Caribbean Literary Resources

DISCLAIMER: By definition, you’ll be linking to third party sites from these Links-We-Love pages. Linked sites are not, however, reviewed or controlled by Wadadli Pen (the blog, the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize nor coordinator/blogger Joanne C. Hillhouse); and Wadadli Pen (the blog, the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize and coordinator/blogger Joanne C. Hillhouse) disclaims any responsibility or liability relating to any linked sites and does not assume any responsibility for their contents. In other words, enter at your own risk.

Now, in no particular order…

Caribbean Literary Action Group is self-described as ”a working group of Caribbean writers, publishers, academics, festival coordinators and other persons from the literary sphere, with a shared interest in promoting Caribbean writing and publishing…(and the site is a) central resource for writers and publishers to gain information on publishing, marketing, distribution and bookselling in the Caribbean and to share their expertise and best practices.”

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Caribbean Intelligence appears to be a news site but they also run a writing contest which is what caught our eye.

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New finds, a Caribbean Civilization Tumblr and a site on the Legacies of British Slave Ownership.

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Papillotte Press, publisher of works by and about Dominicans.

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The group behind the lively Caribbean Adventure Series, Caribbean Reads.

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With thanks to her for her generousity to our programme, we must add Diane Browne’s Blog which is a good fit actually with its focus on Caribbean Children’s Literature. At this writing, she has a totally unsolicited featured post on Wadadli Pen.

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Groundation Grenada – a Collective developed by Malaika Brooks-Smith-Lowe and Richie Maitland to share the vision that Grenadian Society is fertile for positive change, requiring simply the necessary seeds and by extension the seed sowers.

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Anansesem has compiled picture galleries of children and young adult books country by country. The lists are incomplete but you may find something as I did that you didn’t know about. Here’s the Antigua and Barbuda list.

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Facebook page for Womanspeak, a journal of literature and art by Caribbean women

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Susumba regularly has news and interviews on not only literary events and talent but anything to with the cultural arts (with an emphasis on Jamaica).

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The Spaces Between Words: Conversations with Writers… and Caribbean Writers in particular. I may have posted this link already somewhere else on the site (it’s hard to keep up sometimes) but it’s worth sharing twice as it includes readings and audio interviews with some of the best on the contemporary Caribbean literary scene (Nalo Hopkinson to Tiphanie Yanique, Lorna Goodison to Marlon James).

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LoveAxe – A virtual summer 2012 book club whose members are Geoffrey Philp, Stephen Narain, and Kelly Baker Josephs.

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The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) – a cooperative of  partners within the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean that provides  users with access to Caribbean cultural, historical and research  materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections. dLOC  comprises collections that speak to the similarities and differences in  histories, cultures, languages and governmental systems. Types of  collections include but are not limited to: newspapers, archives of  Caribbean leaders and governments, official documents, documentation  and numeric data for ecosystems, scientific scholarship, historic and  contemporary maps, oral and popular histories, travel accounts,  literature and poetry, musical expressions, and artifacts. One of the publications archived at dLOC is the Ma Comere Literary Journal, a publication of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars. Archived there are issues covering a number of years 1998 to 2009. Ma Comere was the first to publish a poem of mine (Philly Ramblings 8) internationally and more recently the ACWWS hosted me at its 13th annual conference. Nothing but love for them and lots of good reading, scholarly and creative to be found; check it out.

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The University of the West Indies Press is a not-for-profit scholarly publisher of books in thirteen academic disciplines. It is particularly well known for its work in Caribbean history, Caribbean cultural studies, Caribbean literature, gender studies, education and political science. Founded in 1992, the press has over 350 books in print.

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Voices from Haiti – because often the arts provide the real insight to the soul of a nation.

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I met Zee Edgell a couple of years after I first interviewed her by email…we were supposed to be on a panel together and had a long chat instead (at the Antigua and Barbuda International Literary Festival). I found her to be down to earth and easy to talk to. It didn’t feel at all like there were three plus decades and a world of geography and literary miles between us. Check out the Beka Lamb author online at http://www.zeeedgell.com/Welcome.html

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Elsewhere on this site, check out John R. Lee’s West Indian Literature bibliography - admittedly not complete, it’s still quite comprehensive. There’s this link to his blog, as well.

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http://danielleboodoofortune.blogspot.com – I’ve been a fan of Trini Danielle Boodoo Fortune’s poetry since I met and shared a panel with her in Barbados in 2008. Who knew she was such a delightful artist as well?

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This is the blog of children’s author Helen Williams aka Billy Elm (Delroy in the Marog Kingdom) – Beyond the Marog Kingdom - she writes about literacy issues and the literary arts.

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This is a two-fer, Trini novelist Liane Spicer’s blog -http://www.lianespicer.blogspot.com - and a blog to which she and Caribbean author Carol Mitchell are regular contributors, Novel Spaces - http://novelspaces.blogspot.com. Both are good for interesting insights on the writing and publishing process.

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 - This Antigua based event (the Antigua and Barbuda International Literary Festival) began as the Caribbean International Literary Festival in 2006; it’s attracted the best of the best from the African diaspora from far across the water and right next door. It’s usually held over a weekend in early November; book it.

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 - I love the Caribbean Literary Salon- it’s highly interactive and informative – and since joining I’ve been quite active there; including starting an online writing workshop. It’s attracted writers from all over the Caribbean and beyond, so it’s a good place to network. But it’s also a good place to stay up to speed on what’s happening on the Caribbean literary scene and to troubleshoot problems of craft, publishing, and more. The site was started, and is maintained by Anouska Kock, a freelance journalist and writer, born in the Netherlands to Dutch-Surinamese parents. She resides in Aruba.

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http://www.handsacrossthesea.net/HandsResources.htm – Recently discovered this project, Hands Across the Sea, designed to bring books to children in the region when contacted by them to discuss possible collaborations. Check them out; it’s definitely a worthy cause.

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http://poetsofthecaribbean.blogspot.com – I came across Jamaican born librarian and poetry lover Yasmin’s website (Poets of the Caribbean) via the network at CLS. I love that it celebrates Caribbean verse and especially like that she’s similarly committed to creating a listing of Caribbean Poets – I say similarly because our listing of Antiguan and Barbudan writers and John Robert Lee’s Caribbean Writers is in the same vein.

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Calabash International Literary Festival – http://www.calabashfestival.org/2010/index.htm - I attended this with a group of Antiguan writers in 2007. It’s held in St. Elizabeth and included readings from esteemed writers from all over including all parts of the Commonwealth since the top contenders for the Commonwealth Writer Prize were there as well. It was fun but a good learning and networking experience as well.

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http://allenprize.org/ - The Allen Prize is committed to the development of young writers in Trinidad and Tobago much like Wadadli Pen is committed to the development of young writers (and now visual artists) in Antigua and Barbuda. We had to big them up; we just had to…it’s so good to come across a programme like this…and a kindred spirit like founder Lisa Allen-Agostini

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http://seawoman.wordpress.com/ - This site may have originated in Barbados but it’s a valuable resource for all Caribbean writers as it regularly posts information on markets for Caribbean writers. Looking to get published? This might be a good place to start.

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http://tonguesoftheocean.org/ - This site is Bahamian in origin but covers all of the Caribbean. It’s a multi-media online literary journal with lots of stories (including my own After Glow), poems, spoken word pieces.

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http://summeredward.blogspot.com/ - This Trini sister has much love for the stories of childhood and we love her for it. Check out her site for happenings in the world of children and young adult lit, including reviews and recommendations. FYI, as a guest blogger on Summer’s site, I posted about the Wadadli Pen Project – see http://summeredward.blogspot.com/2010/08/guest-post-by-joanne-c-hillhouse.html

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http://ananseseminfo.blogspot.com/ - Related to Summer’s blog, above, this is the site started by her to nurture and promote Caribbean children’s literature. Check it out.

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http://www.caribbeanadventureseries.com – Nevisian Carol Ottley-Mitchell is part of the Anansesem team and author of the Caribbean Adventure Series. She’s lived in various Caribbean countries and currently lives in Ghana, West Africa. I came to know her, via the Internet, when on discovering this site she offered to donate copies of her books Adventure at Brimstone Hill and Pirates of Port Royal to the Cushion Club. I should add that since I was introduced to the series there’ve been some developments: The Adventure at Brimstone Hill is on Audio CD, narrated by St. Kitts’ own Dawn Mills and including music by Larry Armony. The CD can be purchased in St. Kitts at Beauty Essentials or Brimstone Hill National Park. It is also available online at Amazon.com as a CD or an MP3 Download. Book 3 of the series, based in Trinidad, has been released. For updates on this, short stories, pending contests and more, visit her site.

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http://www.geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/ - Geoffrey Philp is a JAmerican author, who teaches at Miami Dade College and still finds time to maintain this very rich blog. It has author insights, Caribbean lit news, reviews, interviews; it’s never boring.

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http://jambooks-fiction.blogspot.com/ - This is the blog spot of Hazel Campbell, veteran Caribbean children’s writer, who provides invaluable tips on readying your work for publication, issues in Caribbean literature with an emphasis on children’s literature, and other writing news.

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http://www.thecaribbeanwriter.org/ - Edited by Jamerican scribe Opal Palmer Adisa (author of It Begins with Tears), the Caribbean Writer, produced by the University of the Virgin Islands is in the top tier of Caribbean literary journals. It publishes annually and as such the selection process can be rigorous; but it’s a good blend of old and new voices (including two pieces apiece of mine in Volume 18 and Volume 24). Order copies by emailing orders@thecaribbeanwriter.org

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http://www.nyu.edu/calabash/ - This is a Caribbean focussed, international literary journal out of NYU. You’ll find interviews with literary elders, reviews, poetry (including three of mine in the Summer 2007 issue), short stories and not just from the English speaking Caribbean.

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http://repeatingislands.com/ - Here’s one I check from time to time for general info on the Caribbean arts scene.

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http://caribbeanbookblog.wordpress.com/ - This one focusses on publishing trends especially for the do-it-yourselfer, and also has interesting coverage of book clubs, authors, readings etc.

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http://signifyinguyana.typepad.com/charmainevalere/- This used to be Signifying Guyana, but then blogger, Charmaine Valere, decided that she should “have the balls to put (her) name right where (her) big mouth runs.” So it’s been re-branded under her name. It still delivers interesting news, reviews, series, and perspectives related to Caribbean Literature. Check it out.

Where to?

The Congress of Caribbean Writers will be held in Guadeloupe April 10^th to 13^th. Joanne C. Hillhouse will be there repping for Antigua and Barbuda.  See the full line up, here.

Caribbean Writers are facing a dilemma…

Breaking the Shackles

Caribbean writers are facing a dilemma. The region is blessed with numerous poets and novelists whose work has thrilled readers over the years.

But if you speak to many booklovers in and outside of the Caribbean, or check out some online message boards where the topic of discussion is Caribbean literature, you’ll find people bewailing how difficult it is to find good books by Caribbean writers, whether it’s in the region itself or in the metropolitan markets.

There is also a thirst for new writers which goes unquenched – again because it’s not easy to find their books in the bookshops. What a shame, considering how difficult it is for new writers – not to mention those from the Caribbean, especially if they reside there – to get published. Yet, undaunted, the young aspirants continue to spill out of creative-writing classes and workshops yearning to have their voices heard.

Caribbean writers are increasingly being published by small presses in the UK, US and Canada. Several of these publishers have said they have a tough time trying to get mainstream bookshops to stock their books. Those writers who opt for self-publishing find it even more of a hassle to get shelf space for their books in the bookstores.

Read the rest at the Caribbean Book Blog

BLOGGER ON BOOKS II

From about 2006 to 2010, I (Joanne C. Hillhouse) wrote a blog on My Space called ‘Read Anything Good Lately’. In 2010, when I left My Space, that migrated here, sort of; that is, I started adding favourites or books which I found interesting in some way to Wadadli Pen. I’m still moving some of those earlier reviews. That initial posting was called Blogger on Books and continued to late 2o12. Which is where this begins. As before, I won’t necessarily write about every book I read, but if there’s something I feel like commenting on, here’s where I’ll do it. Feel free to join in in the comments section and keep checking back, this is a growing list.

