Editing Sam Selvon (section)

==Life and work==
Samuel Dickson Selvon was born in [[San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago|San Fernando]] in the south of Trinidad, the sixth of seven children.<ref name=ODNB>Ramchand, Kenneth, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/69606 "Selvon, Samuel Dickson (1923–1994)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, October 2006. Accessed 19 November 2014.</ref>  His father was a first-generation [[Christians|Christian]] [[Tamils|Tamil]] [[Indo-Trinidadian|Indian]] immigrant from [[Madras]] and his mother was a [[Christians|Christian]] [[Anglo-Indian]]. His maternal grandfather was [[Scottish people|Scottish]] and his maternal grandmother was [[Indian people|Indian]].<ref>James, Louis, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sam-selvon-1371231.html "Obituary: Sam Selvon"], ''The Independent'', 20 April 1994.</ref> 

Selvon was educated at [[Naparima College]], San Fernando, before leaving at the age of 15 to work. He was a wireless operator with the local branch of the [[Royal Naval Reserve]] from 1940 to 1945 during the [[Second World War]]. Thereafter, he moved north to [[Port of Spain]], and from 1945 to 1950, worked for the ''[[Trinidad Guardian]]'' as a reporter and for a time on its literary page. In this period, he began writing stories and descriptive pieces, mostly under a variety of pseudonyms, including Michael Wentworth, Esses, Ack-Ack, and Big Buffer.<ref>[http://www.peepaltreepress.com/author_display.asp?au_id=84 Author profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201113018/http://www.peepaltreepress.com/author_display.asp?au_id=84 |date=1 February 2009 }} at Peepal Tree Press.</ref> Much of this early writing is to be found in ''Foreday Morning'' (eds [[Kenneth Ramchand]] and [[Susheila Nasta]], 1989).

In 1950, Selvon moved to [[London]], England,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schwarz |first1=Bill |authorlink=Bill Schwarz|title=Samuel Selvon: 'The Lonely Londoners' - 1956 |url=https://www.londonfictions.com/samuel-selvon-the-lonely-londoners.html |website=London Fictions |date=2013|access-date=3 March 2020}}</ref> where he took menial jobs, eventually working as a clerk for the Indian Embassy, while writing in his spare time.<ref name=Britannica /> His short stories and poetry appeared in various publications, including the ''[[London Magazine]]'', ''[[New Statesman]]'', and ''The Nation''. In London, he also worked with the [[BBC]], producing two television scripts, ''Anansi the Spiderman'', and ''Home Sweet India''.<ref>[http://caribbean.halloffame.tripod.com/Samuel_Selvon.html "Samuel Selvon"], Caribbean Hall of Fame.</ref>

Selvon was a fellow in creative writing at the [[University of Dundee]] from 1975 until 1977.<ref name="Dundee">{{cite web|title=RU 258/7/4 Department of English. Creative Writing, publicity material|url=http://arccat.dundee.ac.uk/dserve.exe?&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=((text)=%27selvon%27)|website=Archive Services Online Catalogue|publisher=University of Dundee|access-date=30 October 2016}}</ref> In the late 1970s, he moved to [[Alberta]], [[Canada]], and found a job teaching creative writing as a visiting professor at the [[University of Victoria]]. When that job ended, he took a job as a janitor at the [[University of Calgary]] in Alberta for a few months before becoming writer-in-residence there. He was largely ignored by the Canadian literary establishment, with his works receiving no reviews during his residency.

On a return trip to Trinidad, Selvon died of [[respiratory failure]] due to extensive [[bronchopneumonia]] and chronic [[lung disease]] on 16 April 1994 at [[Piarco International Airport]]; his ashes were subsequently interred at the [[University of the West Indies]] cemetery, [[St Augustine, Trinidad]].<ref name=ODNB />

Selvon married twice: in 1947 to Draupadi Persaud, with whom he had one daughter, and in 1963 to Althea Daroux, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.