Gérard Besson

Gérard A. Besson, born in 1942 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, began his career as an author in 1973 when he self-published his first book "Tales of the Paria Main Road". His publishing company, Paria Publishing Company Limited, was founded in 1981 with a view to publish a historiography for Trinidad and Tobago. Paria Publishing published and produced over 180 titles since. History and folklore of the Caribbean have continued to be the focus for Besson, who continued to supply articles to newspapers and magazines in Trinidad and Tobago and internationally and wrote and produced television documentaries. He also wrote a number of books on the topic, one of them (The Book of Trinidad) co-authored with Prof. Bridget Brereton of the University of the West Indies. "Folklore & Legends of Trinidad and Tobago" followed, as did his non-fictional work "The Cult of the Will". In his recent work, "Roume de St. Laurent — A Memoir", "From the Gate of Aksum" and "The Voice in the Govi", Besson employs the genre of historical fiction, which he combines with magical realism to explore the past of his home country, Trinidad and Tobago. Besson's historical blog "Caribbean History Archives" reached 1 million viewers in 2019, and is regularly updated.