
Anson Gonzalez is
internationally recognised
as a
poet with several
collections and
with poems in most of the new major
anthologies of
Caribbean poetry. His career as a poet began in 1967 with the publication of
Quinquennial which
appeared in Writing: Anniversary 5. Since then his poems have
been published in numerous journals, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, and
anthologies. In the early '70s he began to promote poetry and work
toward sustaining the literary culture of the Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago
in particular. In 1973 he
founded, edited, and published The New Voices, a bi-annual literary
journal which has published poems, plays, short stories, and non-fiction
by more than 300 Caribbean writers. The New Voices was published
continuously for 20 years and is now available upon request via
electronic
mail. One of the major accomplishments of The New Voices was the
Bibliography
of Creative Writing in Trinidad
and Tobago
(1962-present). The
bibliography documented books published by Trinidad and Tobago nationals in
all aspects of creative writing. Although no longer available in print, the
bibliography is still being updated and is available online. In 1974 Anson
Gonzalez established a publishing imprint called New Voices which published
his own poetry collections and many other
books
by Caribbean writers.
The New Voices Newsletter was founded in 1981 and served the Caribbean
writing community for 12 years by providing information about writers,
literary competitions, grants, and workshops.
One of the founders and former presidents of the Writers' Union of Trinidad
and Tobago,
Anson Gonzalez established the celebration of Poetry Day (October 15) in
Trinidad and Tobago in 1979. The occasion is now observed annually in eight
other
Caribbean countries and has given poetry and poets a prominent place in the
cultural calendar.
In his continuing efforts to promote creative writing, he conducted two radio
programmes, Self-discovery through Literature and Trinidad and
Tobago Literature: ON
AIR, designed to sensitize the public to the tradition of letters in
Trinidad and Tobago and
to encourage the public to read the works of our authors. He has also
conducted creative writing classes throughout the Caribbean organized by the
Writers' Union of Trinidad and Tobago, the University of the West Indies, the
Organization of American States, and the Trinidad Theatre Workshop founded
by Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. During his career, Anson Gonzalez has
organized numerous literary competitions and poetry readings, obtained and
awarded prizes to writers, and provided scholarships to writers' workshops.
He has also judged many poetry writing and recitation competitions, even the
prestigious Casa de las Americas Caribbean and Latin American literary
competition. He has been awarded the Writers' Union Writer of the Year Award
(1988), and honoured for his services to
the Caribbean literary community by
the University of Miami.
Anson Gonzalez may be contacted at the following address:
Visit his web page at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1496/