The Caribbean Writer Volume 26 published by the University of the Virgin Islands
Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama
Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
In the Black: New African Canadian Literature by various authors, edited by Althea Prince
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice
New Writing: Poetry and Prose
Pineapple Rhymes by Veronica Evanson Bernard
Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World by Jon F. Sensbach
The Shack by William P. Young
The Sugar Barons by Matthew Parker
Womanspeak

Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice -*warning: this is a long one* – I’ve read a fair amount of Anne Rice (Interview with the Vampire, Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, Tale of the Body Thief, Cry to Heaven, The Witching Hour, Blackwood Farm and some others) but not in a good long while. I remember thinking that Memnoch the Devil wasn’t for me…probably the girl that was raised Catholic including Catholic school, Holy Communion, Confirmation classes etc  unconsciously turning from the perceived blasphemy. I say unconsciously because chances are if I thought it was so I would no doubt have read it in rebellion (another characteristic of Catholic girls). No, I think at the time I had just become disenchanted with the authoress I discovered in my college years, the same way I eventually became disenchanted with romance novels and other genres I consumed once upon a time but don’t feel particularly drawn to now. So I have to give mad props to Glen of Best of Books Antigua for his ambush sale of Memnoch the Devil, thanks for re-introducing me to one of my favourite writers. This book remind me of all the reasons the reader and writer in me was drawn to Rice’s writing in the first place. She is a boundary pusher and rule breaker – the ultimate Catholic girl rebel – on an epic scale. You kind of feel like you’re pissing God off a little bit by reading it, as much as Memnoch did with all his questioning, but you read on anyway (like him, you can’t help yourself). Re writing rules, as far as exposition is concerned, teachers often rap our knuckles with show don’t tell show don’t tell…well huge sections of Memnoch is exposition, there’s some showing but there’s a fair amount of telling as well…but it never feels dull in part because one of Anne’s signatures is the delicious descriptiveness of her narrative. Her words are alive so that even when nothing in particular is happening, the grass is growing, can’t you hear it? You know what I mean, she milks sensation from each moment so that even the still moments are not stagnant. Another rule, pare it back, don’t overwrite…hm, well, Anne’s writing is as lush and showy/flamboyant as a Caribbean sunset, and just as beautiful. The atmosphere she created in rendering the New Orleans setting of so many of her stories is part of what landed this city on my bucket list, half doubting that the actual city can live up to the one that lives in my imagination. She doesn’t rush the moments and at the same time creates amazing tension, hooking the reader to turn the next page and the next and the next even as nothing much more happens than one Being in conversation with another Being, trying to make his case. I love her writing – lines like “the story devoured the night” – I really do and I’m glad I was reminded of that. Let me say a word about genre. I don’t really believe in genre-fiction. I read what I read, I like what I like, genre be damned; and I really feel that folks who dismiss not just Memnoch but Rice’s Vampire chronicles (and this can apply to other of her supernatural fare) are missing out. She’s a great storyteller and I look forward to reading both Servant of the Bones, thanks to the teaser at the back of Memnoch, and the Wolf Gift (because, yeah, I guess the idea of were fic in Anne’s hands intrigues me). Thematically, she remains in Memnoch, as bold as when she created a vampire with a conscience in Louis and paired him with an unrepentant rebel rock star of a maker in the first book in the series. Not enough Louis in this for my taste (I love Louis with all his human angst and complexity) but Lestat is very much present if not the star of this tale. No the very nature of creation, of heaven/hell, of God and humanity hogs the spotlight –and how bold is she to take on such grand and controversial themes? Bolder still to cast God as the villain (or as too removed from human feeling to be relatable) and Memnoch/Lucifer/the Devil, the beleaguered hero (the one trying to do good, the one working in the best interest of humankind), maybe, depends on your reading of it. Bottom line, Memnoch is a mind trip. And Rice doesn’t allow the reader to look away from it, nor from the disturbingly erotic image of Lestat sucking on Dora’s womb blood (not my favourite image, uh, but my new favourite word for that by the way). I will add only that I don’t know what prompted Anne to write this; if it was just the next inevitable stop on Lestat’s wild adventure – he’d done everything else right? Or if it was driven by her own questioning about the nature of God (and especially God in relation to human suffering something many of us have grappled with). I don’t know; I do know that tonally, it feels a bit like a cry of frustration – “we are in the hands of mad things” – and of despair – “why are we never never to know”. These are characters’ words, of course, but the whole book, entertaining and thought provoking and epic as it is, also feels deeply personal in that sense. Or perhaps I’m reading into things.top

Pineapple Rhymes by Veronica Evanson Bernard – This poetry collection is a bit of a time capsule…a fair amount of the references (such as the celebration of Queen Victoria’s birthday) are way before my time…think 40 years before my time as they reference the conditions and realities during the author’s coming of age in 1930s and 40s Antigua…but for an Antiguan of any age, or anyone with an interest in Antiguan culture, Pineapple Rhymes is a good blend of folk history and folk poetry in the folk language which is more than just a variation or bastardization of English as implied in the glossary.  If you’re a regular to the blog or are at all familiar with my literary tastes, you already know that Women of Antigua was my introduction to the writing of the late Veronica Evanson Bernard. It remains my favourite poem in the collection, and a quintessential Antiguan and Barbudan poem in my view. Other pieces bookmarked were A Mudder’s Lament, Nutten Nar Bite, Shappin fuh a Wedding Frack, Laas at Sea, Congo Man, Wite Cloaz, Teachah Teachah, Twenty Fourth O’ May, and De Obeah Oooman. She writes the Antiguan as it sounds, the work is strongest when she uses that to get a good rhythm going as she chronicles the struggles and joys of the folk…without overly romanticizing it. It’s a book that calls to mind the now elusive Antiguan character.top

Living History by Hillary Clinton – I can’t imagine how at once scary and liberating it must be to write an autobiography; digging around the dark and uncomfortable corners of your psyche, revisiting your past triumphs and failures, exposing your soft underbelly. By comparison with others I’ve read, Hilary’s feels very controlled and as such didn’t draw me in as completely though she’s led a very dynamic and interesting life. The most interesting aspects for me were her early life; once Bill entered the picture, I felt it was too much about him (and having already read his biography and being a Hilary fan, I guess I wanted more of her and less of the president and presidential policy but when you’re a supporting player to the president, I suppose it’s going to shake out like that). The latter part of her journey (pre-senate) was interesting, and a bit more revealing, as well…but still restrained. Liked it enough to add it to this list though.top

Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World by Jon F. Sensbach isn’t my usual cup of tea but it was interesting and provided some insights to the experience of African enslavement (particularly with respect to the grey areas) that I hadn’t considered. And the roots of the Moravian church…wow, some interesting insights there.top

Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama – Beautifully written, insightful, engaging…and humanizing. He may be President but he was once upon a time just a confused boy seeking his place in the world. This book is evidence of that.top

Just got through reading New Writing: Poetry & Prose by Shoestring Press. It’s actually not that new anymore as it was released in 2001, and I’m not sure there are even copies in circulation any more. I borrowed a copy from one of the authors, Wadadli Pen chief judge Brenda Lee Browne.  And I’m not just saying this because of her association with Wadadli Pen but she does a great job of capturing the rhythm of the island in her Diary from the Wet Side of the Moon and I was starting to get invested in the characters when the snippet ended so that’s good. As we do with older pieces she probably curls her lips when she looks back at this, if you’re a writer journeying, your work is going to keep on growing but if this was 2001, I’m even more eager to see what she’s come up with circa 2012. The other stories are all set in Europe, England especially and, I suspect, in East Midlands primarily. It was an alright read overall.top

The Shack by William P. Young – So, a friend insisted I read this…and I have. But honestly I’m not sure what to make of it. It starts out quite mysteriously and with deft pacing that mystery draws you in…then slows considerably after the big reveal (during the pages of exposition that follow)…but that big reveal (three in one, in fact) is significant and it does end satisfyingly with an open-ended (unstated) challenge to believe or not believe. It’s quite beautiful in parts, quite eloquent and insightful in parts, thought provoking (with respect to the nature of being, of fear, of surrender, of forgiveness, of our relationship with the divine). I can’t say this book had the powerful impact on me it did others (like my friend) but I appreciated reading it, in the end; and feel pretty certain the questioning it has provoked will linger. Post note: Actually it’s been a while since I read this and it hasn’t lingered as much as I thought it might but all other sentiments remain.top

Womanspeak is a literary and visual art journal edited by Bahamian Lynn Sweeting and featuring women writers from across the Caribbean. I’m in it, so this isn’t really a review, but I did have some thoughts about why I liked it. Yes, I do.top

Evening is the Whole Day – Preeta Samarasan
This book was written by my Breadloaf ’08 roommate Preeta Samarasan. I’m glad I discovered it and her, and discovered, too, that though from different parts of the world, there was a lot that connected us, in part due to the common cultural elements born ironically enough of our shared British colonial experience…or the residue thereof. As a Caribbean reader certain things will feel startlingly familiar when you read this; and the parts unknown, well that’s part of the discovery, isn’t it? I’ll admit it took me a while to get through it, it’s not an easy or light read; sometimes I was caught up, sometimes distracted, and sometimes I simply needed to look away. It’s very vivid and not always pleasant. Uncomfortable details aside, it is a stirring if at times claustrophobic tale (in the sense that I didn’t enjoy a minute spent with any of these people though I appreciated the author’s realistic and complex rendering of them). Speaking of style, I was immediately caught by the atmospheric punch (the thereness of the place) and by how the author captures the speech patterns of the Malaysian people in a way that makes it both relatable to the non-Malaysian reader and authentic (or at least authentic-sounding since I’m not qualified o speak to its actual authenticity)…it’s certainly one of the challenges I grapple with as a Caribbean writer, and I think this Malaysian writer does a good job of it here.  The book is informative regarding the shifting mood in Malaysia for the span of the tale but really the country is primarily the context for a family drama marked by secrets, disaffection, hypocrisy, deception, and the politics of being.top

For In the Black: New African Canadian Literature, I decided, instead of sharing favourite stories or poems, to share favourite moments. Read More.top

I suspect for the Caribbean reader there will be much that resonates in Volume 26 of the Caribbean Writer. Though it deals with the natural environment, it is not about paradisiacal vistas so much as it is about the stories (in verse and prose) running through the veins of the natural environment. I count among my favourites Tregenza A. Roach’s poem The Grove in Bethesda which speaks of the bridges formed by the environment across which people choose not to cross (“…no love passes between”); and Meagan Simmons’ Drunk Bay Cliffs, a place of natural wonder and painful history (“we stand on the cliffs/and try to drink this place/in without feeling the violence in it:/this wide ocean/gaping like an open mouth”). The Last Crustacean by Shakirah Bourne uses perspective to effectively convey the disturbance caused by unchecked ‘development’. And while June Aming’s  Two by Sea delivers bitter justice to those who take advantage of nature, Diana McCaulay’s Sand in Motion has the immediacy of a journalistic feature of nature being laid bare on the altar of development, and in Barbara Jenkins’ The Talisman (one of her two gems in this collection, the other being the adventure Healing Ruptures) nature is a vividly rendered backdrop for a complex and haunting tale of human interaction. Plus, there’s an honest to goodness ghost story, Aaron Adesh Singh’s The Duenne, while childhood takes an even darker, albeit less supernatural turn in Stanley Niamatali’s Girl-Child in which awakening sexuality, domestic violence, and violent nature converge. The protagonist in Thomas Reiter’s poem A Boy Harvesting wonders “Does everything on this island tell a story?” Yes, it does. The Caribbean Writer, the annual print journal of contemporary Caribbean literature, continues to gather the best of them.top

I have mixed feelings about Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Lisbeth Salandar character was interesting, intriguing, and well drawn (though that made most of the other characters seem less so by comparison), the writer threads the tension tightly holding your curiousity and at times making you tense up the way a good mystery should. But it’s also fairly slow at both ends of that mystery, especially the back end (i.e. the section after the mystery of the missing girl is solved which feels both anti-climatic and emotionally unsatisfying though it did provide an interesting education on the world of international finance). Still, I’d lost interest in the outcome and still feel troubled that the many dead bodies were so quickly forgotten …but then moral ambiguity even by heroes and heroines is part of this book’s appeal so perhaps that’s intentional. I’d read another one in the series but I’m not hungry for it. I do want to see the film though.top

(excerpted from my review in the Daily Observer), Sugar Barons “is a lengthy read and the territory is generally familiar but the perspectives culled from personal journals, private communications and the like offer up fresh anecdotal tales and colourful personal narratives…” with contemporary resonance and/or ripples re the social and economic impact of sugar and its companion trade in African humans. An interesting read for history buffs and “…a reminder that the impact of the trade in indefinable ways is still being felt to this day.” Warning, the book does humanize the planters/slave owners, but even so slavery as practiced in our hemisphere was unprecedented in its level of brutality, so brace yourselves.top

As with all content on wadadlipen.wordpress.com, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, and Oh Gad!). All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen and my books. You can also subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.

New Prize for Emerging Caribbean Writers

Here’s a little something writers in the region can look forward to. A step in a positive direction, right?

Here’s the posting found at susumba.com:

The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, copped this year by Earl Lovelace, is the centre piece of the Bocas Literary Festival. However, the introduction of a new prize garnered its own share of the spotlight. The Hollick-Avron Prize will have a purse of £10,000.00 dedicated to allowing an emerging writer to complete a manuscript.

The prize was introduced by Lady Sue Hollick during the award ceremony for the OCM Bocas Prize on Saturday April 28, 2012, at the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s Academy of the Performing Arts, Port of Spain. The prize will come as a great boon to emerging writers, as finding the space to write is one of the most coveted resources for a writer. The prize will also facilitate the awardee to travel to the UK for networking and training and will generally facilitate their working with an established writer.

In separate years, the Hollick-Avron prize will be awarded to fiction writers, non-fiction writers and poets. The prize is open to writers living in the Caribbean and writing in English. The awardees will be selected by a panel of judges including representatives from the Hollick-Avron Foundation and the Bocas Prize.

Announced as a part of the 2012 Bocas Literary festival which was itself teeming with writers struggling to get published, the announcement of the Hollick-Avron prize was certainly a part of the icing on a satisfying sophomore installment of the festival.

The announcement of the prize shows the value that the organizers of the the NGC Bocas Lit Fest have placed on writing prizes and its important to developing writers. Submissions to the Hollick-Avron Prize will close on September 30, 2012. The inaugural winner will then be announced in March of 2013 and the prize awarded later that year.

N.B. This is where you’ll be able to find more information as it all develops.

Discovering West Indian Literature in English – A Selected Bibliography – Compiled and Selected by John Robert Lee (Published in Castries, 2010)

JRLee, creator of this bibliography, with Caribbean writers George Lamming and Esther Phillips at a BIM literary event in 2008.

DEDICATED TO PATRICIA CHARLES, SAINT LUCIA 1937-2010 and REX NETTLEFORD 1933-2010.

Contents:

Introduction

1. 1.       West Indian Authors – Prose writers, mainly novelists, with selected works listed.
2. 2.       West Indian Authors – poets, a Name Index.
3. 3.       Selected Anthologies of West Indian Literature.
4. 4.       West Indian Literary Journals.
5. 5.       Readings on West Indian Literature in English.
6. 6.       The Historical, Cultural and Social Background.

