1. Samuel Dickson Selvon was a Trinidad-born writer, who moved to London, England, in 1950.
14 Facts About Sam Selvon
1. 2.
Samuel Dickson Selvon was born in San Fernando in the south of Trinidad, the sixth of seven children.
3.
Sam Selvon's father was a first-generation Christian Tamil Indian immigrant from Madras and his mother was a Christian Anglo-Indian.
4.
Sam Selvon was a wireless operator with the local branch of the Royal Naval Reserve from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War.
5.
In 1950, Sam Selvon moved to London, England, where he took menial jobs, eventually working as a clerk for the Indian Embassy, while writing in his spare time.
6.
Sam Selvon was a fellow in creative writing at the University of Dundee from 1975 until 1977.
7.
Sam Selvon was largely ignored by the Canadian literary establishment, with his works receiving no reviews during his residency.
8.
Sam Selvon married twice: in 1947 to Draupadi Persaud, with whom he had one daughter, and in 1963 to Althea Daroux, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
9.
Sam Selvon is best known for his novels The Lonely Londoners and Moses Ascending.
10.
Sam Selvon's novel A Brighter Sun, detailing the construction of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway in Trinidad through the eyes of young Indian worker Tiger, was a popular choice on the CXC English Literature syllabus for many years.
11.
Sam Selvon wrote "Finding West Indian Identity in London", in which he reflects on developing a West Indian consciousness after immigrating to London in 1950.
12.
Sam Selvon's papers are now at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, Austin, USA.
13.
Sam Selvon was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships, an honorary doctorate from Warwick University in 1989, and in 1985 the honorary degree of DLitt by the University of the West Indies.
14.
On what would have been his 95th birthday, 20 May 2018, Sam Selvon was honoured with a Google Doodle.