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Earl Lovelace

アール・ラヴレース

Earl Lovelace

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1935-07-13 （Toco, Trinidad and Tobago）
Nationality
Trinidad and Tobago
Languages
English
Residence History
Tobago → Toco (birthplace) → Belmont, Port-of-Spain → Morvant

Career

Occupations
novelist, playwright, short story writer, journalist, educator
Active Years
1953-2025
Affiliations
University of Trinidad and Tobago (Board of Governors), Association of Caribbean Writers (president), University of the West Indies (visiting lecturer)
Memberships
Association of Caribbean Writers
Nominations
1998 International Dublin Literary Award (shortlist) — Salt

Education

Howard University
Period: 1966–1967
Year of Graduation: 1967
Country: United States
Studied 1966–67
Johns Hopkins University
Department of English
Degree: MA
Period: 1974
Year of Graduation: 1974
Country: United States
Received MA in English; also served as Visiting Novelist

Awards

British Petroleum Independence Award
1963
Work: While Gods Are Falling
Organization: British Petroleum
Result: winner
Pegasus Literary Award
1966
Organization: Pegasus Award (Trinidad and Tobago)
Result: winner
Guggenheim Fellowship
1980
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: fellowship
Chaconia Medal (Gold)
1988
Organization: Government of Trinidad and Tobago
Result: recipient
Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Overall Best Book)
1997
Work: Salt
Category: Best Book (Overall)
Organization: Commonwealth Foundation
Result: winner
International Dublin Literary Award (shortlist)
1998
Work: Salt
Category: shortlist
Organization: International Dublin Literary Award
Result: shortlisted
Honorary Doctor of Letters
2002
Organization: University of the West Indies
Result: honorary degree
Grand Prize for Caribbean Literature
2011
Work: Is Just a Movie
Organization: Regional Council of Guadeloupe
Result: winner
OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature
2012
Work: Is Just a Movie
Category: Fiction / Overall
Organization: NGC Bocas Lit Fest
Result: winner
Lifetime Literary Award
2012
Organization: National Library and Information System (NALIS)
Result: recipient
Presidents Award (St. Martin Book Fair)
2018
Organization: St. Martin Book Fair
Result: recipient

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

While Gods Are Falling

1965 novel

Lovelace's first novel depicting rural Trinidadian life and social change; winner of the BP Independence literary competition.

rural vs urbansocial changecommunity

The Schoolmaster

1968 novel

Set in the fictional village of Kumaca, it uses invented language to portray education and transition from traditional life to modernity.

educationcultural transitionnature and livelihood

The Dragon Can't Dance

1979 novel

A defining portrait of postcolonial island life set against Trinidad's carnival and calypso traditions, exploring community and identity.

carnivalidentitypostcolonialism
Adaptations
  • [theatre] The Dragon Can't Dance (stage adaptation) (1986)
  • [theatre (London production)] The Dragon Can't Dance (Talawa Theatre Company production) (1990)

The Wine of Astonishment

1982 novel

Deals with the struggle of a Spiritual Baptist community facing prohibition and persecution, animated by a Creole narrative voice.

religionpersecution and resistancecommunity bonds
Adaptations
  • [theatre] The Wine of Astonishment (stage adaptation) (1987)

Salt

1996 novel

A novel that addresses unresolved racial issues and a nation's struggle with its past; praised for lush language and dialogue and winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

race and historyreconciliationcollective memory

Is Just a Movie

2011 novel

Set in the fictional village of Cascadu, it examines individuals' relations to politics and peers; winner of the 2012 OCM Bocas Prize.

local societypolitics and the individualmemory and storytelling

Bibliography

  • While Gods Are Falling (1965)
  • The Schoolmaster (1968)
  • The Dragon Can't Dance (1979)
  • The Wine of Astonishment (1982)
  • A Brief Conversion and Other Stories (1988)
  • Jestina's Calypso and Other Plays (1984)
  • Salt (1996)
  • Is Just a Movie (2011)
  • Trinidad Noir: The Classics (editor, 2017)

Adaptations

  • Joebell and America (film, 2004, co-written and directed by Asha Lovelace)
  • George and the Bicycle Pump (film, 2000, based on short story)
  • The Dragon Can't Dance (stage adaptation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
use of Trinidadian dialect and Creole-inflected Englishvivid descriptive prose and dialogue-driven stylea perspective deeply embedded in local society
Recurring Motifs
carnival and music (calypso)community vs individual tensionsreligion and ritualrural vs urban

Legacy

Earl Lovelace is a leading Trinidadian writer whose locally rooted narratives and cultural portrayals have earned international recognition. He has received major literary awards, his manuscripts are archived at a university library, and he has contributed to literary education and festivals, influencing peers and later generations.

Academic Societies

  • Association of Caribbean Writers

Archives

  • Alma Jordan Library (The University of the West Indies, St Augustine) — Earl Lovelace manuscripts

In Popular Culture

  • Documentary 'A Writer In His Place' (2014)
  • Tributes at NGC Bocas Lit Fest (70th and 80th birthday celebrations)

Quotes

  • Lovelace writes vividly of people living within festival and community life, portraying island life with luminous sensitivity.
    Source: Bernardine Evaristo (review, The Guardian) (2011)
  • Salt is a parable about unresolved racial issues and a people's struggle to free themselves from their past.
    Source: Publishers Weekly review (1997)

Trivia

  • His son Che Lovelace is a noted artist and illustrated the US edition jacket of Salt (1997).
  • The short story 'Joebell and America' was co-adapted into a film directed/co-written with his daughter Asha Lovelace (2004).
  • The Earl Lovelace Short Fiction Award was established in 2022 by Nigerian writer Onyeka Nwelue, administered by Abibiman Publishing.
  • His 70th birthday was celebrated with a conference at the University of the West Indies.