Introduction

This bibliography presents selected texts of Caribbean writing in English and of works on the background to the writing.  Many of these represent the first writers and writings that identified and defined West Indian Literature. They are familiar names in the now established West Indian Canon. Many new writers and distinctive works have emerged since the early days, a number of whose names and works are listed.  This bibliography is aimed at those discovering the Literature and will help them to identify the major writers, the now-classic authors and talented new voices. The selected readings give a broad chronological background to the history of the literature, and its cultural and historical setting. The anthologies provide a perspective on the span of writers and their concerns. The range of anthologies – from the classic first compilations to the more recent –also offer a historical view of the development of the literature.

Only Prose and Poetry writers are listed. No Drama is cited though a number of the writers are also playwrights. Selected works of the novelists are given (including some of their non-fiction writing,) while only a name index is provided for the poets.  Years of births and deaths are given, and the birth place of all writers is listed. The citations are of book texts. No periodical references are provided.

There are many web sites dedicated to West Indian writing in English and the other languages of the region. A Google search of “West Indian Literature” or “Caribbean Literature” will find them. National Bibliographies can be located that list writers and writing by country of origin.  Information on individual writers can also be found on the Internet.  Numerous blogs discuss Caribbean Literature and related issues.

Peepal Tree Press (www.peepaltreepress.com) is the foremost publisher of Caribbean Literature at this time. Based in Leeds, UK, they are republishing classic West Indian works as well as prose and poetry by new writers. www.caribbeanreviewofbooks.com publishes excellent, readable reviews of new writing. Ian Randle Publishers (www.ianrandlepublishers.com) of Kingston, Jamaica is the leading publisher of scholarly works including some poetry and prose. The University of the West Indies Press (www.uwipress.com) is also increasing its publication of academic texts.

In Section 5, Readings on West Indian Literature in English, a chronological listing by publication date is generally followed. However in some cases, books by certain authors (eg Gordon Rohlehr) or on certain authors (eg Lamming, Walcott), are kept together for ease of reference. A chronological listing is also generally followed in Sections 3 (Anthologies) and 6 (Historical etc background). For section 4, the listing of major Caribbean periodicals, the listing is also chronological, by date of first issue. Sections 1 and 2 (the writers) use an alphabetical listing by authors’ surnames.

Full citations are provided in Sections 3, 5, 6. Section 4 is briefly annotated.  In section 1, Authors’ names, dates of birth (and death where necessary), Place of birth (and residence in some cases) and titles of selected works with dates of first and, in some cases other, editions, are given. Section 2 is a Name Index only of poets, with their birth (and death) dates, and place of birth (and in some cases, residence.)

Regarding selection of the newest writers, the criterion used was that they should have published work recognized as significant by their peers, and were themselves recognized by their peers as significant new voices. The past twenty years has seen much publication by new and talented Caribbean writers. Many of these live in the diaspora, but many have also chosen to remain and write and work at home. Their recognition and inclusion ensures that the shaping of the growing Caribbean Canon remains alive, relevant and exciting to follow. Journals like the Caribbean Review of Books proved invaluable as a source of information on new writers and writing, including both the creative and critical works. In this digital time, the Internet and Google were also invaluable in tracking down further information on writers and their works. Because this is only a select bibliography, users and researchers must use Internet search engines to follow paths suggested here.

While this bibliography is not a comprehensive compilation, it is hoped that it provides a good general  up-to-date survey of the literature of the Anglophone Caribbean. As with all bibliographies of this kind, it will need to be regularly updated. Readers are welcome to make comments and suggestions to the compiler at:

John Robert Lee:  johnrenator@gmail.com

www.mahanaimnotes.blogspot.com

 

1: West Indian Authors – prose writers, mainly novelists, with selected works listed. Note that this is not a comprehensive listing. Many of these authors have written more works than listed here, including prose non-fiction, poetry, drama and criticism. Internet search engines will help to identify other works of writers.

Lisa Allen-Agostini  19..       Trinidad.                         The Chalice Project. Macmillan Caribbean, 2008; co-editor, with Jeanne Mason, of Trinidad Noir. Akashic Books, 2008.

Phyllis S. Allfrey (1908-1986).   Dominica.              The Orchid House, 1953; It falls into place: the stories of Phyllis Shand Allfrey, 2004.

Michael Als 19-. Trinidad.                                              The Underclass, 2006; Manchild, 2007?/8?; Children’s Feet, 2009.

Michael Anthony 1932 – .  Trinidad.                          The Games were coming, 1963, 2005; The Year in San Fernando, 1965; Green days by the river, 1967; and many other publications.

Robert Antoni  1958- . Trinidad.                                 Divina Trace, 1991; Blessed is the fruit, 1998; My Grandmother’s Erotic Folktales, 2000; Carnival, 2005.

Michael Aubertin 1948-. St. Lucia.                             Neg Maron: freedom fighter, 2000.

Kevin Baldeosingh 19…-. Trinidad.                            The Autobiography of Paras P., 1996; Virgin’s triangle, 1997; The Ten Incarnations of Adam Avatar, 2005.

Lindsay Barrett. 1941-. (writes poetry as Eseoghene).  Jamaica.  The State of Black desire, 1966; Song for Mumu, 1967, 1974; Veils of Vengeance Falling, 1985.

Angela Barry. Bermuda.                                                                Endangered Species and other stories, 2003.

Valerie Belgrave. Trinidad.                                           Ti Marie, 1988.

Jacqueline Bishop 19-. Jamaica.                                 The River’s Song, 2008.

Neil Bissoondath 1955- . Trinidad                              A Casual Brutality, 1988; The Innocence of Age, 1992; The Worlds within her, 1998; Digging up the mountains – stories, 1985; On the Eve of Uncertain Tomorrows – stories, 1990.

E.R. Braithwaite 1920 -. Guyana.                                To Sir with love, 1959; Paid servant, 1973; Choice of straws, 1965; Honorary White, 1975.

Erna Brodber 1940 -. Jamaica.                                     Jane and Louisa will soon come home, 1980; Myal, 1988; Louisiana, 1994; The Rainmaker’s Mistake, 2007.

Wayne Brown (1944-2009). Trinidad.                       The Child of the Sea: stories and remembrances, 1989; Landscape with Heron: stories and remembrances, 2000. Biography: Edna Manley: The private years (1900-1938), 1975.

Tobias S. Buckell 1979-. Grenada/USA.                   Crystal Rain, 2006; Ragamuffin, 2007; Sly Mongoose, 2008; Halo: The Cole Protocol, 2008; Tides from the New Worlds: short stories, 2009; [with Karen Traviss and Eric Nyland] Halo Evolutions: Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, 2009.

Timothy Callender  (1946-1989).  Barbados.          It so happen, 1975; How music came to the Ainchan people, 1979.

Hazel D. Campbell 1940- . Jamaica.                           The Rag Doll and Other stories, 1978; Women’s Tongue, 1985; Singerman, 1992.

Jan Carew 1920- . Guyana .                                          Black Midas, 1958, 2009; The Wild Coast, 1958, 2009; The Last Barbarian, 1961.

Margaret Cezair-Thompson 19-. Jamaica.              The True History of Paradise, 1999; The Pirate’s Daughter, 2008.

Colin Channer 1963-. Jamaica.                                    Waiting in vain, 1998; Satisfy my soul, 2002; Passing through (stories), 2004; Editor, Iron Balloons: Hit Fiction from Jamaica’s Calabash Writer’s Workshop. Akashic Books, 2006.

David Chariandy 1969-. Trinidad/Canada                Soucouyant, 2007.

Willi Chen 1934- . Trinidad.                                           King of the Carnival and other stories, 1988, 2001.

Austin Clarke 1934 – . Barbados  .                               The Survivors of the Crossing, 1964; Amongst thistles and thorns, 1965; The Meeting Point, 1967; Storm of Fortune, 1973; The Bigger Light, 1975; Growing up stupid under the Union Jack, 1980, 2002; Pigtails ‘n’ Breadfruit: A Barbadian memoir, 2000; The Polished Hoe, 2002; The Origin of Waves, 2003; The Prime Minister, 2004; The Meeting Point: The Toronto Trilogy, 2005; More, 2009; and many other novels and non-fiction writing.

Michelle Cliff 1946-. Jamaica.                                      Abeng, 1984; The Land of Look Behind, 1980; Bodies of Water, 1990;  No telephone to heaven, 1996; The Sore of a Million Items, 1998; Everything is now: New and Collected Stories, 2009.

Merle Collins 1950-.  Grenada.                                   Angel, 1987; The Colour of Forgetting, 1995;

Frank Collymore (1893-1980). Barbados.                The Man who loved attending funerals, 1993.

Dathorne, Oscar R. (1934-2007). Guyana.              Dumplings in the Soup, 1963; The Scholar-man, 1964; Dele’s child, 1986.

Kwame Dawes 1962-. Jamaica/Ghana.                   A Place to hide and other stories, 2002; She’s gone, 2007.

Neville Dawes (1926-1984). Jamaica.                       The Last Enchantment, 1960, 2009; Fugue and other writings, 2009.

Ralph De Boissiere (1907-2008). Trinidad.              Crown Jewel, 1952; Rum and Coca Cola, 1956; No Saddles for Kangaroos, 1964; Call of the Rainbow, 2007.

Jean D’Costa 1937 – . Jamaican.                                  Sprat Morrison, 1972; Escape to Last Man Peak, 1975; Voice in the Wind, 1978.

Fred D’Aguiar 1960-. Guyana                                      The Longest Memory 1994; Dear Future, 1996; Feeding the Ghosts, 1999; Bethany Bettany, 2003.

Herbert G. De Lisser (1878-1944). Jamaica.           Jane: a story of Jamaica, 1914; Jane’s Career: a story of Jamaica, 1914; The White Witch of Rosehall,  1929.

Mcdonald Dixon 1944-. St. Lucia.                               Season of Mist, 2000; Misbegotten, 2009; Careme and other stories, 2009.

Geoffrey Drayton 1924- .  Barbados .                      Christopher, 1959;  Zohara, 1961.

Zee Edgell  1940- .  Belize.                                             Beka Lamb, 1982; In times like these, 1991; The Festival of San Joaquin, 1997.

Garfield Ellis – . Jamaica.                                             Waka Rasta and Other Stories, 2001; Such as I Have, 2003; For Nothing at All, 2005; Til I’m Laid To Rest, 2010.

Ramabai Espinet  1948 – . Trinidad/Canada           The Princess of Spadina, 1992; Ninja’s Carnival, 1993; The Swinging Bridge, 2003.

Curdella Forbes19-.. Jamaica.                                     Songs of Silence, 2002; Flying with Icarus and other stories, 2003; A Permanent Freedom, 2008.

Fitzroy Fraser19-. Jamaica.                                                           Wounds in the Flesh, 1962

Beryl Gilroy (1924-2001). Guyana.                             Frangipani House, 1986; Boy-Sandwich, 1989; In praise of love and children, 1994; The Green Grass Tango, 2001.

Thomas Glave 19  -. Jamaica/New York.                 Whose Song? and other stories, 2000; The Torturer’s Wife, 2008; Words to our now: Imagination and dissent  – Essays, 2005; Editor : Our Caribbean: a gathering of Lesbian and Gay writing from the Antilles, 2008.

Lorna  Goodison 1947-. Jamaica.                                Baby Mother and the King of Swords: short stories, 1990; Fool Fool Rose is leaving Labour-in-vain Savannah, 2005; From Harvey River: a memoir, 2007.

Rudy Gurley. St. Lucia.                                                   A Caribbean Tale, 2006; Sent from overseas, 2007.

Rosa Guy 1925 – . Trinidad & Tobago                        The Disappearance, 1979; I heard a bird sing, 1986; The Friends, 1995.

Wilson Harris 1921-. Guyana                                        Palace of the Peacock, 1960; Heartland, 1964, 2009; The Guyana Quartet (his first four novels), 1985; The Eye of the Scarecrow, 1965; The Waiting Room, 1967; The Mask of the Beggar, 2003, The Ghost of Memory, 2006, and many other novels; Selected essays, 1999; Poetry: Eternity to season, 1954.

John Hearne (1926-1995). Jamaica                            Voices under the window, 1955; Stranger at the gate, 1956; The Faces of Love, 1957; The Autumn Equinox, 1959;  Land of the Living, 1961; The Sure Salvation, 1981. Editor, Carifesta Forum: An Anthology of 20 Caribbean Voices (Carifesta 1976 Publication).

Roy Heath (1926-2009). Guyana.                               A Man come Home, 1974; The Murderer, 1978; The Shadow Bride, 1988; The Ministry of Hope, 1997; The Armstrong Trilogy, 1994.

Joanne C. Hillhouse 1973-. Antigua.                                         Dancing nude in the moonlight, 2004; The Boy from Willlow Bend, 2002, 2009; Oh Gad! 2012.

Merle Hodge 1944-. Trinidad.                                     Crick Crack, Monkey, 1970; For the Life of Laetitia, 1999.

Nalo Hopkinson 1960- . Trinidad/Toronto.             Brown Girl in the Ring, 1998; Midnight Robber, 2000; Skin Folk: short stories, 2001; The Salt Roads, 2003; The New Moon’s Arms, 2007. Editor, Mojo: Conjure Stories, 2003.

Lionel Hutchinson (1923-2000). Barbados.             Man from the people, 1970; One touch of nature, 1971;

C L R James (1901-1989). Trinidad.                            Minty Alley, 1936; The Nobbie Stories for Children and Adults. Edited by Constance Webb (1918-2005), 2006.

Cynthia James 1948-. Trinidad.                                   Bluejean: a novel, 2000; Sapodilla Terrace, 2006.

Marlon James 1970-. Jamaica.                                    John Crow’s Devil, 2008; The Book of Night Women, 2010.

Marie-Elena John 1963-.  Antigua.                            Unburnable, 2006.

Ruel Johnson 1980-. Guyana.                                      Ariadne and other stories, 2003; Fictions Volume 1, 2008.

Simon Jones-Hendrickson. St. Kitts, Nevis.           Sonny Jim of Sandy Point, 1991.

