Shifting the focus from poetry to the novel; from Afro-Cuban writing to the representation of Asian-Caribbean women; from the oral tradition to the scribal, this critical anthology develops the debate concerning ways of reading Caribbean women's literature. Framing The Word offers challenging perspectives from writers and critics alike writing and/or teaching in the Caribbean, the UK and the USA. Reflecting on the diversity within that body of literature generally known as Caribbean women's writing, Framing The Word moves beyond the celebratory to explore and substantiate the central questions of gender and genre. This book will be of special interest to students, teachers and a wider readership interested to become better informed about this remarkable and vibrant new writing. Contents Isms and Schisms in the Critical Frame Framing The Word: Caribbean Women's Writing ?Merle Collins, Associate Professor in Creative Writing, University of Maryland, USA En/Gendering Spaces: The Poetry of Marlene Nourbese Philip and Pamela Mordecai?Elaine Savory, New School for Social Research, New York, USA Writing for Resistance: Nationalism and Narratives of Liberation ?Alison Donnell, Lecturer in Post-Colonial Literatures, Nottingham Trent University, England Jamaica Kincaid's Prismatic Self and the Decolonialisation of Language and Thought ?Giovanna Covi, Researcher in English Language and Literature, University of Trento, Italy Views from Within and Betwixt Genres Figures of Silence and Orality in the Poetry of M. Nourbese Philip?David Marriott, Lecturer in Literary and Cultural Studies, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England Saint Lucian Lawoz and Lamagwit Songs Within the Caribbean and African Tradition?Morgan Dalphinis, Senior Lecturer/Caribbean Coordinator, Handsworth College, Birmingham, England Keeping Tradition Alive?Jean Buffong, Writer New Encounters: Availability, Acceptability and Accessibility of New Literature from Caribbean Women?Susanna Steele Senior Lecturer, University of Greenwich. and Joan Anim-Addo in Conversation Children Should Be Seen and Spoken To: or ... Writing For and About Children?Thelma Perkins, Teacher, South East London, England 'A World Of Caribbean Romance': Reformulating the Legend of Love or: 'Can a Caress be Culturally Specific?'?Jane Bryce, Lecturer in African Literature, Cave Hill Department of English, University of the West Indies Houses and Homes: Elizabeth Jolley's Mr Scobie's Riddle and Beryl Gilroy's Frangipani House?Mary Conde Lecturer in English, School of English and Drama, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England. Beyond the Divide of Language Women Writers in Twentieth Century Cuba: An Eight-Point Survey?Catherine Davies, Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Manchester University, England. Patterns of Resistance in Afro-Cuban Women's Writing: Nancy Morejon's 'Amo a mi amo' ?Conrad James, Lecturer, Department of Spanish and Italian, University of Durham, England Encoding the Voice: Caribbean Women's Writing and Creole ?Susanne Muhleisen, Lecturer in Linguistics, Department of English, University of Hanover, Germany. Surinam Women Writers and Issues of Translation?Petronella Breinburg, Head of the Caribbean Centre, Goldsmiths' College, London, England. Out of a Diverse Caribbean Womanhood Frangipani House Beryl Gilroy Writer 'One of the Most Beautiful Islands in the World and One of the Unluckiest': ?Jean Rhys and Dominican National Identity Thorunn Lonsdale, Researcher, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England Audacity and Outcome: Writing African-Caribbean Womanhood Joan Anim-Addo Coming Out of Repression: Lakshmi Persaud's Butterfly in the Wind?Kenneth Ramchand, Professor of West Indian Literature, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, and Professor of English, Colgate University, New York.

'A vital and timely introduction to some of the best books I've ever read. Perfectly curated and filled with brilliant literature' Nikesh Shukla 'The ultimate introduction to post-colonial literature for those who want to understand the classics and the pioneers in this exciting area of books' Symeon Brown These are the books you should read. This is the canon. Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne and Kadija Sesay have curated a decolonized reading list that celebrates the wide and diverse experiences of people from around the world, of all backgrounds and all races. It disrupts the all-too-often white-dominated 'required reading' collections that have become the accepted norm and highlights powerful voices and cultural perspectives that demand a place on our shelves. From literary giants such as Toni Morrison and Chinua Achebe to less well known (but equally vital) writers such as Caribbean novelist Earl Lovelace or Indigenous Australian author Tony Birch, the novels recommended here are in turn haunting and lyrical; innovative and inspiring; edgy and poignant. The power of great fiction is that readers have the opportunity to discover new worlds and encounter other beliefs and opinions. This is the Canon offers a rich and multifaceted perspective on our past, present and future which deserves to be read by all bibliophiles - whether they are book club members or solitary readers, self-educators or teachers.

'A vital and timely introduction to some of the best books I've ever read. Perfectly curated and filled with brilliant literature' Nikesh Shukla 'The ultimate introduction to post-colonial literature for those who want to understand the classics and the pioneers in this exciting area of books' Symeon Brown These are the books you should read. This is the canon. Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne and Kadija Sesay have curated a decolonized reading list that celebrates the wide and diverse experiences of people from around the world, of all backgrounds and all races. It disrupts the all-too-often white-dominated 'required reading' collections that have become the accepted norm and highlights powerful voices and cultural perspectives that demand a place on our shelves. From literary giants such as Toni Morrison and Chinua Achebe to less well known (but equally vital) writers such as Caribbean novelist Earl Lovelace or Indigenous Australian author Tony Birch, the novels recommended here are in turn haunting and lyrical; innovative and inspiring; edgy and poignant. The power of great fiction is that readers have the opportunity to discover new worlds and encounter other beliefs and opinions. This is the Canon offers a rich and multifaceted perspective on our past, present and future which deserves to be read by all bibliophiles - whether they are book club members or solitary readers, self-educators or teachers.

