Emeritus Professor Kenneth Ramchand taught for many years at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, at Trinidad & Tobago University and at Colgate University, New York. He was for some years an independent Senator in the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago. In 1996, Ramchand was awarded a Trinidad and Tobago Chaconia Medal Gold for his work in Literature, Education and Culture. In 2012, the National Library of Trinidad and Tobago honoured him with a NALIS Lifetime Literary Achievement Award. At the 2014 NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Ramchand was honoured alongside Professor Gordon Rohlehr with the Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters, which recognises the lifetime achievement of editors, publishers, critics and broadcasters.
Kenneth Ramchand is unquestionably one of the main founders of the study of West Indian literature in English. His publications include: West Indian Narrative: an Introductory Anthology (editor). London: Nelson, 1966; The West Indian Novel and its Background. London: Faber, 1970; An Introduction to the Study of West Indian Literature. Sunbury-on-Thames: Nelson Caribbean, 1976; West Indian Poetry: An Anthology for Schools (editor). London: Longman, 1989; Act of Possession: the New World of West Indian Writing. Port of Spain: Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, 1991.