Peter Kempadoo (Lauchmonen) 1926- . Guyana.                 Guiana Boy, 1960; Old Thom’s Harvest, 1965.

Oonya Kempadoo 1966 – . Guyana.                          Tide Running, 2003; Buxton Spice, 2004.

Ismith Khan (1925-2002). Trinidad.                           The Jumbie Bird, 1961; The Obeah Man, 1964; The Crucifixion, 1987; A Day in the Country – stories, 1990.

Jamaica Kincaid (Elaine Potter Richardson) 1949- . Antigua.           At the Bottom of the River, 1983; Annie John, 1985;  A Small Place, 1988; Lucy, 1991; The Autobiography of my mother, 1996; My brother, 1997; Talk stories, 2000; My Garden Book, 2001; Mr. Potter, 2002; Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas, 2005. And other fiction and  non-fiction writings.

Karen King-Aribisala 19 – . Guyana/Nigeria.                           Our wife and other stories, 1991; Kicking tongues, 1998; The Hangman’s Game, 2007.

Harold Sonny Ladoo (1945-1973). Trinidad.           No pain like this body, 1972; Yesterdays, 1974.

George Lamming 1927-. Barbados.                           In the Castle of my skin, 1953; The Emigrants, 1954; Of Age and Innocence, 1958; Season of Adventure, 1960; The Pleasures of Exile (essays), 1960; Water with Berries, 1971; Natives of my person 1972; Cannon Shot and Glass Beads: Modern black writers (Ed.), 1974; Conversations: Essays, addresses and interviews 1953-1990, 1992; Coming, Coming Home: Conversations II, 1995, 2000.

Nicholas Laughlin 1975-.         Trinidad.                     Editor, Caribbean Review of Books 2004-; editor, Town, 2009-; Editor, [CLR James] Letters from London. Prospect press, 2003; Editor, V.S. Naipaul. Letters between a father and Son. Picador, 2009.

Sharon Leach 19-. Jamaica.                                          What you can’t tell him: stories, 2006.

Jacintha Anius Lee 1951-. St. Lucia.                           Give me some more sense: St. Lucian folk tales, 1988.

Andrea Levy 1956-. Jamaica/UK.                                               Small Island, 2004; The Long Song, 2010.

Earl Long. St. Lucia.                                                          Consolation, 1995; Voices from a drum, 1996; Slicer, 2000; Leaves in a river, 2009.

Earl Lovelace 1935-. Trinidad.                                      While Gods are falling, 1965, 1984; The Schoolmaster, 1968, 1979; The Dragon can’t dance, 1979; The Wine of Astonishment 1982 ; A Brief Conversion and other stories, 1988;  Salt, 1996.

Roger Mais (1905-1955). Jamaica.                             The Hills were joyful together, 1953, 2009; Brother Man, 1954; Black Lightning, 1955; Listen, the Wind and other stories, 1986.

Rachel Manley 1955 -. Jamaica.                                  Drumblair: memories of a Jamaican Childhood, 1996; Slipstream: a Daughter remembers, 2000; Horses in Her Hair: A Grand-daughter’s Story, 2008.

E. A. Markham (1939-2008). Montserrat.               Something Unusual: short stories (1986); Taking the drawing room through customs, 1996; Meet me in Mozambique, 2005;  At home with Miss Vanesa, 2006;  The Three suitors of Fred Belair, 2009; and other works (including poetry).

Paule Marshall 1929 – . Barbados/USA.                   Brown Girl, Brownstones, 1959 (1981); Soul clap hands and sing, 1961; The Chosen Place, The Timeless People, 1969; Praisesong for the Widow, 1983; Reena and other stories, 1983; Daughters, 1991; The Fisher King, 2001; Triangular Road, 2009.

Ian McDonald 1933-. Trinidad/Guyana    .               The Hummingbird Tree, 1969.

Claude McKay (1889-1948). Jamaica.                       Home to Harlem, 1928; Banana Bottom, 1933.

Alecia McKenzie 1960-. Jamaica.                                Satellite City, 1993.

Earl McKenzie 1943-. Jamaica.                                    A Boy named Ossie: A Jamaican childhood, 1991; Two roads to Mount Joyful and other stories, 1992.

Mark Mcwatt 1947-. Guyana.                                     Suspended Sentences, 2005.

Pauline Melville 1941-. Guyana/UK.                         Shape-shifter, 1990;  The Ventriloquist’s Tale, 1997; The Migration of ghosts, 1998; Eating Air, 2009.

Alfred Mendes (1897-1991). Trinidad.                     Pitch Lake, 1934; Black Fauns, 1935; The Man who ran away and other stories of Trinidad in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Ed. by Michèle Levy. UWI Press, 2006.

Kei Miller 1978- . Jamaica.                                             Fear of stones and other stories, 2006; The Same earth, 2008; The Last Warner Woman, 2010.

Edgar Mittelholzer (1909-1965). Guyana.               Corentyne Thunder, 1941, 2009; A morning at the office, 1950, 1974,2009; Shadows move among them, 1952; Children of Kaywana, 1952; The Life and Death of Sylvia, 1953; My bones and my flute, 1955; The Jilkington Drama, 1965, and many other novels.

Shani Mootoo, 1958 – . T’dad/Canada.                    Out on Main Street, 1993; Cereus blooms at night, 1996; He drown she in the sea, 2005; Valmiki’s Daughter, 2008.

Seepersad Naipaul 1906-1953. Trinidad.                 Adventures of Gurudeva,  1976.

Shiva Naipaul (1945-1985). Trinidad.                        Fireflies, 1970; The Chip-Chip Gatherers, 1973; North of South, 1978; Black and White, 1980; A Hot Country, 1983; Love and death in a hot country, 1984; Beyond the Dragon’s Mouth: stories and pieces, 1984; An Unfinished Journey, 1986.

V S Naipaul 1932-. Trinidad.                                         The Mystic Masseur, 1957; The Suffrage of Elvira, 1958; Miguel Street, 1959;  A House for Mr. Biswas, 1961; The Mimic Men, 1967; In a Free State, 1971; Guerrillas, 1975; A Bend in the River, 1979; Half a Life, 2001; Magic Seeds, 2004; The Middle Passage, 1962; An Area of Darkness, 1964; The Enigma of Arrival, 1988; A Way in the World, 1995, Literary Occasions: essays, 2004;  A Writer’s People: Ways of looking and feeling, 2008; and many other novels and non-fiction writing.  Letters between a father and son. V.S. Naipaul. Edited by Nicholas Laughlin. Picador, 2009.   NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE, 2001

Christopher Nicole. Guyana.                                       Off-White, 1959; Shadows in the Jungle, 1961; Blood Amyot, 1964; White Boy, 1966, and other novels.

Anton Nimblett. 19….. Trinidad.                                 Sections of an Orange, 2009.

Elizabeth Nunez. 1944-.  Trinidad.                             Beyond the Limbo Silence, 1998; Bruised Hibiscus, 2000; Discretion, 2002; Grace, 2003; Prospero’s daughter, 2006.

C. Everard Palmer 1930 – . Jamaica.                           The Cloud with the Silver Lining, 1966; Big Doc Bitteroot, 1968; The Sun salutes you, 1970; The Hummingbird People, 1971; The Wooing of Beppo Tate, 1972; A Dog called Houdini, 1979.

Marion Patrick-Jones 193? – . Trinidad.                   Pan Beat, 1973; J’Ouvert Morning, 1976.

Orlando Patterson 1940 – . Jamaica.                         The Children of Sisyphus, 1964, 2009; An Absence of ruins, 1967; Die the Long Day, 1971.

Lakshmi Persaud 1939-. Trinidad.                              Butterfly in the wind, 1990. Sastra, 1993; For the love of my name, 2000;  Raise the lanterns high, 2004;

Caryl Phillips 1958 -. St. Kitts.                                       A State of Independence, 1986; The Final passage, 1985; Cambridge, 1991; Crossing the River, 1993; A Distant Shore, 2003; In the Falling Snow, 2009 and other fiction and non-fiction works.

Geoffrey Philp 19-. Jamaica                                         Who’s your daddy? and other stories, 2009.

Patricia Powell  1966- . Jamaica.                                 Me dying trial, 1993; A small gathering of bones, 1994; The Pagoda, 1999; The Fullness of Everything, 2009.

Althea Prince 1945-. Antigua.                                      Ladies of the Night and other stories, 1998; Loving this man, 2001.

Raymond Ramcharitar. 19…. Trinidad.                     The Island Quintet: A Sequence, 2009.

Tom Redcam (Thomas H. MacDermot) (1870-1933). Jamaica.       Beckra’s Buckra Baby, 1903; One Brown Girl and – , 1909.

V S Reid (1913-1987).  Jamaica                                    The Leopard, 1958; Sixty-five, 1960; New Day, 1973, 2009;

Anderson Reynolds. St. Lucia.                                    Death by fire,  1999.

Trevor Rhone 1940 – 2009. Jamaica.                         Bellas Gate Boy (Memoir),  Macmillan Caribbean, 2008.

Jean Rhys (Ella Gwendoline  Rees Williams 1894-1979). Dominica.              Quartet, 1928, 1969; After leaving Mr. Mackenzie, 1930; Good Morning, Midnight, 1939, 1969; Wide Sargasso Sea, 1966; Sleep it off Lady: stories, 1976, 1979; Smile Please, 1979; Tales of the Wide Caribbean, 1985; Complete Novels (Norton), 1985;  The Collected  Short Stories (Norton), 1990; and other novels and essays.

Joan Riley 1958 – . Jamaica.                                           The Unbelonging, 1984; Waiting in the Twilight, 1987; Romance, 1988; The Waiting Room, 1989; A kindness to the children, 1992.

W. Adolphe Roberts  (1886-1962). Jamaica.          The Haunting Hand, 1926; Creole Dusk, 1948; The Single  Star, 1949 and other novels.

Jacob Ross 19-. Grenada.                                              Pynter Bender, 2008.

Namba Roy 1910-1961. Jamaica .                               Black Albino, 1961.

Garth St. Omer 1931- . St. Lucia.                                                Syrop: a novella, 1964; A Room on the Hill, 1968; Shades of Grey, 1968; Nor Any Country, 1969; J-, Black Bam and the Masqueraders, 1972; The Lights on the Hill, 1968, 1986.

Andrew Salkey (1928-1995). Jamaica.                      A Quality of Violence, 1959;  Escape to an Autumn Pavement, 1960, 2009; Anancy’s Score, 1973; Anancy Traveler, 1992; Havana Journal, 1971; Georgetown Journal, 1972 and many other writings.

Robert Edison Sandiford. Barbados.                        Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall : stories, 1995; Sand for snow, 2003; The Tree of Youth and other stories, 2005.

Lawrence Scott  1943-. Trinidad.                                                Witchbroom, 1992; Ballad for the New World and Other Stories, 1994; Aelred’s Sin, 1998; Night Calypso, 2004.

Samuel Selvon (1923-1994). Trinidad.                      A Brighter Sun, 1952; The Lonely Londoners, 1956, 1972; Ways of Sunlight, 1957, 1973; Turn again Tiger, 1958; Moses Ascending, 1972; Eldorado West One ( 7 one act plays based on the characters from the novels), 1988; Foreday morning, 1989; Highway in the sun and other plays, 1991; and other novels.

Olive Senior, 1941- .Jamaica.                                       Summer Lightning and Other stories, 1986;   Arrival of the Snake Woman and other stories, 1989.

Janice Shinebourne. Guyana.                                     Timepiece, 1986; The Last English Plantation, 1989.

Vanessa Spence 1961-. Jamaica.                                                The Roads are down, 1993.

Jeremy Taylor 19-. UK/Trinidad.                                                Going to Ground : Journalism (1972-1992),1994.

Michael Thelwell  1939-. Jamaica.                              The Harder they Come, 1994.

G.C.H. Thomas (1911-1994). St. Vincent.                                Ruler in Hiroona, 1972.

Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw 1964-. Trinidad.       Four taxis facing north, 2007.

Eric Walrond (1898-1966). Guyana.                           Tropic Death, 1926.

Gemma Weekes 1978-.  St. Lucia.                             Love Me, 2009

John Wickham (1923-2000). Barbados.                   Casuarina Row, 1974; World without end, 1982; Discoveries,  1993.

Denis Williams (1923-1998). Guyana.                       Other Leopards, 1963, 2009; The Third Temptation, 1968, 2009.

N D Williams 1942- . Guyana.                                       Ikael Torass, 1976; The Crying of rainbirds, 1992; The Silence of Islands, 1994; Julie Mango – stories, 2003; The Friendship of Shoes – stories, 2005.

Anthony C. Winkler 1942- . Jamaica.                        The Painted canoe, 1983; The Lunatic, 1987. The Duppy, 2008; Crocodile, 2009, and other novels.

Sylvia Wynter 1928-.                                                       The Hills of Hebron, 1962.

 

2.West Indian authors – poets, a name index.

This list represents many of the major names in West Indian poetry. It is not an all-inclusive compilation. Many of the writers whose works now form the foundation of West Indian Literature are listed here. A number of newer writers are also included.

The names of the writers and their place of birth are given here. Birth and death dates are added. Titles of their works are not included. Many West Indian writers produce both prose and poetry. An Internet search will provide more information on the writers and their major works.

James Christopher Aboud 1956 -. Trinidad.

Opal Palmer Adisa 1954-. Jamaica

Roger Bonair-Agard. Trinidad.

