Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw

Last updated
Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw
Born1964 (age 59–60)
Trinidad
Alma mater Boston University
Occupation(s)Writer and academic
Employer University of the West Indies
Father Derek Walcott

Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw (born 1964) [1] is a Trinidadian writer and academic who is a professor of French literature and creative writing at the University of the West Indies (UWI). Her writing encompasses both scholarly and creative work, and she has also co-edited several books. Walcott-Hackshaw is the daughter of Nobel Prize laureate Derek Walcott.

Contents

Biography

Born in Trinidad in 1964, Walcott-Hackshaw studied in the United States, returning to Trinidad in 1992. [2] She holds a bachelor's degree in English and French Literature from Boston University, [3] and after completing her PhD in 1995, she went on to join the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine Campus, in 1999. [4] In 2021, she was appointed Public Orator at UWI St. Augustine, a three-year post. [5]

She has co-edited several books and has written scholarly essays and articles particularly on Francophone Caribbean literature. [6] Her first collection of short stories, Four Taxis Facing North, was published in 2007, later being translated into Italian. The Caribbean Review of Books noted of Walcott-Hackshaw's stories: "...the fact that she presents characters who are at once insiders and outsiders makes for a complex and interesting portrait of class and race in contemporary Trinidadian society." [7] Her first novel, Mrs. B, was published in 2014, when it was shortlisted for the “Best Book Fiction” in the Guyana Prize for Caribbean Literature. [8] Arnold Rampersad described the book as "richly entertaining", and said: "Walcott-Hackshaw offers a vigorous, at times sizzling, prose that is grounded in local rhythms and allusions to the culture that is at once both the object of her love and also her main target." [9]

She has published book reviews and creative writing in such journals as The Caribbean Review of Books and Small Axe , [10] [11] and her short stories have been widely translated as well as anthologized, including in Trinidad Noir: The Classics, edited by Earl Lovelace and Robert Antoni (2017), [12] and New Daughters of Africa , edited by Margaret Busby (2019). [13]

Selected publications

Fiction

Biography

As editor

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References

  1. ↑ "Campus News: UWI Lecturer Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw launches book of short stories; Four Taxis Facing North". UWI St. Augustine. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Readers rush for Four Taxis". Trinidad Guardian. 4 December 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "Walcott - Hackshaw, Elizabeth, 1964 - , writer, academic". Special Collections & Archives. Newcastle University. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  4. ↑ "New UWI Professors Announced". UWI Today. The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. January 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  5. ↑ "Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw is new Public Orator at UWI St. Augustine". 28 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  6. ↑ "Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw Biography". Bocas Lit Fest . Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  7. ↑ Richards, Melissa (February 2008). "The lives of others". The Caribbean Review of Books. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  8. ↑ Creighton, Al (2015-11-15). "Interesting mix of contenders for Guyana and Caribbean Prizes". Stabroek News. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  9. ↑ "Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw". Peepal Tree Press. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  10. ↑ "Fiction reviews index". The Caribbean Review of Books. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  11. ↑ Walcott-Hackshaw, Elizabeth (1 September 2003). "Here". Small Axe. 7 (2): 111–119. doi:10.1215/-7-2-111.
  12. ↑ Paravisini, Lisa (11 April 2017). "Trinidad Noir at Bocas 2017". Repeating Islands. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  13. ↑ "A New Daughters of Africa Showcase – Carifesta XIV Programme". Bocas Lit Fest. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
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