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An Anthology
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Table of Contents
x
xv
Table of Contents: Genres
Table of Contents: Regions
Acknowledgements
Introduction
XXll1
XXV1
Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
Girls at War (st01y)
Arna Ata Aidoo (Ghana)
1
-:k- uJc»A.-~
No Sweetness Here (st01y)
Agha Shahid Ali (Pakistan)
Snowmen (poem)
Mull< Raj Anand (India)
Duty (st01y)
Jean Arasanayagam (Sri Lanka)
I Have No Country (poem)
We Have Our Genealogies (poem)
Ven Begamudre (India-Canada)
Honestly, as in the Day (story)
uise Bennett (Jamaica)
Anancy an Ticks (folk tale)
Neil Bissoondath (Trinidad-Canada)
Man as Plaything, Life as Mocke1y (story)
Gerry Bostock (Australia)
Here Comes the Nigger (play)
ionne Brand (Trinidad-Canada)
Return I (poem)
. .. Seen (story)
Edward Kamau Brathwaite (Barbados)
Red Rising (poem)
Dennis Brutus (South Africa)
I Am Alien in Africa and Everywhere (poem)
I Am Out of Love with You For Now (poem)
14
29
30
35
36
38
47
49
60
68
69
72
75
75
CONTENTS/ v
Buhkwujjencne ( an·d )
Nanaboozlzoo reate<; the World (folk tfll J
Willi
h n (Trinid ad)
As am '. Iron
78
!test (story)
Au tin I rke B r
The Man {.Ho )
d
77
n·
1
n
2
10
1 I
p m
1
107
1
1 ')
11
111
11
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J
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p \' JJo k
lJ/ack foacr
ir
r '))
LJ
( .\IOI) )
u1 In
d
atholic fother (p •m J
Ret11m (po 'm)
um
1
L
j_
k.i I Ind i
1 1
1 -
n leer? ( rorr
J
1
i a H g d rn Philippin TI1e on of Bullet (poem)
vi I CONCERT OF VOICES
1
Claire Harris (Trini dad-C anada )
Framed (poem)
And So . .. Home (poem)
Backstage at the Glenbo w Museum, Calgary (poem)
140
141
142
---------......
...__~&·&..,on
Harris (Guyana-UK)
naima (story)
Bessie Head (South Africa)
The Collector of Treasures (story)
K i Hulme (New Zealan d)
Hooks and Feelers (st01y)
Witi Ihima era (New Zealan d)
A Game of Cards (st01y)
Sally Ito (Canada)
Sisters of the Modern Mind (poem)
Arnol d Itwaru (Guyana-Canada)
arrival (poem)
roomer (poem)
separate ways (poem)
Sunita Jain (India)
Fly the Friendly Skies (st01y)
Ruth Prawe r Jhabvala (India-USA)
The Old Lady (st01y)
Jamai ca Kincaid (Antigua-USA)
My Mother (st01y)
On Seeing England for the First Time (essay)
Thomas King (Cana da)
Coyote Goes to Toronto (poem)
Joy Kogawa (Cana da)
What Do I Remem ber of the Evacuation (poem)
When I Was a Little Girl (poem)
Shirley Geok-lin Lim (Malaysia-USA)
Ah Mah (poem)
To Li Poh (poem)
Jayant a Mahap atra (India)
The Aband oned British Cemete1y at Balasore (poem)
e Marac le (Canada) . . . -Charlie (st01y)
Damb udzo Marec hera (Zimbabwe)
Black Skin What Mask (st01y)
145
152
170
181
186
189
189
190
191
194
204
209
214
216
217
218
219
220
222
229
CONTENTS I vii
}u • na U )
tn th ' lntlt '\ (5tm} J
Pauline Mel illc (
The Tmth
H
2
ude h Mi hra ( iji)
21
2
The Black Pa oda. onarnk (pn 'Jn J
Mt. Abu . • t. av1er'.\ C/111rch (poem J
In i· -
R
na ,
.. I
nz-rn1.1 - rna a
T
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tendra
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Gooboora, the dent Pool (poem)
71e Pa t (po w1)
viii I CONCERT OF VOICES
u tr fr
_-.J
Gabri el Okar a (Nigeria)
The Snowflakes Sail Gently Down (poem)
Michael Onda atje (Sri Lanka-Canada)
Light (poem)
Sasenarine Persa ud (Guyana-Canada)
Tiger Swami (poem)
M. Nour bese Philip (Trinidad-Canada)
She Tries Her Tongue; Her Silence Softly Breaks (poem)
Transfiguration (poem)
Jean Rhys (Dominica-UK)
I Used to Live Here Once (story)