John Agard 1949-. Guyana

Lillian Allen 1951-. Jamaica

Phyllis Shand Allfrey (1908 – 1986), Dominica

Adrian Augier 1959-. St. Lucia

Raymond Barrow 1920-. Belize

Edward Baugh 1936-, Jamaica

Vera Bell 1906 – . Jamaica

Louise Bennet-Coverley  (1919-2006). Jamaica

James Berry 1924-, Jamaica/UK

Marion Bethel  19-. Bahamas

Nicolette Bethel 19-. Bahamas

Jacqueline Bishop 19… Jamaica

Valerie Bloom 1956-. Jamaica

Dionne Brand 1953-. Trinidad

Kamau Brathwaite 1930-. Barbados

Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze 1957-.  Jamaica

Wayne Brown, Trinidad. (1944-2009)

Christian Campbell 19-. Bahamas

George Campbell (1916-2002). Jamaica

Vahni Capildeo 1973-. Trinidad

H.D. Carberry 1921-. Jamaica

Peggy Carr 1955-. St. Vincent

Martin Carter (1927-1997). Guyana

Wilfred Cartey (1931-1992). Trinidad

Brian Chan 1949-. Guyana

Faustin Charles 1944-. Trinidad/UK

Staceyann Chin 1971-. Jamaica

LeRoy Clarke 1938-. Trinidad

Michelle Cliff 1946-. Jamaica

Merle Collins 1950-. Grenada

Frank Collymore (1893-1980). Barbados

Christine Craig 1943-. Jamaica

Dennis Craig (1929-2004). Guyana

Fred D’Aguiar 1960-. Guyana/UK

Cyril Dabydeen 1945-. Guyana/UK

David Dabydeen 1955-. Guyana/UK

Melania Daniel 1962-. St. Lucia

Mahadai Das (1954-2003). Guyana

Oscar R. Dathorne (1934-2007). Guyana

Kwame Dawes 1962-. Jamaica.

McDonald Dixon 1944-. St. Lucia

J. Edsel Edmunds 1935-. St. Lucia

Gloria Escoffery (1923-2002). Jamaica

Winston Farrell 19-. Barbados

Howard Fergus 1937-. Montserrat

Hunter J. Francois 1924-. St. Lucia

John Figueroa (1920-1999). Jamaica

Honor Ford-Smith 1951-.  Jamaica.

Denis Foster 19.-. Barbados

Michael Foster (19..-19..). Barbados

Michael Gilkes 1933-. Guyana.

Margaret Gill 1953-. Barbados

Anson Gonzalez 1936-. Trinidad.

Lorna Goodison  1947-. Jamaica

Millicent  A. Graham  1974-. Jamaica

Cecil Gray 1923-. Trinidad

Stanley Greaves 1934- . Guyana

Claire Harris 1937-. Trinidad/Canada

Wilson Harris 1921 – . Guyana

Cecil Herbert 1926-. Trinidad

A.L. Hendricks (1922-1992). Jamaica

Kendel Hippolyte 1952-. St. Lucia

Jane King-Hippolyte 1952-. St. Lucia

Abdur Rahman Slade Hopkinson (1934-1993). Guyana

Ishion Hutchinson 19-. Jamaica

Arnold Harrichand Itwaru 1942-. Guyana

Cynthia James 1948 – . Trinidad

Bongo Jerry 1948-. Jamaica.

Linton Kwesi Johnson 1952-. Jamaica/UK

Evan Jones 1927-. Jamaica

E. McG. ‘Shake’ Keane (1927-1997). St. Vincent

Paul Keens-Douglas 1942-. Grenada/Trinidad

Ricardo Keens-Douglas 1953-. Grenada

Anthony Kellman 1955-. Barbados

Anthony John La Rose (1927-2009). Trinidad

Paul A. Layne (19?—1971). Grenada/Barbados

Fragano Ledgister 1956-. London/Jamaica

John Robert Lee 1948-, St. Lucia

Edward Lucie-Smith 1933- . Jamaica

Vladimir Lucien 1978-. St. Lucia.

Malik (Delano Abdul Malik De Coteau) 1940-. Grenada

Rachel Manley 1955- . Jamaica

E. A. Markham (1939-2009). Montserrat

Una Marson 1905-1965. Jamaica

Mark Matthews 1937-. Guyana

Wordsworth McAndrew (1936-2008). Guyana

Shara McCallum 19-. Jamaica.

Ian McDonald 1933-. Tdad/Guyana

Basil McFarlane 1922-. Jamaica

J. E. Clare McFarlane (1894-1962).  Jamaica

Claude McKay (1889-1948). Jamaica/USA.

Earl McKenzie 1943. Jamaica

Anthony McNeill (1941-1996). Jamaica

Dionyse McTair 19??.    Trinidad

Roger Mc Tair 1943-. Trinidad and Tobago

Mark McWatt 1947-. Guyana

Judy Miles 1942-. Trinidad & Tobago

Kei Miller 1978-. Jamaica

Rooplal Monar 1945-. Guyana

Pamela Mordecai 1942. Jamaica

Mervyn Morris 1937-. Jamaica

Mutabaruka 1952-. Jamaica

Philip Nanton 19 ??.  St. Vincent.

Grace Nichols 1950-. Guyana/UK

Oku Onuora  (Orlando Wong)1952-. Jamaica

Jude Patrong 19-. Trinidad

Sasenarine Persaud 1958-. Guyana

Marlene Nourbese Philip 1947-. Trinidad

Esther Phillips 19??. Barbados

Geoffrey Philp 1958- . Jamaica

Velma Pollard 1937-. Jamaica

Victor Questel, (1949-1982). Trinidad

Jennifer Rahim 1963-. Trinidad

Barnabas J. Ramon-Fortuné (1905- ?? ). Trinidad

Rajandaye Ramkissoon-Chen 1936-. Trinidad

Claudia Rankine 1963- . Jamaica

Eric Roach (1915-1974). Trinidad

Althea Romeo-Mark 1948- . Antigua

Rupert Roopnaraine 19…-. Guyana

Sassy Ross 19-. St. Lucia

Andrew Salkey (1928-1995). Jamaica

Dennis Scott (1939-1991). Jamaica

Olive Senior 1941-. Jamaica

Arthur J. Seymour (1914-1989). Guyana

Philip Sherlock (1902-2000). Jamaica

Tanya Shirley 19  -. Jamaica

Hazel Simmons-McDonald 1947-. St. Lucia

Louis Simpson 1923-. Jamaica

Dorothea Smartt 19 -. London/Barbados

M. G. Smith (1921-1993). Jamaica

Obadiah Michael Smith. Bahamas

Michael Smith (1954-1983). Jamaica

Eintou Pearl Springer 1944-. Trinidad

Gandolph St. Clair 195? St. Lucia

Bruce St. John. (1923-1995). Barbados

Ian Gregory Strachan 19-. Bahamas

Harold Telemaque. (1909-1982). Trinidad

Ralph Thompson 1928-. Jamaica

Patricia Turnbull 19-.  St. Lucia

H.A. Vaughan (1901-1985). Barbados

Vivian Virtue (1911-1998). Jamaica

Derek Walcott, 1930- . Saint Lucia. NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE, 1992.

Daniel Williams (1927-1972). St. Vincent

Milton Vishnu Williams 1936-.     Guyana

Cynthia Wilson 1934-. Barbados

3. Selections of West Indian Literature – Anthologies

PROSE FICTION (Some of the general anthologies carry poems)

West Indian Stories. Edited by Andrew Salkey. Faber, 1960.

Tales from the West Indies retold by Philip Sherlock. [A collection of folk tales]. Oxford, 1966.

Caribbean Literature: An Anthology. Selected and edited by G. R. Coulthard. University of London Press, 1966.

From the Green Antilles: Writings of the Caribbean. Edited by Barbara Howes. Souvenir Press, 1967.

The Sun’s Eye. New Edition.  Compiled by Anne Walmsley. Longman Caribbean, 1968.

New Writing in the Caribbean. Edited by A.J. Seymour. Carifesta 1972 Publication. [Prose and poetry from all Caribbean language areas, including Latin America.]

Caribbean Rhythms: the emerging English Literature of the West Indies. James T. Livingston.  NY: Washington Square Press, 1974.

New Planet: Anthology of Modern Caribbean Writing. Edited by Amon Saba Saakana (as Sebastian Clarke). Karnak House, 1978.

Best West Indian Stories.  Edited by Kenneth Ramchand. Nelson Caribbean, 1982. [Selected short stories by major WI writers]

An Anthology of African and Caribbean Writing in English.  Edited by John J. Figueroa. Heinemann, 1982.

Facing the Sea.  Compiled by Anne Walmsley and Nick Caistor.  Heinemann, 1986.

Her True-True Name: an anthology of women’s writing from the Caribbean.  Edited by Pamela Mordecai and Betty Wilson. Heinemann, 1989.

Caribbean New Wave: Contemporary Short Stories.  Edited by Stewart Brown.  Heinemann, 1990.

The Faber Book of Contemporary Caribbean Short Stories.   Edited by Mervyn Morris. Faber, 1990.

And I remember many things: folklore of the Caribbean. Compiled and edited by Christine Barrow. Ian Randle Publishers, 1993.

The Penguin Book of Caribbean Short Stories.  Edited by E. A. Markham.  Penguin, 1996.

Caribbean Women Writers. Edited by Harold Bloom. Chelsea House Publications, 1997.

The Whistling Bird: Women writers of the Caribbean [Fiction, Verse, Plays]. Edited by Elaine Campbell, Pierrette Frickey. Lynne Reinner Publishers, 1998.

The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories.  Edited by Stewart Brown and John Wickham. Oxford, 1999.

Caribbean Folk Tales and Fantasies. Michael Anthony. Macmillan Caribbean, 2004.

 

Pulse: A Collection of essays by Saint Lucian writers. Edited by Kendel Hippolyte and Melchoir Henry, 1980.

Saint Lucian Literature and Theatre: an anthology of reviews. Compiled and edited by John Robert Lee and Kendel Hippolyte. Castries: Cultural Development Foundation, 2006.

POETRY

Caribbean Verse: an anthology. Edited and introduced by O.R. Dathorne. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, 1967.

Caribbean Voices: an anthology of West Indian Poetry. Selected by John Figueroa.  Vol. 1 – Dreams and Visions. Evans Brothers, 1966; Vol. 2 – The Blue Horizons. Evans Brothers, 1970.

West Indian Poetry.  New edition.  Edited by Kenneth Ramchand and Cecil Gray.  Longman Caribbean, 1971.

Breaklight: an anthology of Caribbean poetry. Edited by Andrew Salkey. Hamish Hamilton, 1971.

Melanthika:  an Anthology of Pan-Caribbean writing. Edited by Nick Toczek, Philip Nanton and Yann Lovelock. L.W.M. Publications, 1977.

News for Babylon: The Chatto Book of Westindian – British Poetry. Edited by James Berry. Chatto and Windus, 1984.

A Shapely Fire: Black Writers in Canada. Edited by Cyril Dabydeen. Mosaic press, 1987.

Jahaji Bhai: an anthology of Indo-Caribbean Literature. Frank Birbalsingh. TSAR, 1988.

Voiceprint: an anthology of oral and related poetry from the Caribbean. Selected and edited by Stewart Brown, Mervyn Morris, Gordon Rohlehr. Longman, 1989.

Hinterland: Caribbean poetry from the West Indies and Britain. Edited by E.A. Markham. Bloodaxe Books, 1989.

Creation Fire: A CAFRA Anthology of Caribbean Women’s Poetry. Edited by Ramabai Espinet. Sister Vision, 1990.

The Heinemann Book of Caribbean Poetry.  Selected by Ian McDonald and Stewart Brown. Heinemann,  1992.

Caribbean Poetry Now.  2^nd edition.  Edited by Stewart Brown.  Edward Arnold, 1992.

Crossing Water: Contemporary Poetry of the English-Speaking Caribbean. Edited by Anthony Kellman. NY: The Greenfield Review Press, 1992.

The Massachusetts Review: Contemporary Caribbean Culture and Art. Autumn-Winter 1994.

The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse in English. Edited by Paula Burnett.  Penguin Classics, 1986, 2005.

The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse.  Edited by Stewart Brown and Mark McWatt.  Oxford, 2005.

University of Hunger: Collected poems and selected prose of Martin Carter. Edited by Gemma Robinson. Tarset: Bloodaxe Books, 2006.

New Caribbean Poetry: an Anthology. Edited by Kei Miller. Carcanet, 2007.

Wheel and Come Again: An Anthology of Reggae Poetry. Edited by Kwame Dawes. Peepal Tree press, 2008.

Confluence: nine Saint Lucian poets.  Edited by Kendel Hippolyte.  Castries, 1988.

Roseau Valley and other poems for Brother George Odlum.  Compiled and edited by John Robert Lee. Castries.

4. West Indian Literary Journals

BIM. Barbados. Begun in December 1942 by E.L. (Jimmy) Cozier the Founder and First editor.  Edited for many years by Frank Collymore and John Wickham.  New issues are now edited by Esther Phillips.

Kyk –Over- Al.  Guyana. Founded in 1945. Edited by the late A. J. Seymour.  Last issue in 1961 after 28 issues. Kyk-over-Al #49/50 (June 2000) dedicated to Martin Carter Tribute.  More recent editors of occasional publications: Ian McDonald and Vanda Radzik.

Focus. Jamaica. Edited by Edna Manley in 1943, 1948, 1956, 1960. 1983 edition edited by Mervyn Morris.

Caribbean Quarterly 1949-.  Edited by Director of Extra Mural Studies, UWI, Mona, Jamaica.

New World Quarterly: A Journal of Caribbean Affairs and Public Opinion (1965-1969?/1972). Managing Editor: George Beckford (1934-1990). Published by New World Group Ltd. Carried poems, prose and literary reviews.

Jamaica Journal 1967- . Journal of the Institute of Jamaica.

The Trinidad and Tobago Review (formerly Tapia), beginning publication in 1969, has regularly published poetry, prose and reviews of Caribbean Literature. Among its writers have been Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite, Gordon Rohlehr, Ian McDonald, Kenneth Ramchand. It was edited for many years by the late Lloyd Best (1934-2007). Published by the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of the West Indies.

