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Victor Stafford Reid (1 May 1913 - 25 August 1987) was a Jamaican writer born in Kingston, Jamaica who wrote with an intent of influencing the younger generations. He was awarded the silver and gold Musgrave medals (1955-1978), the Order of Jamaica (1980) and the Norman Manley Award for Excellence in Literature in 1981. He was the author of seven novels, three of which were aimed towards children, one play production, and several short stories. Two of his most well noted works include New Day and The Leopard.

As a writer, Reid aimed to instill an awareness of legacy and tradition among the Jamaican people. His writings reflected many of the social and cultural hardships that pervade the time periods illustrated in his literary works. As literary critic Edward Baugh has stated, “[Reid’s] writing showed a fondness for the rebel with a cause he wanted people to learn about their heritage through his writing.”

Reid was one of a handful of writers to emerge from the new literary and nationalist movement that seized Jamaican sentiment in the period of the late 1930s. From this “new art” surfaced many of Reid’s literary contemporaries, including Roger Mais, GeorgeCampbell, M.G. Smith, and H.D. Carberry. A common objective among this new generation of writers was an inclination to “break away from Victorianism and to associate with the Jamaican independence movement.”

Reid’s emphasis on resistance and struggle is reaffirmed in a 1978 lecture he delivered at the Institute of Jamaica on the topic of cultural revolution in Jamaica post-1938. In the address, Reid contended that the collective discontent of the working class majority was the public assertion of a “new brand of loyalty” that situated itself not only beyond, but more importantly, in direct resistance to imperial rule.

VICTOR STAFFORD REIDwas Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Victor Reid was the son of Alexander Reid. Victor along with his two brothers and one sister grew up and attended school in Jamaica. Victor graduated from Kingston Technical High school in 1929. His father was a business man who worked in the shipping industry in the United States and married Margaret Reid. Victor called himself a “city bred” person because of his urban background. He was first involved in advertising, journalism, farming and the book trade before becoming a writer. Because of success in literature, his early life was prosperous. In 1935, he married his wife Monica and they had four children. Reid held several posts in the Jamaican government, including Chairman of the Jamaica National Trust Commission, and a Trustee of the Historic Foundation Research Centre in Kingston. Reid was also well traveled, journeying Victor Stafford Reid (1 May 1913 - 25 August 1987) was a Jamaican writer born in Kingston, Jamaica who wrote with an intent of influencing the younger generations. He was awarded the silver and gold Musgrave medals (1955-1978), the Order of Jamaica (1980) and the Norman Manley Award for Excellence in Literature in 1981. [1] He was the author of seven novels, three of which were aimed towards children, one play production, and several short stories. Two of his most well noted works include New Day and The Leopard.to Great Britain, East Africa and West Africa, Canada and the United States during his lifetime. . Three of his book are The Leopard ,The young warriors and new day

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