Cecil Gray (poet)

Cecil Gray (February 11, 1923 – March 14, 2020) was a Caribbean poet, former educator, and the author of several textbooks and anthologies of West Indian literature.

For over a decade, he served as a Senior Lecturer then as Director of the In-Service Diploma in Education Programme at the Mona and St. Augustine campuses of the University of the West Indies.

Since then he has published several subsequent collections, including Lillian's Songs (1996), Leaving the Dark (1998), Plumed Palms (2000), Careenage (2003), Only the Waves (2005), Possession (2009), Lighthouses (2011), and "Evening Candles" (2016).

[1] His reading and literature textbooks include Bite In, Language for Life, and Swing Into English, as well as West Indian Poetry: An Anthology for Schools[permanent dead link‍] (with Kenneth Ramchand).

In 1976, Gray was awarded the Medal of Merit Class 1 Gold of the Order of the Trinity by the government of Trinidad and Tobago for contributions to education and culture.