| Birth Date: | 3 March 1946 |
| Birth Place: | Petit Bourg, San Juan, Trinidad |
| Death Place: | Trinidad |
| Spouse: | Ian "Teddy" Belgrave (d. 2013) |
| Children: | 1 son |
| Notable Works: | Ti Marie (1988) |
Valerie Belgrave (3 March 1946 – 23 August 2016)[1] was a Trinidadian artist and author, who also composed music.
Valerie Belgrave was born and raised in Petit Bourg, San Juan, Trinidad. She attended St Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando,[2] and continued her education at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia), in Canada, where she obtained a BA degree in painting and literature.[3] [4] She took part in the 1969 sit-in staged by hundreds of students at the computer lab on the ninth floor of the university in protest against a professor who was accused of racism; the incident, which became the subject of a documentary called The Ninth Floor, is believed to have helped spark the 1970 Black Power Revolution in Trinidad.[5] [6] [7]
Belgrave's writings included the novels Ti Marie (published in 1988, and described as "a Caribbean Gone with the Wind) and Dance the Water (2002), a play entitled Night of the Wolf (1991), and the 2007 children's book Adventures of the Magic Steelpan, as well as a photo memoir called Art for the People, launched in 2011.[8] She was also a painter and batik designer.
She was married to Ian "Teddy" Belgrave (who died in July 2013), and had one son, Chenier Belgrave, who is a designer.