Education
PhD in English Literature, The University of Iowa
MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Iowa
MA in Creative Writing, Johns Hopkins University
BA in English Literature, Duke University
Robert Antoni was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1958, and he carries two passports: from the US, and Trinidad and Tobago. Antoni’s fictional world is the island of Corpus Christi, and to create it he draws upon his two hundred years of family history in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as his upbringing in the Bahamas. His first novel, Divina Trace, was published in 1991, and his most recent novel, Carnival, was published in 2005. The latter work has appeared in French, Spanish, Finnish, and Chinese translations. Antoni was named a Guggenheim Fellow for 2010 for his upcoming historical novel, As Flies to Whatless Boys. Antoni has taught a wide range of courses in creative writing and literature at such esteemed institutions as The New School University of New York, Columbia University, The University of Miami, The University of Iowa, and Johns Hopkins University. He currently lives in Manhattan, and he frequently visits Barcelona, where he has kept an alternate address for the past 20 years.
Partial list of publications: As Flies to Whatless Boys, Carnival, My Grandmother’s Erotic Folktales, Blessed Is the Fruit, and Divina Trace
Genres: Fiction, nonfiction, and cross-genre writing
Awards: Recipient of many awards and prizes, including the Guggenheim fellowship, The Paris Review’s Aga Kahn Prize, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize
Languages: English, Spanish
Current residences: USA, Spain