisher's Author Biography page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persaud, Lakshmi Trinidad and Tobago people of Indian descent Living people Trinidad and Tobago women novelists Trinidad and Tobago novelists Trinidad and Tobago Hindus 1939 births Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom British people of Indo-Trinidadian descent