The West Indian Novel: What is a Classic?
Let me begin by addressing the elephant in the room. I have used the term
West Indian instead of the more inclusive and historically correct term Caribbean.
I will explain why.
Elizabeth Nunez emigrated from Trinidad to the US after secondary school. She is the award-winning author of the memoir Not for Everyday Use as well as nine novels, four of them selected as New York Times Editors Choice. Among her awards are a PEN Oakland Award for Literary Excellence, a Hurston Wright Legacy Award and an American Book Award. Her novels are: Even in Paradise; Boundaries; Anna In-Between; Prospero’s Daughter; Bruised Hibiscus; Beyond `the Limbo Silence; Grace; Discretion, and When Rocks Dance. Nunez has served on the jury for national and international literary prizes/awards, including the international Dublin IMPAC Literary prize, the Ernest Gaines Literary prize and the Fulbright Award for Creative Writing. She received a PhD in English Literature from New York University and is currently a Distinguished Professor at Hunter College, the City University of New York.