Faustin Charles Biography

Trinidadian poet and novelist, born in Trinidad, educated at the Universities of Kent and London. His poems are distinctively Caribbean in tone, and his ‘animal’ poems are reminiscent of Ted Hughes in their forcefulness. Poetry collections include The Expatriate (1969), Crab Track (1973), and Days and Nights in the Magic Forest (1986). The game of cricket features prominently in some of his poems, and also in his children's book, Anancy's Day of Cricket (1986). Wilson Harris appears to have inspired his novels which, like his poems, are dense with archetypal imagery; these include Signposts of the Jumbie (1981) and The Black Magic Man of Brixton (1985). Tales from the West Indies (1985) is a collection of short stories.