Michael Anthony has written five novels, numerous short stories, books for children, and assorted histories of Trinidad and Tobago. His fiction is widely read as prescribed texts at all levels of education, and he has made a major contribution to the remarkable emergence of a distinctive and vibrant West Indian Literature. Examining the lives of those who survive in poverty and hopelessness, he shows candor and a sensitive understanding of their silent desperation, and he explores areas sometimes considered too banal for serious literary treatment. Anthony's best work shows a finely tuned understanding of his native society.

Born to Nathaniel (a farmer) and Eva Jones Anthony in Mayaro, Trinidad, on 10 February 1932, Michael Anthony was educated in San Fernando. In 1954 he quit his job at a foundry in Pointe à Pierre and set out for England, where he worked in factories, then for Reuter's News Agency. However, he disliked...