CLR James

Born in Tunapuna, Trinidad, CLR James was an award winning historian, playwright, social theorist and broadcaster. After working as a teacher in Trinidad, James moved to England in 1932 and started working for the Manchester Guardian as a cricket reporter. In 1936 James’ play about the eighteenth century Haitian Revolutionary Toussaint L’Ouverture was produced at Westminster Theatre, with Paul Robeson in the title role. In 1939 James returned to subject of the Haitian and French Revolutions and published his seminal text Black Jacobins, which was later adapted by Talawa Theatre Company in 1986 and presented at the Riverside Studios.