Trinidad and Tobago literature has its roots in oral storytelling among African slaves, the European literary roots of the French creoles and in the religious and folk tales of the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n
indentured
An indenture is a legal contract that reflects or covers a debt or purchase obligation. It specifically refers to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, it is an instrument used for commercia ...
immigrants. It blossomed in the 20th century with the writings of
C. L. R. James
Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989),Fraser, C. Gerald, '' The New York Times'', 2 June 1989. who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson, was a Trinidadian historian, journalist and Marxist. His works are i ...
,
V. S. Naipaul
Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2018) was a Trinidadian-born British writer of works of fiction and nonfiction in English. He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad, his bleaker novels of alienati ...
Anglophone
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
Caribbean literature was Jean-Baptiste Philippe's 1824 work, ''Free Mulatto''.Gerard Besson "J.B. Philippe" The Caribbean History Archives, Paria Publishing Co. Ltd, 10 August 2011.Michel Maxwell Philip's 1854 work, ''Emmanuel Appadocca: A Tale of the Boucaneers'', is considered the country's first novel.
Selwyn Cudjoe
Selwyn Cudjoe (born 1 December 1943) Encyclopedia.com. is a
"Literature and National Development" trinicenter.com, 21 June 2004.
* Selwyn Cudjoe trinicenter.com, 24 June 2001.
* Selwyn Ryan "Beyond native boundaries" ''
Trinidad Express
The ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'', better known as ''Daily Express'' (and the weekend editions ''Saturday Express'' and ''Sunday Express''), is one of three daily newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago. The ''Daily Express'' as per its masthead is p ...