Anthony, Michael

▪ West Indian author

born February 10, 1932, Mayaro, Trinidad and Tobago

      West Indian author of novels, short stories, and travelogues about domestic life in his homeland of Trinidad. Written in a sparse style, his works were often coming-of-age stories featuring young protagonists from his native village of Mayaro.

      In the mid-1950s Anthony left Trinidad to live in England, where he worked at the Reuters News Agency and began his career as a writer. His first novel, The Games Were Coming (1963), is the story of Leon, an ascetic young bicyclist who neglects the annual carnival in order to train for an upcoming race. Written in first-person narrative, The Year in San Fernando (1965; rev. ed. 1970) describes the maturation of Francis, a boy who leaves Mayaro to work as a servant in the city of San Fernando. Another self-narrated story, Green Days by the River (1967), details the development of a boy named Shellie. Before returning to Trinidad in 1970 to work as an editor and a diplomat, Anthony spent two years in Brazil, where he set his fifth novel, King of the Masquerade (1974). His later novels include Streets of Conflict (1976), All That Glitters (1981), and In the Heat of the Day (1996). Among his collections of short fiction are Michael Anthony's Tales for Young and Old (1967), Cricket in the Road (1973), Sandra Street and Other Stories (1973), Folk Tales and Fantasies (1976), and The Chieftain's Carnival and Other Stories (1993). He also wrote several histories and travel books on Trinidad. Among these is the Historical Dictionary of Trinidad & Tobago (1997).

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