Rupert Roopnaraine
Encyclopedia
Rupert Roopnaraine was born on 31 January 1943 in Kitty, Georgetown
, Guyana
. He won a scholarship to Queen's College
in 1954 where he excelled in cricket
, where he captained the team and represented Demerara
in the Inter-county Cricket Finals. In 1962 he was awarded a Guyana scholarship to attend the University of Cambridge
where he studied Modern Languages. He played first-class cricket
for the Cambridge University
team from 1964 to 1966 and was awarded a Blue for representing the univerrsity in the annual University Match against Oxford
in 1965 and 1966. As a cricketer, he was a lower order right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler.
In 1970 he was awarded a scholarship to Cornell University
, New York, where he obtained an MA and PhD in Comparative Literature. From 1976 to 1996, he has worked as a university lecturer in the UK, Canada, the US and at the University of Guyana
.
He joined the Working People's Alliance
in 1977 and quickly became one of the leaders of the party along with Walter Rodney
, Clive Thomas
and Eusi Kwayana
. He was an activist politician and at the height of the years of PNC repression was arrested on charges of burning down the PNC headquarters. He also narrowly escaped death when he was attacked by PNC party thugs, only reaching safety with the help of sugarcane workers who led him through the cane fields to escape. After the assassination of Walter Rodney he became leader of the WPA. He has been a member of the Guyanese parliament for many years, with a virtually unique reputation for the incorruptible representation of people across all racial groups.
He is unquestionably one of the leading Caribbean intellectuals of his generation, though political activism has restricted his output. Nevertheless, he is an outstanding art critic (champion of the work of Stanley Greaves), literary critic (author of a pioneering essay on Martin Carter), film-maker (The Terror and the Time) and poet. He is the author of The Web of October: Rereading Martin Carter (1986) and a suite of love poems, Suite for Supriya (1993), both Peepal Tree. His book, Primacy of the Eye: The Art of Stanley Greaves, was published by Peepal Tree Press
in 2003. Roopnaraine also contributed a substantial Introduction to the Peepal Tree Press
2010 edition of Edgar Mittelholzer
's Shadows Move Among Them.
Georgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
, Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
. He won a scholarship to Queen's College
Queen's College, Guyana
Queen's College is the top secondary school in Guyana;Situated at the South-Easterly Junction of Camp Street and Thomas Lands. Alumni can enter the school through the National Grade Six Assessment and at the Lower 6th Form Level if the academic performance of the student at the Caribbean Secondary...
in 1954 where he excelled in cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, where he captained the team and represented Demerara
Demerara
Demerara was a region in South America in what is now Guyana that was colonised by the Dutch in 1611. The British invaded and captured the area in 1796...
in the Inter-county Cricket Finals. In 1962 he was awarded a Guyana scholarship to attend the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
where he studied Modern Languages. He played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for the Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
team from 1964 to 1966 and was awarded a Blue for representing the univerrsity in the annual University Match against Oxford
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
in 1965 and 1966. As a cricketer, he was a lower order right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler.
In 1970 he was awarded a scholarship to Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, New York, where he obtained an MA and PhD in Comparative Literature. From 1976 to 1996, he has worked as a university lecturer in the UK, Canada, the US and at the University of Guyana
University of Guyana
The University of Guyana, in Georgetown, Guyana is a public university established in 1963 by the Guyanese government.-History:Cheddi Jagan, then Premier of British Guiana considered that the University of the West Indies, to which his government had contributed since 1948, was not meeting the...
.
He joined the Working People's Alliance
Working People's Alliance
-History:The party was established in 1974, as an alliance of the Working People's Vanguard Party, the Association for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa, the Indian Political Revolutionary Associates and Ratoon, and became a political party in 1989. The party first contested national...
in 1977 and quickly became one of the leaders of the party along with Walter Rodney
Walter Rodney
Walter Rodney was a prominent Guyanese historian and political activist, who was assassinated in Guyana in 1980.-Career:...
, Clive Thomas
Clive Thomas
Clive Thomas is a Welsh former football referee, who operated in the English Football League and for FIFA during his career. He came from Treorchy in the Rhondda Valley.-Career:...
and Eusi Kwayana
Eusi Kwayana
Eusi Kwayana, born Sydney King, is a Guyanese politician. A cabinet minister in the People's Progressive Party government of 1953, the British Army detained him in 1954...
. He was an activist politician and at the height of the years of PNC repression was arrested on charges of burning down the PNC headquarters. He also narrowly escaped death when he was attacked by PNC party thugs, only reaching safety with the help of sugarcane workers who led him through the cane fields to escape. After the assassination of Walter Rodney he became leader of the WPA. He has been a member of the Guyanese parliament for many years, with a virtually unique reputation for the incorruptible representation of people across all racial groups.
He is unquestionably one of the leading Caribbean intellectuals of his generation, though political activism has restricted his output. Nevertheless, he is an outstanding art critic (champion of the work of Stanley Greaves), literary critic (author of a pioneering essay on Martin Carter), film-maker (The Terror and the Time) and poet. He is the author of The Web of October: Rereading Martin Carter (1986) and a suite of love poems, Suite for Supriya (1993), both Peepal Tree. His book, Primacy of the Eye: The Art of Stanley Greaves, was published by Peepal Tree Press
Peepal Tree Press
Peepal Tree Press, based in England, publishes Caribbean, Black British and South Asian fiction, poetry and academic books.Peepal Tree is a wholly independent company, founded in 1985, and now publishes around 30-40 books a year. Peepal Tree Press has published over 250 titles, and states a...
in 2003. Roopnaraine also contributed a substantial Introduction to the Peepal Tree Press
Peepal Tree Press
Peepal Tree Press, based in England, publishes Caribbean, Black British and South Asian fiction, poetry and academic books.Peepal Tree is a wholly independent company, founded in 1985, and now publishes around 30-40 books a year. Peepal Tree Press has published over 250 titles, and states a...
2010 edition of Edgar Mittelholzer
Edgar Mittelholzer
Edgar Mittelholzer was a Guyanese novelist. Born in New Amsterdam, the country's second largest town, he was the son of William Austin Mittelholzer and his wife Rosamond Mabel, née Leblanc...
's Shadows Move Among Them.