Warmest congratulations to Selwyn Cudjoe (author of The Slave Master of Trinidad: William Hardin Burnley and the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World) for receiving the highest honor, The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT), along with Kenneth Ramchand and, posthumously, Hochoy Charles. Janelle De Souza (T&T Newsday) reports:
This year, 29 national awards will be presented those who have rendered outstanding service to the country, with three people receiving the nation’s highest honour, The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT).
The late former chief secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly Hochoy Charles, Professors Emeritus Selwyn Cudjoe and Kenneth Ramchand were chosen for the ORTT, with this being a second national award for Ramchand.
Ramchand is a renowned lecturer, scholar and author, and is best known for his contributions to Caribbean literature, especially his book The West Indian Novel and its Background, recognised for its “transformative influence” on the literature syllabus at UWI. [. . .]
Cudjoe described the award as the culmination of a long career, that his country’s government felt he was worthy of the nation’s highest award.
According to his biography, Cudjoe served TT with distinction for over five decades as an educator and national leader. His body of work included monographs, essays, public lectures, newspaper columns and contributions to academia.
It said, “He contributed greatly to Africana Studies and Caribbean literary thought. As a literary scholar, cultural historian, and public intellectual, Professor Cudjoe has led the proverbial charge in decolonising the Caribbean’s intellectual tradition, primarily through the elevation and edification of the Afro-Caribbean voice.”
Cudjoe said he had been working and teaching for the past 70 years so the recognition felt wonderful. [. . .]
For full article, see https://newsday.co.tt/2025/09/24/ortt-for-selwyn-cudjoe-kenneth-ramchand-hochoy-charles/
Also see https://www.wellesley.edu/people/selwyn-cudjoe
Warmest congratulations to Selwyn Cudjoe (author of The Slave Master of Trinidad: William Hardin Burnley and the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World) for receiving the highest honor, The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT), along with Kenneth Ramchand and, posthumously, Hochoy Charles. Janelle De Souza (T&T Newsday) reports: This year, 29 national awards will
