Synopses & Reviews
Some of the freshest, most vital, and diverse new literature written in the twentieth century has emerged from the Caribbean. And central to Caribbean literature is the short story, with its ties with the oral tradition. Now,
The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, edited by Stewart Brown and John Wickham, brings together fifty-two stories in a major anthology representing over a century's worth of pan-Caribbean short fiction. This breathtaking collection is unique--and indispensable--in its inclusion of authors from the English, French, Spanish, and Dutch-speaking Caribbean.
The distinctly Anglophone viewpoint of such prominent authors as Jean Rhys, Sam Sevlon, V.S. Naipual, and E.A. Markham is richly contrasted by contributions from French, Spanish, and Dutch writers like Alejo Carpentier, René Depestre, and Thea Doelwijt, while the new generation--represented by such writers as Edwidge Danticat and Patrick Chamoiseau--points the way forward for Caribbean writing into the twenty-first century. With his stimulating introduction, Brown provides an up-to-date overview of Caribbean writing. Exploring the literature's themes of history, race, social justice, identity, and migration, he traces its evolution from the gritty naturalism of the Anglophone tradition to the magical realism of the French and Spanish traditions to a body of contemporary pan-Caribbean literature that cannot be contained in any convenient linguistic, geographical, or thematic definition.
Charting the shifting ideologies and styles of this century--from the flamboyant wit of Samuel Selvon to the deceptive simplicity of Jamaica Kincaid--The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories delivers a wealth of satisfactions in a single volume with unprecedented range.
About the Author
Stewart Brown is a poet and critic who teaches African and Caribbean literature at the Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham.
John Wickham is literary editor of the Nation newspaper (Barbados) and editor of Bim, the Caribbean's longest-established literary journal. One of the most respected figures in Caribbean literature, he also served as a Senator in the Barbados parliament.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Frank Collymore: 'Some People are Meant to Live Alone'; Jean Rhys: 'Pioneers, oh, Pioneers'; Eric Walrond: 'Drought'; Alfred Mendes: 'Pablo's Fandango'; CLR James: 'Triumph'; Alejo Carpentier: 'Journey to the Seed'; Roger Mais: 'Red Dirt Don't Wash'; Juan Bosh: 'Encarnacion Mendoza's Christmas Eve'; Jan Carew: 'Tilson Ezekial alias Ti-Zek'; G. Cabrere Infante: 'The Doors Open at Three'; Sam Selvon: 'The Cricket Match'; John Wickham: 'The Light on theSea'; Ismith Khan: 'Shadows move in the Britannia Bar'; Rene Depestre: 'Rosena on the Mountain'; Roy Heath: 'The Master Tailor and the Teacher's Skirt'; Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 'The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship'; Andrew Salkey: 'A Proper Anno Domini Feeling'; Kamau Brathwaite: 'Dream Haiti'; Antonio Benitez Rojo: 'Buried Statues'; V. S. Naipaul: 'The Night Watchman's Occurance Book'; Michael Anthony: 'They Better Don't Stop the Carnival'; John Stewart: 'The Old Men Used to Dance'; Paule Marshall: 'To Da-Duh, In Memoriam'; Austin Clarke:
'Leaving this Island Place'; Maryse Conde: 'The Breadnut and the Breadfruit'; Earl Lovelace: 'Victory and the Blight'; Velma Pollard: 'Altamont Jones'; Thea Doelwijt: 'In Foreign Parts'; Lawrence Scott: 'Ballad for the New World'; E. A. Markham: 'Mamie's Form at the Post Office'; Rosario Ferre: 'When Women Love Men'; Clyde Hosein: 'Morris, Bhaiya'; Olive Senior: 'Do Angels Wear Brassiers?'; Miriam Warner-Vieyra: 'Passport to Paradise'; Willi Chen: 'Trotters'; Pauline Melville: 'The Conversion of Milicent Vernon'; N. D. Williams: 'Beach'; Merle Collins: 'The Walk'; Reinaldo Arenas: 'Goodbye Mother'; Ana Lydia Vega: 'Eye Openers'; Jean Breeze: 'Sunday Cricket'; Astrid Roemer: 'The Inheritance of My Father: a story for Listening'; Jamaica Kincaid: 'Blackness'; Patrick Chamoiseau: 'Red Hot Peppers'; Lionel Seepaul: 'Pan for Pocket'; Robert Antoni: 'A World of Canes'; Makeda Silvera: 'Caribbean Chameleon'; Zoila Ellis: 'The Waiting Room'; Edgardo Sanabria Santaliz: 'After the Hurricane'; Geofry Philp:
'My Brother's Keeper'; Alicia McKenzie: 'Private School'; Edwidge Danticat: '1937'; Bibliography; Notes.