Professor Hollis Liverpool, known as Chalkdust in the calypso world, will deliver the CXC 40th anniversary lecture at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in Barbados on April 18 at 7.30 p.m. The seven-time Calypso Monarch of Trinidad and Tobago will speak on the topic: "The Calypso as a Caribbean Art Form for Institutional Studies: Resistance, Acceptance and the Journey Ahead". Chalkdust has had a long association with CXC, dating back to 1979 when he was one of the first examiners for CSEC Caribbean History, a statement from CXC said. He was associated with the council especially in those early years when, for the very first time, the council assumed full responsibility for regional examinations.

He is currently head of the Academy for Arts, Letters, Culture and Public Affairs at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He is also the first professor of Calypso Art at UTT.

Prior to joining UTT he served for five years as associate professor of history at the University of the Virgin Islands in St Thomas and was named an honorary distinguished fellow of the University of Trinidad and Tobago in 2006. He has been an educator in both primary and secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago for over 35 years.

Professor Liverpool also served as cultural officer in the Ministry of Culture and subsequently as Director of Culture from 1993 to 1999. He founded and served as the first director of the Carnival Institute and has carried out extensive research in all areas of culture pertaining to the Caribbean in general, and Trinidad and Tobago in particular.

Chalkdust has a distinguished academic career and holds a trained teacher's certificate, a post-graduate diploma in Education, a BA in History and Sociology, an MA in World History, an MA in African History, a Certificate in Philosophy and a PhD in History and Ethnomusicology. He has written a multiplicity of papers and several books, including what he considers his masterpiece: "Rituals of Power and Rebellion" (Chicago: Frontline, 2001).

As a calypsonian, he has recorded over 300 calypsoes, which he calls "academic papers", the statement said.