Caribbean writers at BIM Conference, Barbados, 2008: Carolyn Cooper, Danielle Boodoo-Fortune, Angela Barry, Dana Gilkes, Esther Phillips, Ramabai Espinet, George Lamming, Joanne Hillhouse, Pat Mohammed, Margaret Gill, Curdella Forbes.
DISCOVERING WEST INDIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Compiled and selected by John Robert Lee
DEDICATED TO PATRICIA CHARLES, SAINT LUCIA 1937-2010 and REX NETTLEFORD, JAMAICA 1933-2010.
Contents:
Introduction
1. West Indian Authors – Prose writers, mainly novelists, with selected works listed.
2. West Indian Authors – Poets, a Name Index.
3. Selected Anthologies of West Indian Literature.
4. West Indian Literary Journals.
5. Readings on West Indian Literature in English.
6. Readings on 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 creative 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
Acknowledgements:
Cover photographs:
Caribbean Writers at Carifesta 1995 in Trinidad and Tobago. From l-r: Derek Walcott, Martin Carter, George Lamming, Earl Lovelace, Ernest Mootoosamy (Guadeloupe), Kamau Brathwaite. Photo: courtesy Sherwin Griffith.
Caribbean writers at BIM Conference in Barbados, 2008. From l-r: Carolyn Cooper, Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné, Angela Barry, Dana Gilkes, Esther Phillips, Ramabai Espinet, George Lamming, Joanne Hillhouse, Pat Mohammed, Margaret Gill, Curdella Forbes. Photo: courtesy Joanne Hillhouse.
To all those who encouraged, supported, suggested authors and titles, thank you.
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, 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, fiction and non-fiction.
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 19-.. Bermuda. Endangered Species and other stories, 2003.
Valerie Belgrave 19-. Trinidad. Ti Marie, 1988.
Alvin Bennett 1918-. Jamaica. God the Stonebreaker, 1964, 1973.
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/Toronto. 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 and Claiming (Prose Poetry), 1980; Bodies of Water, 1990; No telephone to heaven, 1987, 1996; Free Enterprise: A Novel of Mary Ellen Pleasant, 1993; The Store 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.
Orde M. Coombs (1939-1984). St. Vincent. Do you see my love for you growing?: essays, 1972; Drums of Life: A Photographic essay (with Chester Higgins Jr), 1974; Editor: Is Massa Day dead?: Black Moods in the Caribbean, 1974.
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.
Fred D’Aguiar 1960-. Guyana. The Longest Memory 1994; Dear Future, 1996; Feeding the Ghosts, 1999; Bethany Bettany, 2003.
Jean D’Costa 1937 - . Jamaican. Sprat Morrison, 1972; Escape to Last Man Peak, 1975; Voice in the Wind, 1978.
Ralph De Boissiere (1907-2008). Trinidad. Crown Jewel, 1952; Rum and Coca Cola, 1956; No Saddles for Kangaroos, 1964; Call of the Rainbow, 2007.
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.
Ramabai Espinet 1948 – . Trinidad/Canada. The Princess of Spadina, 1992; Ninja’s Carnival, 1993; The Swinging Bridge, 2003.
Merrill Ferguson 19-. Jamaica. Village of Love, 1961.
Curdella Forbes 1957. Jamaica. Songs of Silence, 2002; Flying with Icarus and other stories, 2003; A Permanent Freedom, 2008.
Fitzroy Fraser 19..-19... 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 19-. 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.
Perry Henzell (1936-2006). Jamaica. Cane, 2003; Power Game, 2009.
Joanne C. Hillhouse 1973-. Antigua. Dancing nude in the moonlight, 2004; The Boy from Willlow Bend, 2002, 2009.
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.
Kelvin Christopher James 19-. Trinidad/USA. Jumping Ship and other stories, 1992; Secrets, 1993; A Fling with a Demon Lover, 1996; The Sorcerer’s Drum, 2009. The Collected Short Stories of Kelvin Christopher James [part of an academic electronic collection entitled Black Short Fiction. Alexander Street Press, 2004].
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 1945-. St. Kitts/St. Croix. Sonny Jim of Sandy Point, 1991; Death on the Pasture, 1994; Andy Browne’s Departure, 2007; Dana, Steven and Brenda, 2009; A Weekend in Paradise, 2010.
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. 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 19-. 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; Among the believers: An Islamic Journey, 1982; The Enigma of Arrival, 1988; A Way in the World, 1995, Beyond belief: Islamic excursions among the converted peoples, 1999; 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
Elma Napier (1892-1973). Dominica. Nothing so blue, 1927; Duet in Discord, 1936 (as Elizabeth Garner); A Flying Fish Whispered, 1938 (as Elizabeth Garner); Youth is a blunder: Memoir, 1948; Winter is in July: memoir, 1949; Black and White Sands: A bohemian life in the colonial Caribbean, 2009.
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. When Rocks dance, 1992; Beyond the Limbo Silence, 1998; Bruised Hibiscus, 2000; Discretion, 2002; Grace, 2003; Prospero’s daughter, 2006; Anna In-Between, 2009.
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; Dancing in the Dark, 2006; Foreigners, 2008; In the Falling Snow, 2009 and other fiction and non-fiction works. Conversations with Caryl Phillips. Edited by Renée T. Schatteman. University Press of Mississippi, 2009.
