Sam Selvon

Biography

Born in Trinidad in 1923, Sam Selvon migrated to London in 1950. One of the most distinctive voices in twentieth century Caribbean and British writing, his first novel, A Brighter Sun, appeared in 1952. Many major works followed: the London books - The Lonely Londoners (1956), The Housing Lark (1965), Moses Ascending (1975), Moses Migrating (1983); a collection of short stories, Ways of Sunlight (1958), set in Trinidad and London (many first published in The Evening Standard); and, his Trinidad novels, including - An Island is A World (1955), Turn Again Tiger (1958) and Those Who Eat the Cascadura (1972). 

Though best known for his fiction, Selvon was a literary ventriloquist. Poet and essayist, he scripted several BBC radio plays, such as: El Dorado: West One (1988), Highway in the Sun (1991); and co-wrote the screenplay for Pressure (1976), Britain’s first Black feature film. 

Frequently heralded as ‘father of Black writing’ in Britain, Selvon’s work was key to the transformation of British fiction in the post-war period. He is celebrated today for his invention of London as a black city of words and his intimate chronicle of the experiences of ordinary West Indian immigrants during the period of ‘Windrush’. 

Selvon left London to live in Canada in 1978. He died in 1994 on a trip home to Trinidad.

RCW co-represents the Estate of Sam Selvon with his literary executor, Dr Susheila Nasta.