Emeritus Professor Kenneth Ramchand has been awarded his country's highest honour, the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Professor Ramchand told the Trinidad Express he was pleased to receive the prize, saying:
A man cannot live alone with the inner satisfaction, or the satisfaction of being in a happy little circle. We all long for something larger. I have wanted this award for many years, not fanatically, but wondering, ‘Will I ever get it? What do I have to do in my work to get it?’ So being recognised by a country that belongs to me, and a country that I belong to so profoundly, is for me a great and confirming event. If I never got it, I would have continued my work. But receiving it is a big boost to one’s self-esteem, and one’s determination to carry on.
Read the article in the Trinidad Express in full.
About Kenneth Ramchand
Professor Ramchand previously taught for many years at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, at Trinidad & Tobago University and at Colgate University, New York. He also served as 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.