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.
Paulette Ramsay 1956-. Jamaica. Aunt Jen, 2003; Between two silences [Translation of short stories by Hilma Contreras of the Dominican Republic], 2004; On Friday Night [Translation of Ecuadorean novel by Luz Argentina Chiribog. With Anne-Maria Bankay.], 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 19-. St. Lucia. Death by fire, 1999.
Trevor Rhone 1940 – 2009. Jamaica. Bellas Gate Boy (Memoir), 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 1968-. Barbados. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall : stories, 1995; Sand for snow, 2003; The Tree of Youth and other stories, 2005. Graphic novels (with various illustrators): Attractive Forces, 1997; Stray Moonbeams, 2002; Great Moves, 2010.
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 19-. 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. 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 19-. 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
Linda M. Deane 19-. Barbados
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
Simon Jones-Hendrickson 1945-. St. Kitts/St. Croix
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 1947-. 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
Paulette Ramsay 1956-. Jamaica
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 19-. Bahamas
Michael Smith (1954-1983). Jamaica
Eintou Pearl Springer 1944-. Trinidad
Gandolph St. Clair 1951.- 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.
Green Cane and Juicy Flotsam: short stories by Caribbean Women. Edited by Carmen C. Esteves and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert. Rutgers University Press, 1991.
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.
Stories from the Blue Latitudes: Caribbean Women Writers at home and abroad. Edited by Elizabeth Nunez and Jennifer Sparrow. Seal Press, 2006.
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
An Anthology of West Indian Poetry: Federation Commemoration Issue. Caribbean Quarterly Vol.5 No.3 (April 1958). Editors: Philip M. Sherlock and Andrew T. Carr. [“This West Indies Federation commemorative issue of Caribbean Quarterly marked the opening of the West Indies Parliament by Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret on the 22nd April 1958”].
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. 2nd 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, 2003. [50 years of St. Lucian poetry and art].
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 the late Samuel B. 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.
ArtsEtc: The Premier Cultural Guide to Barbados 2003-, edited by Robert Edison Sandiford and Linda M. Deane. ArtsEtc have also moved online to broaden their contributors and audience. www.artsetcbarbados.com.
5: Readings on West Indian Literature in English.
West Indian Literature. 2nd Edition. Edited by Bruce King. Macmillan, 1995. [Provides a historical background to West Indian writing, with brief studies of selected writers.]
Tradition the writer and society: Critical essays. Wilson Harris. New Beacon Books, 1967.
The Islands in Between. Edited by Louis James. Oxford, 1968.
Caribbean writers: critical essays. Ivan Van Sertima (1935-2009). New Beacon Books, 1968.
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.
Edna Manley: The Diaries. Edna Manley ( 1900-1987). Edited by Rachel Manley. Deutsch, 1989.
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.
Making Men: Gender, Literary Authority and Women’s Writing in Caribbean Narrative. Belinda Edmondson. Duke University Press, 1999.
Talk yuh talk: Interviews with Anglophone Caribbean Poets. Edited by Kwame Dawes. University of Virginia Press, 2000.
Caribbean Waves: Relocating Claude McKay and Paule Marshall (Blacks in the Diaspora). Heather Hathaway. Indiana University 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.
V.S. Naipaul. 2nd edition. Bruce King. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
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 Middlebrow: Leisure Culture and the Middle Class. Belinda Edmondson. Cornell University Press, 2009.
Caribbean Women Writers: Essays from the First International Conference. Selwyn R. Cudjoe. University of Massachusetts, 2009.
Modernism, the Visual and Caribbean Literature. Mary Lou Emery. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Bibliographies, Indexes, Reference materials:
Caribbean Writers: a Bio-Bibliographical-Critical Encyclopedia. Edited by Donald E. Herdeck. Three Continents Press, 1979.
“A Bibliography of Caribbean novels in English.” Samuel Bandara. The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 1980; 15:141-170.
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.
Mitchell’s West Indian Bibliography, 2000-. 10th edition. Don Mitchell. An online bibliography. Lists English language non-fiction from 1492 to the present.
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: Readings on 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.
West Indian Societies. David Lowenthal. Oxford, 1972.
The Caribbean People, Books 1, 2, 3. Lennox Honychurch. Nelson Caribbean, 1979, 1980, 1981.
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.
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. 2nd 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 Dead?: Black Moods in the Caribbean”. Edited by Orde Coombs (1939-1984). 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.
Last Resorts: The cost of tourism in the Caribbean. Polly Pattullo. Monthly Review Press, 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 21st 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 (1933–2010). 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.
Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean. 2nd edition. Edited by Richard S. Hillman and Thomas J. D’Agostino. Lynne Reinner Publishers, 2009.
Imaging the Caribbean: Culture and Visual Translation. Patricia Mohammed. Macmillan Caribbean, 2010.
Compiled by John Robert Lee.
He is a published writer of prose, poetry, journalism, a librarian, and a radio and television broadcaster.
John Robert Lee’s latest publication is “elemental: new and selected poems, 1975-2007”. Peepal Tree Press, 2008.
Dana Gilkes, Angela Barry, Danielle Boodoo-Fortune, Curdella Forbes, the new generation of Caribbean writers.
Caribbean writers at Word Alive International Literary Festival, Saint Lucia, March 25th - 28th, 2010.
