Lovelace, Earl

(Trinidadian, 1935– )

In his novels, plays, and stories, Lovelace's subject matter is often the after-effects of colonialism, and the quest for regeneration. The Dragon Can't Dance (1979), his widely popular masterpiece, dramatizes through carnival—music, dance, colour; a magnificent portrait of the Calypsonian—the confusions of a folk community in transition. From The Schoolmaster (1968) to A Brief Conversion and Other Stories (1998) the rural community is evoked with intimacy and without sentimentality. The richly textured, beautifully written title story of A Brief Conversion is a minor masterpiece. Lovelace's prize-winning fifth novel, Salt (1996)—an epic ranging over three generations—explores the themes of identity and personal integrity. Didactic in parts, it contains some of Lovelace's best writing, in a rich variety of Caribbean registers.

Samuel Selvon, Lawrence Scott, Fred D'Aguiar. See CARIBBEAN  EM