George Lamming is a Barbadian novelist, critic, and social commentator whose first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is considered a classic of West Indian literature. Mr. Lamming's literary work encompasses several genres, and he has gained acclaim for works of poetry and criticism as well as for his fiction. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Somerset Maugham Prize for Literature, a Canada Council Fellowship, a Felix Varela Award from the Consejo de Estado de la Republica de Cuba, and a Langston Hughes Festival Award, among other honors. Prior to joining the faculty at Brown as a Visiting Professor of Africana Studies and Literary Arts, Mr. Lamming was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Duke University and Visiting Professor/Writer-in-Residence at the City University of New York.