Education
She attended York University in Toronto, Ontario before earning a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of the West Indies in Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
She attended York University in Toronto, Ontario before earning a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of the West Indies in Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
She currently teaches English at Seneca College. Her writings on Euro-Creole women is influenced from works from Jean Rhys and Phyllis Shand Allfrey. Sister Vision Press published her first four works in Toronto.
Espinet has stated that she desires to illustrate the experiences of Indo-Caribbeans and highlight the effects of alcoholism and abuse on West Indian women.
West Indians have said that the book, The Swinging Bridge, gives them values, articulates their experiences, and contains “language for the healing” Espinet on the Swinging Bridge. Although Espinet talks specifically about San Fernandians, Indo-Caribbeans have noted that the book is universal and important because it tells the stories of their youth and represents their experiences for the larger society.
"Trini-Canadian author launches debut novel Race and passion in Swinging Bridge," by Marcia Henville in Caribbean Voice 13 March 2005. "The Swinging Bridge," reviewed by Patricia Clark in College Quarterly 7.1 (2004).
"Coming Home" (CaribbeanTales, 2006).
A one-hour film-documentary that follows Ramabai Espinet as she returns to her hometown of San Fernando, Trinidad, in order to launch her novel The Swinging Bridge. What begins as a simple nostalgic journey becomes a fascinating exploration of a brilliant writer"s imagination. "Indian Cuisine" (1994)
The Princess of Spadina (1992)
Ninja"s Carnival (1993).
From her book, The Swinging Bridge, Ramabai Espinet is said to have to have created the “kala pani poetics.” The “kala pani poetics” is meaningful for two reasons: it transforms the marginalized widows in India into more autonomous members of society with mobility and it places an emphasis on the “mother history” of a scattered Indian lineage (Mehta 20).