Salman Rushdie (India-UK)
"Commonwealth Literature " Does Not Exist (essay)
Samuel Selvon (Trinidad-UK-Canada)
Bracldey and the Bed (story)
Turning Christian (story)
Olive Senior (Jamaica)
The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream (story)
Vikram Seth (India)
from The Golden Gate 12.1-12.8 (poem)
Philip Sherlock (Jamaica)
The Warau People Discover the Earth (folk tale)
Leslie Marm on Silko (USA)
Yellow Woman (story)
·
Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)
The Trials of Brother Jero (play)
Subramani (Fiji)
Sautu (story)
355
357
360
362
362
364
366
374
378
385
397
401
405
414
438
Mary TallMountain (USA)
447
Edwin Thumboo (Singapore)
448
M. G. Vassanji (Tanzania-Canada)
450
Alafina Yuki (Fiji)
459
Fred Wah (Canada)
461
There is No Word for Goodbye (poem)
mysse s by the Merlion (poem)
The London-Returned (story)
Four-Year Wisdom (poem)
from Brea thin ' my name with a sigh (poem)
CONTENTS I ix
Derek Wale tt ( t. ucia)
Ruins of a reatl fom e (po m J
A Letter from Brook/ •n (poem )
Midsumm er !JI poem )
Al
rt W n<lt W st ern
7
m
I
rocodile (5/ory)
re
Ma W n ( in
Th e. hm ud (po
I· n
I
•m )
Arthur
m111d (
111
I I
7
t e:-1
nnc
r' nd
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77
hoo
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)
x I CONCERT OF VOICES
Saros Cowasjee (India-Canada)
His Father 's Medals
Manoj Das (India)
Encounters
Jack Davis (Australia)
White Fantasy-Black Fact
Pay Back
Anita Desai (India)
Swface Textures
Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)
Is There Nowhere Else Where We Can Meet?
Wilson Harris (Guyana-UK)
Kanai ma
Bessie Head (South Africa)
The Collector of Treasures
Keri Hulme (New Zealand)
Hooks and Feelers
Witi Ihimaera (New Zealand)
A Game of Cards
Sunita Jain (India)
Fly the Friendly Skies
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (India-USA)
The Old Lady
Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua-USA)
My Mother
Lee Maracle (Canada)
Charlie
Dambudzo Marechera (Zimbabwe)
Black Skin What Mask
Pauline Melville (Guyana-UK)
Th e Truth is in the Clothes
Rohinton Mistry (India-Canada)
Swimming Lessons
Tololwa Marti Mollel (Tanzania-Canada)
A Night Out
Toshio Mori (USA)
Slant-Eyed Americans
98
113
115
124
133
145
152
170
181
191
194
204
222
229
235
248
273
277
CONTENTS I xi
u h fri c-
Es'kia Mphahlcle (
2
Tiie offee-Cart ·;r1
Bharati Mukherjee (rn i -
2!1
J!indw
V. . ip ul ( rinid ' dB. WordHmrtll
ra , n (In 1a
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xii I CONCERT OF VOICES
anka
n <l
Dennis Brutus (South Africa)
I Am Alien in Africa and Everywhere
I Am Out of Love with You For Now
Rienzi Crusz (Sri Lanka-Canada)
Roots
Fred D'Aguiar (Guyana-UK)
Home
Cyril Dabydeen (Guyana-Canada)
Senorita
Elephants Make Good Stepladders
David Dabydeen (Guyana-UK)
Catching Crabs
The New Poetry
Kamala Das (India)
An Introduction
The Looking Glass
75
75
103
104
106
107
108
109
110
111
Eunice de Souza (India)
Catholic Mother
Return
Nissim Ezekiel (India)
Case Study
Lorna Goodison (Jamaica)
Survivor
Jessica Hagedorn (Philippines-USA)
17-ze Song of Bullets
Claire Harris (Trinidad-Canada)
Framed
And So ... Home
Backstage at the Glenbow Museum, Calgary
Sally Ito (Canada)
Sisters of the Modem Mind
Arnold Itwaru (Guyana-Canada)
arrival
roomer
separate ways
Thomas King (Canada)
Coyote Goes to Toronto
Joy Kogawa (Canada)
What Do I Remember of the Evacuation
When I Was a. Little Girl
129
131
132
137
140
141
142
186
189
189
190
214
216
217
CONTENTS I xiii
)
im (
hirley e k-lin
21
21
Ah Mah
To Li Poh
tr (India
