Lakshmi Persaud (20 September 1937 – 14 January 2024) was a Trinidad-born, British-based writer who resided in London, England.
She was the author of five novels: Butterfly in the Wind (1990), Sastra (1993), For the Love of My Name (2000), Raise the Lanterns High (2004) and Daughters of Empire (2012).
She also read and simultaneously recorded books in Philosophy, Economics and Literature for the Royal National Institute for the Blind in London.
Her short story "See Saw Margery Daw" was broadcast by the BBC World Service on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 November 1995.
[13] Her first novel Butterfly in the Wind was published by Peepal Tree Press in 1990, and in it Persaud records the mental conflicts that attending a Catholic school caused for a Hindu girl.
Persaud records that her reading of Edmund Gosse’s Father and Son: A Study of Two Temperaments and Laurie Lee’s Cider with Rosie were significant influences in writing this book.
[4] In recognition of her work, Warwick University established a 'Lakshmi Persaud Research Fellowship' at its Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies.
The Chaconia is awarded to “any person who has performed long and meritorious service to Trinidad and Tobago tending to promote the national welfare or strengthen the community spirit”.