SAVACOU: A Journal of the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM). From Issue #1 June 1970 – Issue #15 1980. Main editors were Kamau Brathwaite, Andrew Salkey, Kenneth Ramchand, Gordon Rohlehr. Published by CAM and Savacou Publications Ltd. A number of issues were anthologies of writing, in particular the landmark and controversial Savacou 3/4 which presented New Writing 1970.

The New Voices. Trinidad. No longer published. Edited from 1973 to 1993, by Trinidadian author, Anson Gonzalez.

The Journal of West Indian Literature 1986 -.  Edited and published by Departments of Literatures in English, The University of the West Indies.

The Caribbean Writer 1987-.  Published by the University of the Virgin Islands.

WASAFIRI (UK) 1984-. Edited by Susheila Nasta. Published for the Association for the Teaching of Caribbean, African, Asian and Associated Literatures (ATCAL).

Caribbean Beat: the magazine of the true Caribbean. Published since 1992 by Media and Editorial Projects Ltd (MEP), it is the leading magazine on Caribbean and West Indian arts, culture and society. The inflight magazine of Caribbean Airways. (formerly BWIA).

Calabash: A Journal of Caribbean Arts and Letters. 2000-. Founding Editor: Jacqueline Bishop.  Editor: Gerard Aching.

Small axe: a Caribbean Journal of criticism 2001-. Editor: David Scott (1958-). Associate Editors: Anthony Bogues, Nadi Edwards, Annie Paul.

The Caribbean Review of Books (CRB). First edited by Samuel Bandara, in Jamaica, 1991-1994. Revived in 2004.  Edited by Nicholas Laughlin, Trinidad.  www.caribbeanreviewofbooks.com. Now an online journal.

The Arts Journal: Critical Perspectives on the contemporary Literature, Art and Culture of Guyana and the Anglophone Caribbean. May 2004-. Published yearly by The Arts Forum Inc., Georgetown, Guyana. Editor: Ameena Gafoor.  <www.theartsjournal.org.gy>

Many of these Journals and others that review Caribbean Literature are now online. Many blogs created by individual writers discuss and review Caribbean Literature and related issues. In its February 2009 Issue, CRB discussed the growing necessity for online literary journals. Some of the sites noted were:

Anthurium: A Caribbean Studies Journal (www.anthurium.miami.edu). Published from the University of Miami, debuted online in 2003. Appears roughly twice per year.

Calabash: A Journal of Caribbean Arts and Letters (www.nyu.edu/calabash). Based at New York University. Started in 2000.

Repeating Islands (www.repeatingislands.com). Started in 2009.

Tongues of the Ocean (www.tonguesoftheocean.org). Poetry journal based in the Bahamas. Launched in 2009. Edited by poet and playwright Nicolette Bethel. Three issues annually.

5: Readings on West Indian Literature in English.

West Indian Literature. 2^nd Edition. Edited by Bruce King. Macmillan, 1995. [Provides a historical background to West Indian writing, with brief studies of selected writers.]

The Islands in Between. Edited by Louis James. Oxford, 1968.

Caribbean writers: critical essays. Ivan Van Sertima (1935-2009). New Beacon Books, 1968.

Tradition the writer and society: Critical essays. Wilson Harris. New Beacon Books, 1967.

The West Indian Novel and its background. Kenneth Ramchand (1939-). Faber 1970; Heinemann, 1993.  Revised edition published by Ian Randle Publishers, 2004.  With bibliographies to 1967.

West Indian Poetry 1900-1970: A study in cultural decolonization. Edward Baugh. Kingston: Savacou Publications, 1971.

West Indian Poetry.  Lloyd Brown. Boston: Twayne Publications, 1978.

Critics on Caribbean Literature.  Edited by Edward Baugh. Allen and Unwin, 1978.

A Companion to West Indian Literature. Michael Hughes. London: Collins, 1979.

On George Lamming:

The Novels of George Lamming. Sandra Paquet Pouchet. Heinemann, 1983.

Caliban’s Curse: George Lamming and the revisioning of history. Supriya Nair. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996.

From Nation to Diaspora: Samuel Selvon, George Lamming and the Cultural Performance of Gender.  Curdella Forbes. Kingston: UWI Press, 2005.

Resistance and Caribbean Literature. Selwyn R. Cudjoe. Ohio University Press, 1980.

The Man-of-Words in the West Indies: Performance and the Emergence of Creole Culture. Roger D. Abrahams. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983.

On Jean Rhys:

Jean Rhys. Carole Angier. Penguin, 1985.

Jean Rhys. Letters 1931-1966. Edited by Francis Wyndham and Diana Melly. Viking Adult, 1984. Penguin Twentieth Century Classics, 1995.

Jean Rhys’s  Imagination: Reading and Writing the Creole. Veronica Marie Gregg. Atlantic Books, 1995.

Jean Rhys (Cambridge Studies in African and Caribbean Literature). Elaine Savory, 2007.

The Cambridge Introduction to Jean Rhys (Cambridge Introductions to Literature). Elaine Savory. 2009.

The Blue Hour: A Portrait of Jean Rhys (Bloomsbury Lives of Women). Lilian Pizzichini. Bloomsbury, 2010.

History of the Voice: The Development of Nation Language in Anglophone Caribbean Poetry.  Kamau Brathwaite.  London: New Beacon Books, 1984.

Poetry in the Caribbean. Julie Pearn. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1985.

Passion and Exile: Essays in Caribbean Literature. Frank Birbalsingh. Hansib, 1988.

A Reader’s Guide to West Indian and Black Literature. David Dabydeen and Nana Wilson-Tagore. Hansib, 1988.

The Caribbean Artists Movement 1966-1972: A literary and cultural history. Anne Walmsley. New Beacon Books, 1992.

New World Adams: conversations with contemporary West Indian Writers. Daryl Cumber Dance. Peepal Tree, 1992.

 

Gordon Rohlehr  (1942-.):

Calypso and Society in Pre-Independence Trinidad. Gordon Rohlehr. Port of Spain, 1990.

The Shape of that Hurt and other essays. Gordon Rohlehr. Longman Trinidad Ltd, 1992.

My Strangled City and other essays. Gordon Rohlehr. Longman Trinidad Ltd, 1992.

A Scuffling of islands: Essays on Calypso. Gordon Rohlehr. Lexicon Trinidad Ltd, 2004.

Transgression, Transition, Transformation: Essays in Caribbean Culture. Gordon Rohlehr. Lexicon Trinidad Ltd, 2007.

On Kamau Brathwaite:

Pathfinder: Black awakening in The Arrivants of Edward Kamau Brathwaite. Gordon Rohlehr, 1981.

Roots: essays of Kamau Brathwaite. Kamau Brathwaite. University of Michigan, 1993.

The Art of Kamau Brathwaite. Edited by Stewart Brown. Seren Books, 1995.

Kamau Brathwaite’s MiddlePassages:  A Lecture, with an introduction by Elaine Savory, produced by Hyacinth M. Simpson. Sandberry Press, 2005. [CD, 65 minutes].

Caribbean Culture: soundings on Kamau Brathwaite. Edited by Annie Paul. UWI Press, 2007.

Come back to me my language: poetry and the West Indies. J. Edward Chamberlin. Illinois, 1993.

Woman version: Theoretical Approaches to West Indian Fiction by Women. Evelyn O’Callaghan.  Warwick University Caribbean Studies, 1993.

Out of the Kumbla: Caribbean Women and Literature. Edited by Carole Boyce Davies, Elaine Savory Fido. NJ: Africa World Press, 1994.

Women writing the West Indies, 1804-1939: ‘A Hot Place, belonging to us.’ Evelyn O’Callaghan. London: Routledge Research in Postcolonial literatures, 2004.

Deconstruction, Imperialism and the West Indian novel. Glyne A. Griffith. UWI Press, 1995.

Rena Juneja. Caribbean Transactions: West Indian Culture in Literature. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996.

The Repeating Island: The Caribbean and the Postmodern Perspective. Antonio Benitez-Rojo (1931-2004). Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1996.

Frontiers of Caribbean Literature in English( Interviews). Edited by Frank Birbalsingh.  St. Martin’s Press, 1996.

The Routledge reader in Caribbean Literature. Edited by Alison Donnell, Sarah Lawson Welsh, 1996.

Traveller’s Literary Companion: Caribbean. James Ferguson. Passport Books, 1997.

Conversations with V.S. Naipaul.  Edited by Feroza Jussawalla. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi,   1997.

An introduction to West Indian Poetry. Laurence A. Breiner. Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Historical thought and literary representation in West Indian Literature. Nana Wilson-Tagoe. UWI Press, 1998.

Beating a Restless Drum: The Poetics of Kamau Brathwaite and Derek Walcott. June Bobb. Trenton, NJ: Africa World press, 1998.

The Other America: Caribbean Literature in a New World Context. J. Michael Dash. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1998.

Caribbean Literature in English. Louis James. Longman, 1999.

Is English we speaking and other essays.  Mervyn Morris. Ian Randle Publishers, 1999.

Natural Mysticism: Towards a New Reggae Aesthetic. Kwame Dawes. Peepal Tree Press, 1999.

Talk yuh talk: Interviews with Anglophone Caribbean Poets. Edited by Kwame Dawes. University of Virginia Press, 2000.

On Derek Walcott:

The Art of Derek Walcott. Edited by Stewart Brown. Seren Books, 1991.

Critical Perspectives on Derek Walcott. Edited by Robert Hamner. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1996.

Conversations with Derek Walcott. Edited by William Baer. University Press of Mississippi, 1996.

What the Twilight says: Essays. Derek Walcott. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1998.

Derek Walcott: A Caribbean Life. Bruce King. Oxford, 2000.

Abandoning dead metaphors: the Caribbean phase of Derek Walcott’s poetry. Patricia Ismond (1944-2006). University of the West Indies Press, 2001.

Nobody’s Nation: Reading Derek Walcott. Paul Breslin. University of Chicago Press, 2001.

Derek Walcott. Edward Baugh. Cambridge University Press [Cambridge Studies in African and Caribbean Literature], 2006.

The Caribbean Novel in English: An Introduction. Edited by M. Keith Booker and Dubravka Juraga. Ian Randle Publishers, 2001.

The novels of Samuel Selvon: A critical study. Roydon Salick. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.

The Maroon Narrative: Caribbean Literature in English across boundaries, ethnicities and centuries (Studies in Caribbean Literature). Cynthia James. Heinemann, 2002.

The Empire writes back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, Helen Tiffin. 2nd Edition. Routledge, 2002.

The Second Shipwreck. A Study of Indo-Caribbean Literature. Jeremy Poynting. Peepal Tree, 2003.

Self-Portraits: Interviews with Ten West Indian Writers and Two Critics. Funso Aiyejina. UWI School of Continuing Studies, St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, 2003.

Growing in the Dark: Selected Essays. Earl Lovelace and Funso Aiyejina.  Port of Spain: Lexicon, 2003.

 

On Wilson Harris:

Wilson Harris: A Philosophical Approach. C.L.R. James. UWI, 1965.

Wilson Harris and the Caribbean novel. Michael Gilkes. Longman, 1975.

Wilson Harris. Hena Maes-Jelinek. Boston: Twayne, 1982.

The Literate Imagination: Essays on the novels of Wilson Harris. Edited by Michael Gilkes. Macmillan, 1989.

Selected Essays of Wilson Harris, the unfinished Genesis of the Imagination. Edited by A.J.M. Bundy. Routledge, 1999.

Exploring the Palace of the Peacock: Essays on Wilson Harris. Joyce Sparer Adler. Edited by Irving Adler,  UWI Press, 2003.

All are involved: the Art of Martin Carter. Edited by Stewart Brown. Peepal Tree, 2004.

Making West Indian Literature (Essays and interviews). Mervyn Morris. Ian Randle Publishers, 2005.

Twentieth Century Caribbean Literature: Critical Moments in Anglophone Literary History. Alison Donnell. Routledge, 2005.

Caribbean Literature and the Environment: Between Nature and Culture. Elizabeth M. De Loughery. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2005.

Tourist, traveller, troublemaker: essays on poetry. Stewart Brown. Peepal Tree, 2007.

Nationalism and the Formation of Caribbean Literature. Leah Reade Rosenberg. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

The World is what it is: The Authorised Biography of V.S. Naipaul. Patrick French. Picador, 2008.

Black Yeats: Eric Roach and the politics of Caribbean Poetry. Laurence A. Breiner.  Peepal Tree, 2008.

Caribbean Literature After Independence: The Case of Earl Lovelace. Edited by Bill Schwartz.  Institute  for the Study of the Americas, 2008.

A  Place in the World: Essays and Tributes in Honour of Earl Lovelace at 70. Edited by Funso Aiyejina. Port of Spain: Lexicon, Trinidad, 2008.

Writing Life: Reflections by West Indian Writers, Edited by Mervyn Morris & Carolyn Allen. Ian Randle Publishers, 2008.

Frank Collymore: a biography. Edward Baugh. Ian Randle Publishers, 2009.

Philosophy in the West Indian novel. Earl McKenzie. UWI Press, 2009.

Caribbean Women Writers: Essays from the First International Conference. Selwyn R. Cudjoe. University of Massachusetts, 2009.

Bibliographies, Indexes, Reference materials:

Caribbean Writers: a Bio-Bibliographical-Critical Encyclopedia.  Edited by Donald E. Herdeck. Three Continents Press, 1979.

Derek Walcott: An Annotated Bibliography of His Works. Irma Goldstraw. New York: Garland, 1984.

Fifty Caribbean Writers: a Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Edited by Daryl Cumber Dance. Greenwood Press, 1986.

West Indian Literature: an Index to criticism 1930-1975. Jeannette B. Allis. Boston: G. H. Hall, 1981.

Anglophone Caribbean Poetry 1970-2001: An Annotated Bibliography. Emily Allen Williams. Greenwood, 2002.

Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature 1900-2003.  Edited by Daniel Balderston and Mike Gonzalez.  Routledge, 2004.

 

6. The Historical, Cultural and Social background

The Traveller’s Tree. Patrick Leigh Fermor. Murray, 1950.

The Making of the West Indies. F.R. Augier et al. Longmans, 1960.

The Rastafari Movement in Kingston, Jamaica. M.G. Smith, Roy Augier, and Rex Nettleford. Kingston: Institute of Social and Economic Research, UWI, 1960.

Federation of the West Indies. Sir John Mordecai. Northwestern University Press, 1968.

The Growth of the Modern West Indies. Gordon K. Lewis (1919-1991). Monthly Review Press, 1968; Ian Randle Publishers, 2004.

The Groundings with my brothers. Walter Rodney (1942-1980). London: Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications, 1969. Reprint, 1990.

Contemporary Caribbean: A Sociological Reader. Two Volumes. Edited by Susan Craig. Port of Spain, 1981, 1982.

Main Currents in Caribbean Thought. Gordon K. Lewis (1919-1991). Heinemann, 1983.

West Indian Societies. David Lowenthal. Oxford, 1972.

The Caribbean People, Books 1,2,3.  Lennox Honychurch.  Nelson Caribbean, [1979.]

The Caribbean: Survival, Struggle and Sovereignty. Catherine A. Sunshine. An EPICA Publication, 1985.

The Modern Caribbean. Edited by Franklin W. Knight and Colin A. Palmer. University of North Carolina Press, 1989.

C.L.R. James (1901-1989):

Beyond a Boundary. C.L.R. James.  Serpent’s Tail, 1963.

The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. 2^nd Edition Rev.  C.L.R. James. Vintage Books, 1989.

The CLR James Archive: A Reader’s Guide. Compiled by Anna Grimshaw. NY: CLR James Institute, 1991.

Special Delivery: The Letters of CLR James to Constance Webb 1939-1948. Edited by Anna Grimshaw & Constance Webb. Blackwell Publishers,  1995.

C.L.R. James: A Life. Farrukh Dhondy. Pantheon Books, 2002.

Letters from London (letters of C.L.R. James). Edited by Nicholas Laughlin. Prospect Press, 2003.

C.L.R. James: Cricket’s Philosopher King. Dave Renton. Haus Publishing,  2007.

Urbane Revolutionary: C.L.R. James and the Struggle for a New Society. Frank Rosengarten. University Press of Mississippi, 2007.

Whispers from a Continent: the Literature of contemporary Black Africa. Wilfred Cartey (1931-1992). Random House, 1969.

Whispers from the Caribbean: I going away, I going home. Wilfred Cartey (1931-1992). University of California, 1991.

From Columbus to Castro: the History of the Caribbean 1492-1969. Eric Williams (1911-1981). Andre Deutsch, 1970.

The Sociology of Slavery. Orlando Patterson (1940-). London, 1971.

“Is Massa Day Done?”.  Edited by Orde Coombs.  Anchor/Doubleday, 1974.

Bob Marley: Soul rebel-Natural Mystic. Adrian Boot & Vivien Goldman. EEL Pie Publishing/Hutchinson, 1981. [Photographs of Marley 1945-1981].

West Indians and their language. Peter Roberts. Cambridge, 1988.

The Trinidad Awakening: West Indian Literature of the Nineteen-Thirties. Reinhard W. Sander. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988.

Trinidad Carnival: a republication of the Caribbean Quarterly Trinidad Carnival Issue Vol. 4 (numbers 3&4), 1956. Port of Spain: Paria Publishing Company Limited, 1988.

The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism. Franklin W. Knight. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Inward Stretch, Outward Reach: A Voice from the Caribbean. Rex Nettleford. London: Macmillan, 1993.

Noises in the blood: orality, gender and the vulgar body of Jamaican Popular Culture. Carolyn Cooper. Duke University Press, 1993.

Liberation Cricket: West Indies Cricket Culture. Edited by Hilary McD. Beckles and Brian Stoddart. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 1995.

The Development of West Indies Cricket. Hilary McD. Beckles. Kingston: UWI Press, 1999.

Ethnic Minorities in Caribbean Societies. Edited by Rhoda Reddock. St. Augustine, Trinidad: Institute of Social and Economic Research, UWI, 1996.

UNESCO General History of the Caribbean [6 titles Vols i-vi]. Volume III: The Slave societies of the Caribbean. Editor: Franklin W. Knight. Macmillan, 1997. Vol. 5: The Caribbean in the Twentieth century.

Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage.  Richard Allsopp (1923-2009). Oxford, 1997.

The Trinidad Carnival: Mandate for a National Theatre.  Errol Hill. London: New Beacon, 1997.

Catch A Fire: the Life of Bob Marley. Timothy White. Holt Paperbacks, 1998.

Before and after 1865: education, politics and regionalism in the Caribbean. Edited by Brian L. Moore and Swithin R. Wilmot. Ian Randle Publishers, 1998.

Chanting down Babylon: A Rastafari Reader. Edited by N. Samuel Murrel, William Spencer,and Adrian Anthony. Ian Randle Publishers, 1998.

Caribbean Art.  Veerle Poupeye. Thames & Hudson, 1998.

The Shaping of the West Indian Church 1492-1962. Arthur Charles Dayfoot. UWI Press, 1999.

On the canvas of the world. Edited by George Lamming. Published by the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of the West Indies, 1999. Contained are the two special issues of New World Quarterly, first published in February and November 1966 to mark the Independence of Guyana and Barbados. They were edited by George Lamming, Martin Carter and Edward Baugh.

Enterprise of the Indies. Edited by George Lamming. Published by the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of the West Indies, 1999. The material was first published in the Trinidad and Tobago Review. Contains poetry, prose, fiction and non-fiction by many leading writers and intellectuals.

Contending with destiny: The Caribbean in the 21^st Century. Edited by Kenneth Hall and Denis Benn. Ian Randle Publishers, 2000.

Caribbean Art Criticism: Fashioning a Language, forming a dialogue. Edited by Nick Whittle. Bridgetown: AICA Southern Caribbean, 2000.

New Caribbean Thought. Edited by Brian Meeks and Lindahl Folke. Kingston: UWI Press, 2001.

This is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica’s Music. Lloyd Bradley. Grove Press, 2001.

A History of West Indies Cricket. Revised Edition. Michael Manley with Donna Symmonds. Andre Deutsch, 2002.

Understanding the contemporary Caribbean. Edited by Richard S. Hillman and Thomas D’Agostino. Ian Randle Publishers, 2002.

Questioning Creole: Creolisation Discourses in Caribbean Culture. Edited by Verene Shepherd and Glen L. Richards. Ian Randle Publishers, 2002.

Paradise and Plantation: Tourism and Culture in the Anglophone Caribbean. Ian Gregory Strachan. University of Virginia Press, 2002.

The Caribbean: an Intellectual History 1774-2003. Denis M. Benn. Ian Randle Publishers, 2004.

Jamaican Dancehall Culture at large. Carolyn Cooper. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Rastafari: A universal philosophy in the third millennium. Edited by Werner Zips. Ian Randle Publishers, 2005.

Globalisation, Diaspora and Caribbean Popular Culture. Edited by Christine G. T. Ho and Keith Nurse. Ian Randle Publishers, 2005.

Rex N: Selected Speeches Rex Nettleford (b.1933– d.2010). Edited by Kenneth O. Hall. Ian Randle Publishers, 2005.

Shouts from the Outfield: The ArtsEtc Cricket Anthology. Edited by Linda M. Deane and Robert Edison Sandiford. AE Books, 2007.

Governing Sound: The Cultural Politics of Trinidad’s Carnival Musics.  Jocelyne Guilbault.  Ian Randle Publishers/University of Chicago Press (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology), 2007.

No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley. Rita Marley (with Hettie Jones). Hyperion, 2005.

Bob Marley: Lyrical Genius. Kwame Dawes. Bobcat Books, 2007.

Bob Marley: A Life (1945-1981). Garry Steckles. Macmillan Caribbean/Signal Books/Interlink Books, 2008.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++          

John Robert Lee. Photo by Davina Lee                                                                                                                                                            

 John Robert Lee is a published writer of prose, poetry, journalism; a librarian; and a radio and television broadcaster. His  latest publication is “elemental: new and selected poems,  1975-2007”. Peepal Tree Press, 2008.

johnrenator@gmail.com

http://www.mahanaimnotes.blogspot.com

                                                                                               

Room at the Table

This  article (No Room At The Table? Making inclusion a reality for black British writers) caught my eye, in part, I think, because I related to it as a Caribbean writing trying to cotch a spot in the larger world of international publishing, or, for that matter a “small island” writer in the more specific context of the Caribbean.

Which reminds me, I wanted to share this (announcement re the Caribbean Literary Action Group) as well; good move, especially in light of the imminent closure of the Caribbean Literary Salon. But ideally, and I may write to them on this, I would have liked to see Antigua and Barbuda and other unnamed Caribbean countries with a spot at this table (i.e. the inaugural meeting of what could be a very pivotal group in the evolution of the literary arts in, especially, the English speaking Caribbean). There is activity within our individual spheres that ought to inform the process and provide the foundation on which we can build. Just saying. I’m thinking the founder of CLS should be a part of this discussion as well.

Still, I look forward to seeing what action comes of it; it is in theory a step in the right direction.

Reading Room and Gallery

UPDATE! The Gallery is now closed. Continue reading at Reading Room and Gallery II, Reading Room and Gallery III, and Reading Room and Gallery IV.

DISCLAIMER: By definition, you’ll be linking to third party sites from these Links-We-Love pages. Linked sites are not, however, reviewed or controlled by Wadadli Pen (the blog, the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize nor coordinator/blogger Joanne C. Hillhouse); and Wadadli Pen (the blog, the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize and coordinator/blogger Joanne C. Hillhouse) disclaims any responsibility or liability relating to any linked sites and does not assume any responsibility for their contents. In other words, enter at your own risk.

Here you’ll find stories, interviews, reviews, poems; you name it…a totally subjective showcase of (mostly) Caribbean written (sometimes visual and audio visual) pieces that I (Joanne) have either personally appreciated or which have been recommended (and approved) for posting/linking. If you’re looking for the winning Wadadli Pen stories (and I hope you are!), click on ‘Categories’ and go to the respective year for ’2004 Winners’, ’2005 Winners’, ’2006 Winners’, ’2010 Winners’, 2011 winners… You can also see the Best of Wadadli Pen special issue at Anansesem which has the added feature of audio dramatizations of some of the stories.

POEMS

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2011/02/over-hawkins-hill/ - hard to believe this writer is only 13; some interesting insights and beautifully rendered language here.

http://afrobeatjournal.org/en/Issue_2_Spring_2011/1/129/Debris-Poetry-Jamaica-Marcia-Douglas.htm - From Afro Beat Journal, Debris by Marcia Douglas, a British born, Jamaican writer, who reportedly teaches in the US. We are a migratory people, aren’t we; kind of like the juice bag she writes about that still floats somewhere in the sea.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2011/08/the-magic-mirror-tempts-lilys-white-daughter-1951 – a literary mash-up of Snow White and racial politics. Very interesting.

http://www.anansesem.com/2011/10/earths-water.html - imagery, personification…nature comes alive in this one by Summer Edward.

http://www.nyu.edu/calabash/vol5no1/0501042.pdf - literary shout outs aplenty suffuse this lively poem (When I Die by Ann-Margaret Lim).

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/179809 - A little hip action: Hip-Hop Ghazal by Patricia Smith.

http://www.online-literature.com/frost/748 – Nothing Gold Can Stay; love love this poem…and can relate to/understand it better now as a 30 something than I did when I first heard Pony Boy say it in one of my fav movies a a kid The Outsiders …years later I actually visited Frost Farm (Aside: visited Little Women  author Louisa May Alcott house that summer, too ) – Summer ’08, walked a good road that summer, which calls to mind another Frost favourite, The Road Not Taken.

http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/7126-William-Shakespeare-Sonnet-116—Let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-minds— a favourite from the English bard, Shakespeare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqo50LSZ0&feature=related - Maya. Enough said.

http://www.bartleby.com/126/52.html - ‘When I have fears that I may cease to be’ by another personal favourite John Keats.

http://ananseseminfo.blogspot.com/2010/12/sugarcane-dance.html - I just love how this feels. Summer Edward’s Sugar Cane Dance at Anansesem, a site for Caribbean children’s literature.

http://www.nyu.edu/calabash/vol4no2/0402115.pdf - Mervyn Morris (my writing mentor during my UWI days) says so much with such few words in this endearing piece.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/04/liberian-curfew/ - This poem set in war torn Liberia and written by Antiguan, Althea Romeo-Mark has been described as “powerful”, “touching”, and “strong”.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/12/chameleon-thoughts – Danielle Boodoo Fortune is a relatively new discovery (first heard her read in 2008) who’s quickly become an old favourite. Here’s an example of why. Here’s another example: Evening in the Room Built from Words.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2009/03/the-joy-of-planting-banana-suckers-in-your-own-land – The Joy of Planting Suckers in Your Own Land; of the compulsion to grow things (a plantain, a child, a nation, an idea…)

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/06/1-o-clock-mass  – ’1 o’clock mass’ – the line that jumps out at me from this “do nations unite or do they divide”.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/08/sip-an-talk – a related piece (borders, immigration and themes of that nature) by Angelique Nixon.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/06/what-you-cryin-for -The causes and symptoms of crime take centre stage in this piece ‘What you Crying for?’ by Anku Sa Ra, well complemented by the Stevie Burrows image entitled, appropriately, ‘Crime’. Tongues of the Ocean is a multi-media site and this is one of the postings that have, in addition to the written, an aural presentation of the work.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2009/11/wheelbarrow-woman - Readers describe this Lynn Sweeting poem which challenges readers to “love up your own self fearlessly” as “refreshing and candid”.