Jay nta Mah
The Abandon d !Jnfl~h
m
•/'I}' nt
flrrla
r•
2
217
M rvyn
rri ( m- i
2
To an f-pntriat !-ri 'nd
Famil • P1ct11rc\
I
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xiv I CONCERT OF VOICES
(I
I
i/r
:/
1
Arthu r Yap (Singapore)
474
2 Mothers in a HDB Playground
Drama
Gerry Bostock (Australia)
60
Here Comes the Nigger
Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)
The Trials of Brother Jero
Essays
Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua-USA)
2()f)
On Seeing England for the First Time
Timothy Mo (Hong Kong-UK)
268
One of Billy's Boys: A Memoir
V. S. Naipaul (Trinidad-UK)
306
Jasmine
Satend ra N andan (Fiji)
312
Njabulo S. Ndebele (South Africa)
336
Salman Rushdie (India-UK)
366
Return to a Certain Darkness
Guilt and Atonem ent: Unmasking History for the Future
"Comm onwea lth Literature " Does Not Exist
Table of Contents: Regions
Africa
Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
1
Girls At War (story)
Arna Ata Aidoo (Ghana)
14
No Sweetness Here (story)
Dennis Brutus (South Africa)
75
75
I Am Alien in Africa and Everywhere (poem)
I Am Out of Love with You For Now (poem)
Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)
Is There Nowhere Else Where We Can Meet? (story)
Bessie Head (South Africa)
The Collector of Treasures (story)
Dambudzo Marechera (Zimbabwe)
Black Skin What Mask (story)
/
~
133
152
229
CONTENTS I XV
T l lwa Marti M ll el (
A Night
n7 ni ·
,
)
n
ut (s·tory
2
E 'kia Mphahlc lc ( uth Afri •
The offee- art 1rl (story
Nja ul
de
Jc
fri ·)
uilt and Atoncm nt
Ii
nmn ·in I Ii t ry nr th haur
I
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p
W le
111
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l'lmU
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t
uhk\ jj<.:nt.:n<.:
'annba(rito
I trkc
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rl ·
u tin
Ri n1i ru
Root' (
)
1
ana a
ril
0< d Ftp/ 1dtf n
rinid · d- ..rnada
l ir H rri
Fr med (poem )
And o. fl om e (po mJ
Back..ra c t th t.: lenbow M/t\ wm
xvi I CONCERT OF VOICES
JO
1-10
l .Jl
J ..:_
Sally Ito (Cana da)
Sisters of the Modem Mind (poem)
Arnol d Itwaru (Guyana-Canada)
arrival (poem)
roomer (poem)
separate ways (poem)
Thomas King (Cana da)
Coyote Goes to Toronto (poem)
Joy Kogawa (Cana da)
What Do I Remember of the Evacuation (poem)
When I Was a Little Girl (poem)217
Lee Marac le (Cana da)
186
189
189
190
214
216
222
Charlie (story)
Rohinton Mistry (India-Canada)
Swimming Lessons (story)
Tololwa Marti Mollel (Tanzania-Canada)
A Night Out (story)
Michael Ondaa tje (Sri Lanka-Canada)
Light (poem)
Sasenarine Persaud (Guyana-Canada)
Tiger Swami (poem)
Sam Selvon (Trinidad-UK-Canada)
Brackley and the Bed (story)
Turning Christian (story)
M. G. Vassanji (Tanzania-Canada)
The London-Returned (story)
Fred Wah (Canada)
From Breathin ' my name with a sigh (poem)
248
273
357
360
374
378
450
461
Caribbean
Louise Bennett (Jamaica)
Ananc y an Ticks (folk tale)
Neil Bissoondath (Trinidad-Canada)
Man as Plaything, Life as Mockery (story)
Dionne Brand (Gren ada-C anada )
Return I (poem)
... Seen (story)
Edwar d Kamau Brathwaite (Barbados)
Red Rising (poem)
47
49
68
69
72
CONTENTS I xvii
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xviii I CONCERT OF VOICES
· (poem)
Jean Rhys (Dominica-UK)
I Used to Live Here Once (story)
Sam Selvon (Trinidad -UK-Can ada)
Bracldey and the Bed (story)
Turning Christian (story)
Olive Senior (Jamaica)
The Boy Who Loved Jee Cream (story)
Philip Sherlock (Jamaica)
The Warau People Discover the Earth (folk tale)
Derek Walcott (St. Lucia)