"Using a rich diversity of approaches, these essays give voice to hitherto unheard stories and provide historical and theoretical frameworks in which to understand them. Reading the volume creates an exciting feeling of discovery."-Margaret Homans, Yale University Black Victorians/Black Victoriana is a welcome attempt to correct the historical record. Although scholarship has given us a clear view of nineteenth-century imperialism, colonialism, and later immigration from the colonies, there has for far too long been a gap in our understanding of the lives of blacks in Victorian England. Without that understanding, it remains impossible to assess adequately the state of the black population in Britain today. Using a transatlantic lens, the contributors to this book restore black Victorians to the British national picture. They look not just at the ways blacks were represented in popular culture but also at their lives as they experienced them-as workers, travelers, lecturers, performers, and professionals. Dozens of period photographs bring these stories alive and literally give a face to the individual stories the book tells. The essays taken as a whole also highlight prevailing Victorian attitudes toward race by focusing on the ways in which empire building spawned a "subculture of blackness" consisting of caricature, exhibition, representation, and scientific racism absorbed by society at large. This misrepresentation made it difficult to be both black and British while at the same time it helped to construct British identity as a whole. Covering many topics that detail the life of blacks during this period, Black Victorians/Black Victoriana will be a landmark contribution to the emergent field of black history in England. Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina is a professor of English at Vassar College. Her book Black London (Rutgers University Press) was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She is also the author of Carrington, whose life story was made into a film starring Emma Thompson.

Shifting the focus from poetry to the novel; from Afro-Cuban writing to the representation of Asian-Caribbean women; from the oral tradition to the scribal, this critical anthology develops the debate concerning ways of reading Caribbean women's literature. Framing The Word offers challenging perspectives from writers and critics alike writing and/or teaching in the Caribbean, the UK and the USA. Reflecting on the diversity within that body of literature generally known as Caribbean women's writing, Framing The Word moves beyond the celebratory to explore and substantiate the central questions of gender and genre. This book will be of special interest to students, teachers and a wider readership interested to become better informed about this remarkable and vibrant new writing. Contents Isms and Schisms in the Critical Frame Framing The Word: Caribbean Women's Writing ?Merle Collins, Associate Professor in Creative Writing, University of Maryland, USA En/Gendering Spaces: The Poetry of Marlene Nourbese Philip and Pamela Mordecai?Elaine Savory, New School for Social Research, New York, USA Writing for Resistance: Nationalism and Narratives of Liberation ?Alison Donnell, Lecturer in Post-Colonial Literatures, Nottingham Trent University, England Jamaica Kincaid's Prismatic Self and the Decolonialisation of Language and Thought ?Giovanna Covi, Researcher in English Language and Literature, University of Trento, Italy Views from Within and Betwixt Genres Figures of Silence and Orality in the Poetry of M. Nourbese Philip?David Marriott, Lecturer in Literary and Cultural Studies, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England Saint Lucian Lawz and Lamagwit Songs Within the Caribbean and African Tradition?Morgan Dalphinis, Senior Lecturer/Caribbean Coordinator, Handsworth College, Birmingham, England Keeping Tradition Alive?Jean Buffong, Writer New Encounters: Availability, Acceptability and Accessibility of New Literature from Caribbean Women?Susanna Steele Senior Lecturer, University of Greenwich. and Joan Anim-Addo in Conversation Children Should Be Seen and Spoken To: or ... Writing For and About Children?Thelma Perkins, Teacher, South East London, England 'A World Of Caribbean Romance': Reformulating the Legend of Love or: 'Can a Caress be Culturally Specific?'?Jane Bryce, Lecturer in African Literature, Cave Hill Department of English, University of the West Indies Houses and Homes: Elizabeth Jolley's Mr Scobie's Riddle and Beryl Gilroy's Frangipani House?Mary Cond Lecturer in English, School of English and Drama, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England. Beyond the Divide of Language Women Writers in Twentieth Century Cuba: An Eight-Point Survey?Catherine Davies, Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Manchester University, England. Patterns of Resistance in Afro-Cuban Women's Writing: Nancy Morejn's 'Amo a mi amo' ?Conrad James, Lecturer, Department of Spanish and Italian, University of Durham, England Encoding the Voice: Caribbean Women's Writing and Creole ?Susanne Mhleisen, Lecturer in Linguistics, Department of English, University of Hanover, Germany. Surinam Women Writers and Issues of Translation?Petronella Breinburg, Head of the Caribbean Centre, Goldsmiths' College, London, England. Out of a Diverse Caribbean Womanhood Frangipani House Beryl Gilroy Writer 'One of the Most Beautiful Islands in the World and One of the Unluckiest': ?Jean Rhys and Dominican National Identity Thorunn Lonsdale, Researcher, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England Audacity and Outcome: Writing African-Caribbean Womanhood Joan Anim-Addo Coming Out of Repression: Lakshmi Persaud's Butterfly in the Wind?Kenneth Ramchand, Professor of West Indian Literature, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, and Professor of English, Colgate University, New York.