The Naipaul House and Lit­er­ary Mu­se­um at Nepaul Street in St James, com­mon­ly known as the House of Mr Biswas, is now open.

A group called Friends of Mr Biswas held a cer­e­mo­ny to mark the oc­ca­sion at the Na­tion­al Li­brary and In­for­ma­tion Sys­tems Ltd (Nalis) on Aber­crom­by Street in Port-of-Spain last Wednes­day.

It was once the fam­i­ly home of T&T Guardian writer and au­thor Seep­er­sad Naipaul and wife Dropa­p­atie. The house was made fa­mous by one of their son's VS Naipaul in his nov­el A House for Mr Biswas.

The for­mal launch comes af­ter years of plan­ning by the Friends of Mr Biswas, a non-Gov­ern­men­tal or­gan­i­sa­tion that was in­cor­po­rat­ed by an Act of Par­lia­ment, Act No 52 of 200.

It was 12 years ago, that Gov­ern­ment grant­ed the en­ti­ty a 99-year lease to de­vel­op the house.

In keep­ing with the Act, the Friends of Mr Biswas will man­age and de­vel­op the Naipaul House as a mu­se­um and in­ter­na­tion­al study li­brary for ed­u­ca­tion and cul­tur­al tourism (lo­cal and in­ter­na­tion­al.)

With the launch now be­hind them the group plans to hold pan­el dis­cus­sions on the Naipaul fam­i­ly's con­tri­bu­tions to the lit­er­ary world.