http://www.nyu.edu/calabash/vol4no2/0402128.pdf - Delores Gauntlett’s Pocomania appeared in Volume 4 Number 2 in the Spring 2007 issue of Calabash.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/03/marassa-jumeaux/ - Geoffery Philp’s perspective on Haiti had an interesting “angle” on things. And for those who think Anansi is always up to no good for no good reason, check out his ‘Anancy Song’ here

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/current/ - This leads to Xan-Xi Bethel’s ‘Sister, Love’, a poignant piece on Haiti, complemented by Lindsay Braynan’s touching image ‘Help a Sistah Out, Man’.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/07/walcott-in-nassau – Walcott in Nassau; very effective analogy.

http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_if.htm - If.

http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/show/119806-Edna-St–Vincent-Millay-To-A-Friend-Estranged-From-Me - Actually discovered this as a teen in my much-dog-eared (translation: much loved) copy of Stephanie Tolan’s The Last of Eden. Love the imagery in the first verse, especially and the sense of loss and longing it evokes.

http://imani.wordpress.com/2007/05/13/for-my-mother-may-i-inherit-half-her-strength/ & http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/projectsandschemes/artmusicdesign/poems/poem.asp?ID=161 - two faves by Jamaica’s Lorna Goodison

http://sheeralmshouse.blogspot.com/2010/07/no-more-smalling-up-of-me.html - ‘No More Smalling up of Me’ by Jean Wilson

SHORT STORIES

If you’ve been to the Blogger on Books recently, you may remember my mini-review of American writer Will Allison’s What You Have Left. Here’s an excerpt from that very book. ALSO, you’ll remember me raving about Nigerian Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck; I just came across one of my favourite stories from the book. So, read.

http://www.munyori.com/novioletbulawayo.html – a story by Zimbabwe-American writer Noviolet Bulawayo.

http://dloc.com/AA00000079/00009/19j – Pamela Mordecai’s Cold Comfort is all kinds of funny.

http://ananseseminfo.blogspot.com/2011/05/sun-moon-darkness-rain-and-heart.html – A Caribbean folk tale from Anansesem.

http://ananseseminfo.blogspot.com/2010/12/beaumont-and-moonflower.html - A children’s story; perhaps a bit of inspiration given Wadadli Pen’s 2011 theme.

http://visitstsomewhere.blogspot.com/ - The St. Somewhere Journal features new writings from across the Caribbean. Among your blogger’s faves in the Autumn 2010 issue are Kittian writer Carol Mitchell’s ‘Kept Promises’ on Page 4 and Trinidadian Shakira Bourne’s ‘Crossing Over’ on Page 6. While you’re there, check out my story ‘Somebody!’ on Page 30 and my essay ‘On Writing’ on Page 37.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2009/10/the-rain/ - This “delightful but dark” Christi Cartwright story was hailed by readers for its “vivid imagery”.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/03/landscape-without-horizon/ - “Brilliant”, “vivid”, “beautiful” are a few of the words that have been used to describe this short story by Bahamaian, Sonia Farmer.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/05/when-coffee-time-come/ - Randall Baker’s ‘When Coffee Time Comes’ was credited for its “great characterization”.

http://ananseseminfo.blogspot.com/2010/12/yohan.html - Check out this imaginative children’s piece by Antiguan author Floree Williams.

http://www.munyori.com/miriamshumba.html - Straight out of Africa and yet familiar to all.

NON FICTION

This Jamaican children’s author asks ‘who are we writing for?’

I remember watching a group of kids at the national Youth Rally recently (Nov. 2011) chat and walk about during the Antigua and Barbuda National Anthem remembering how we couldn’t even twitch to scratch our nose singing the anthem every morning on the grounds of Holy Family School. How times have changed. It’s for this reason that I found the article ‘Tales out of School: Singing the National Anthem Word Perfect’ by Mary Quinn   to be at once sobering and amusing.

I’ll be the first to admit, I have my reservations about self-published material; while I appreciate the frustrations of the traditional route, and the desire to bypass them (been there, done that), there’s a part of me that believes the hurdles help ensure that what’s turned out is the best it can be – in terms of physical quality of the product and the quality of the content (stumbling over basic grammatical errors, plot gaps, character inconsistencies or other things that should have been caught and refined in editing takes away from the reading experience). That said, I’ve read poor material from the traditional route and really good self-published works (usually where the writer exercises the patience and good sense to invest in editing). So, with self-publishing more accessible than ever, as you consider the best route for your literary baby, I’m happy to share this article balancing both arguments while ultimately making a pro self-publishing case (in specific instances). Incidentally, the site is the online home of Bahamian writer Nicolette Bethel where there are other interesting postings on a range of topics.

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This is just one of the interesting points made in Susan Lowes’ article on Social Relations in Antigua in the 1940s: “In fact, it was by traversing this terrain that young people often came to know their “class.” Thus a young man would suddenly find that he was not allowed inside the gate of a close school friend, and realize that he was socially unacceptable to his friend’s parents. Or men who were good friends nevertheless did not visit each other inside their houses; those who reported that they were “very close” often got no further than the veranda. Women, as keepers of the indoors, controlled the most intimate types of socialization, ranging from house visits to marriage. Men, in contrast, socialized outdoors, on the streets and playing fields, in rum shops and clubs, arenas where they were less constrained by indoor standards of respectability. It was by and large the women who policed the distinctions of social class: who knew, and cared about, the genealogies, who determined who their children could socialize with inside the house and who had to remain an “outdoors” friend, and so on.”

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http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html – This is not a written piece but rather a piece on the power of writing and the danger of a single story. It’s one of the more circulated TED talks on the net, featuring Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie, author of Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, and The Thing Around her Neck – which I read and reviewed in the Blogger on Books. On the strength of the latter book and the TED talk – which I can relate to so much as a girl from the Caribbean – she’s a new favourite of mine.

http://www.thereviewreview.net/publishing-tips/what-editors-want-must-read-writers-submitti - Submitting to literary journals? Read this first.

http://accordingtohoyt.com/2011/08/30/you-say-editing-i-say-proofreading – The importance of editing.

http://www.shewrites.com/profiles/blogs/the-criticism-that-changed-my – It may not feel like it at the time but constructive criticism helps us grow as writers.

http://ananseseminfo.blogspot.com/2011/05/writing-up-storm.html – tips for unlocking the literary imagination among students.

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/7+Things+Ive+Learned+So+Far+By+Danica+Davidson.aspx – What aspiring writers need to know.

http://www.365antigua.com/cms/content/news-community-marcella-andre-commentary-haiti-march-27-2011 - I can FEEL Haiti in this piece.

http://summeredward.blogspot.com/2010/06/caribbean-picture-books-importance-of.html - Interesting piece on illustrations for Caribbean children’s literature; perhaps particularly interesting to me given that it ties in with our effort in 2011 to generate art to support the Caribbean children’s literature themed word entries for Wadadli Pen.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/03/poetry-terrors/ - On the writer and the blank page (by Kwame Dawes)

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/02/me-writing/ - On writing (by Trinidadian Paul Hadden).

http://www.candw.ag/~jardinea/ffhtm/ff971219.htm - The late Tim Hector putting into perspective the writing and life of (one of my favourites) the late Martin Carter.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/waves-and-murmurs/senior-lecture/ - Olive Senior, former winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize, was actually my workshop leader when I attended the Caribbean Fiction Writers Summer Institute at the University of Miami back in 1995. Here she speaks at the Bahamas Writers Summer Institute in 2010 on ‘Writing and the Politics of Imagination in Small Spaces’. It’s a lengthy but interesting read.

INTERVIEWS

An interview with the always outspoken Dr. Carolyn Cooper, whom I personally remember as one of my favourite professors at the University of the West Indies.

“I find that in order to write your characters well, you have to be a little bit in love with them, even the ones that aren’t lovable at all.” – from Nalo Hopkinson’s 5 Minute Interview on Date with a Book.

“There was an idea I wouldn’t have been able to conceive of [the narrator] Precious’s life unless I had lived it,” said Push writer Sapphire. Push, some of you may know is the book that birthed the academy award winning film, Precious. Read her full comments on fact/fiction and assumptions/labelling here. This struck me because I’ve actually gotten a lot of the same assumptions (or questions) about my books – The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight – that the stories were biographical when they are in fact fiction (and no more biographical than any other work of fiction, in fact less so I’d say). Never thought of it as racism though since most of the questioning came from my own community. Hm.

The Farming of Bones remains my favourite book by Edwidge Dandicat, one of my favourite contemporary writers. In this interview, she talks about the book (good reading).

This interview with Tiphanie Yanique is quite engaging and revealing, plus how many of us can say Maya Angelou read a poem of ours while we were still in high school.

http://maudnewton.com/blog/?p=9295 – as I post this, I haven’t yet read Marlon James’ books (though they’ve been recommended to me time and again, especially Book of Night Women) but I found this interview quite interesting. My favourite line comes in the section where he talks of his struggles writing a love scene: Someone once scared me by saying that love isn’t saying “I love you” but calling to say “did you eat?” (And then proceeded to ask me this for the next 6 months).    All that and he’s a Buffy fan; I think I’m going to have to book mark his blog (http://marlon-james.blogspot.com/index.html) and get to reading those books.

http://antiguaspeaks.com/news/?p=204 – Linisa George’s Brown Girl in the Ring – inspired by the children’s nursery rhyme and her experiences as a dark skinned sister growing up in a shade conscious society – is a staple of not only her When A Woman Moans productions but the local (i.e. Antiguan and Barbudan) performance poetry scene. In this article, she discusses the piece with her sister-friend and collaborator, ZIA.

http://sheroxlox.tumblr.com/post/1640248532/she-rox-tameka-jarvis-george- “Write from your heart. Write about your experiences good or bad. Everything in your life happens for a reason, so let those moments big or small be your inspiration to teach or help other people.” – excerpt from interview with Antiguan author of 2010 release Unexpected. Follow the link to read the rest.

http://www.nyu.edu/calabash/vol5no1/0501104.pdf - One of the interesting aspects of this Opal Palmer Adisa interview featured in Calabash was her insights on the Caribbean aesthetic.

VISUAL ART

http://afrolicious.com/2011/08/16/the-missing-peace-is-beautiful - This is a short film, The Missing Peace, by Rachel Benjamin; it’s based on a story by Haitian-American writer Edwidge Dandicat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymvk3HsocqQ – Motion in motion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-DWLzbPmcQ - She Rox Lox – Zahra Airall’s rendering of locked women who are just beautiful.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/06/crime – This Steven Burrows piece calls to mind for me the Bob Marley song ‘Johnny Was’: “woman hold her head and cry, ’cause her son has been shot down in the street and die”…a commentary on the unsettling state of affairs on our streets and in our homes.

http://wn.com/UNICEF_oneminutesjr__Dear_Dad - This is a winning piece in a UNICEF competition by Antiguan Carlon Knight; it’s entitled ‘Dear Dad’ and is quite touching.

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/06/help-a-sistah-out-man – This was posted on Tongues of the Ocean, the Bahamian-Caribbean multi-media arts journal. The artist is Lindsay Braynen.

…AND HERE’S SOME OF MY STUFF

Excerpt from Oh Gad! (my new book due in 2012)

Friday Night Fish Fry (fiction) @ Sea Breeze – http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/joanne_c_hillhouse.html

After Glow (fiction) @ Tongues of the Ocean – http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2009/11/after-glow

How to Make Cassava Bread and Other Musings on Culture (non fiction) @ Antigua Stories – http://antiguastories.wordpress.com/food-2/food

At Calabash (non fiction) @ Caribbean Literary Salon – http://wadadlipen.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/at-calabash

Defining Moments (non fiction) @ Geoffrey Philp’s blog – http://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/2010/12/defining-momentsjoanne-c-hillhouse.html

Off the Map (non fiction) @ Signifying Guyana -

http://signifyinguyana.typepad.com/signifyin_guyana/2010/12/guest-post-writing-off-the-map-by-joanne-c-hillhouse.html  

What Calypso Taught Me About Writing (non fiction) @ Caribbean Literary Salon – http://caribbeanliterarysalon.ning.com/profiles/blogs/what-calypso-taught-me-about

At Sea (fiction) @ Munyori – http://www.munyori.com/joannehillhouse.html

Pushing Water Up Hill (non fiction) @ Caribbean Literary Salon – http://caribbeanliterarysalon.ning.com/profiles/blogs/pushing-water-up-hill-one

Wadadli Pen – Nurturing Another Generation of Antiguan and Barbudan Writers (non fiction) @ Summer Edward’s blog – http://summeredward.blogspot.com/2010/08/guest-post-by-joanne-c-hillhouse.html

Cold Paradise (fiction) @ Women Writers – http://www.womenwriters.net/aug08/fiction_poetry/Hillhouse_ColdParadise.htm

Somebody! (fiction) @ St. Somewhere – http://visitstsomewhere.blogspot.com

Reflections on Jamaca (non fiction) @ Caribbean Literary Salon – http://wadadlipen.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/reflections-on-jamaica

Portent (fiction) @ Women Writers – http://www.womenwriters.net/aug08/fiction_poetry/Hillhouse_Portent.htm

Philly Ramblings 8 (poetry) @ Ma Comère – http://dloc.com/AA00000079/00004/36j

Ghosts Laments (poetry) @ Small Axe – http://smallaxe.net/wordpress3/prose/2011/06/30/poem-by-joanne-hillhouse

Benediction before the Essence (poetry) @ Women Writers – http://www.womenwriters.net/aug08/fiction_poetry/hillhouse_poetry.html

Prospero’s Education, The Arrival, Da’s Calypso (3 poems) @ Calabash – http://www.nyu.edu/calabash/vol4no2

Interview @ Caribbean Literary Salon – http://caribbeanliterarysalon.ning.com/profiles/blogs/interview-with-joanne-c