Merle Hodge

             Merle Hodge, a native of Curepe, Trinidad was born in 1944. Hodge’s ardor for Caribbean literature not only derived from her strong Trinidadian roots but also from her successes as a young person. In 1962, as a student attending Bishop Antey’s High school, she received the Trinidad and Tobago Girls Island Scholarship. The scholarship aided Hodges in her French studies at the University College in London. London marked the beginning of Hodge’s universal travels of Eastern and Western Europe as well as establishing her career; there she received her BA Honors and a Masters in Philosophy.             Before her recognition as “one of the best-known Caribbean women writers” and the publishing of her first book, Hodges taught French on a “junior secondary level” and later took on a lecturing position in the French Department at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Hodges then earned her Ph.D in French Caribbean Literature. Hodges Ph.D expounded on her ability to portray the impact of colonialism on the individual through her first novel Crick Crack, Monkey published in 1970. Hodges works reflect her emphasis on the female, and her confrontation with personal, social and cultural issues. Some of her other works include “Beyond Negritude: The Love Poems,” For the Life of Laetitia, and “Young Women and the Development of a Stable Family in the Caribbean.” Among Hodges other accomplishments, are working with the Bishop Regime, as well as taking on the position; director of development and curriculum. Hodges continues to inspire her audience through children’s books, short stories, articles and essays on the concerns of family and women.

1.)    "Merle Hodge." Emory University---English Department "Where Courageous Inquiry Leads" Web.            03 Dec. 2009. <http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Hodge.html>.

2.)    "A Short Biography of Merle Hodge." RCN | Digital Cable TV, High-Speed Internet Service &         Phone in Boston, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and the Lehigh                 Valley. Web. 03 Dec. 2009. <http://users.rcn.com/alana.interport/hodgebio.html>.

3.)    "Colonial & Postcolonial Literary Dialogues: Text Page." Western Michigan University. Web. 03 Dec. 2009. <http://www.wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/crickcrack.html>.