Ruins of a Great Ho1tse (poem)
A Letter from Brooldyn (poem)
Midsumme r Lii (poem)
364
374
378
385
401
462
464
465
The Indian Subcontinent
Mulk Raj Anand (India)
Duty (story)
Jean Arasanayagam (Sri Lanka)
I Have No Country (poem)
Ven Begamudre (India-Canada)
Honestly, as in the Day (story)
Rienzi Crusz (Sri Lanka-Canada)
Roots (poem)
Kamala Das (India)
An Introductio n (poem)
17ie Looking Glass (poem)
Manoj Das (India)
Encounter s (story)
Anita Desai (India)
Surface Textures (story)
Eunice de Souza (India)
Catholic Mother (poem)
Return (poem)
Nissim Ezekiel (India)
Case Study (poem)
Jessica Hagedorn (Philippines-USA)
17ie Song of Bullets (poem)
Sunita Jain (India)
Fly the Friendly Skies (st01y)
30
35
38
103
110
111
113
124
129
129
131
137
191
CONTENTS I
xix
'4
./7
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J
k
Au trili ·
H 711re ,.a/lfm\ - l /ack ,.act 1 n
P y Back ('ton•J
· ,j
uJ_J
170
nd
1 1
XX
I CONCERT OF VOICES
Satendr a Nandan (Fiji)
312
Return to a Certain Darkness (essay)
Mudroo roo Narogin (formerly Colin Johnson; Australia)
A Missionary Would I Have Been (story)
Ngitji Ngitji (formerly Mona Tur; Australia)
344
The Possum Woman (story)
Oodgero o Noonuccal (formerly Kath Walker; Australia)
Gooboora, the Silent Pool (poem)
The Past (poem)
Subram ani (Fiji)
327
353
354
438
Sautu (st01y)
Alafina Yuki (Fiji)
Four-Year Wisdom (poem)
Albert Wendt (Western Samoa-New Zealand)
Crocodile (st01y)
459
466
UK&U SA
Fred D'Aguia r (Guyana-UK)
Home (poem)
David Dabydeen (Guyana-UK)
Catching Crabs (poem)
The New Poetly (poem)
Jessica Hagedo rn (Philippines-USA)
The Song of Bullets (poem)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (India-USA)
The Old Lady (st01y)
Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua-USA)
My Mother (st01y)
On Seeing England for the First Time (essay)
Shirley Geo.k-lin Lim (Malaysia-USA)
Ah Mah (poem)
To Li Poh (poem)
Pauline Melville (Guyana-UK)
The Truth is in the Clothes (st01y)
Toshio Mori (USA)
Slant-Eyed Americans (st01y)
Bharati Mukherjee (India-USA)
Hindus (st01y)
104
108
109
137
194
204
209
218
219
235
277
292
CONTENTS I xxi
V. . ip ul ( nni dB. Wordsworth (Hnn•J
Jasmin e ( Ha )
J
n
Rhys
mini
I U. d to In" J!, •r
Im n Ru h ic (In i, -U )
tf
" ommonw alth I it •mt11r " f
an i l 1
7
xxii I CONCERT OF VOICES
Fred Wah
from Breathin' my name with a sigh
my father hurting at the table
sitting hurting
at suppertime
deep inside very
far down inside
because I can't stand the ginger
in the beef and greens
he cooked for us tonight
and years later tonight
that look on his face
appears now on mme
my children
my food
their food
my father
their father
memme
the father
very far
very very far
inside
FRED WAH I 461
Biographical Notes
ACHEBE, Chinua (b. 1930) Born in Ogidi, Nigeria, he studied in Ibadan and
London. His novels include Things Fall Apart (1958), A Man of the People
(1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1986). He has published stories, poetry,
and essays, and has held teaching positions in Nigeria and the United States. He
has been awarded honorary degrees in Canada, the USA, and the UK.
AIDOO, (Christina) Arna Ata (b. 1942) Born in Ghana, she was educated
there and at Stanford University and now lives in the USA. A poet, playwright,
and novelist, she has written the novel Our Sister Killjoy (1977), the play Anowa
(1970), and several short stories.
ALI, Agha Shahid (b. 1949) Originally from Kashmir, he was educated in
India and the USA. He currently lives in the USA, where he has taught at
several universities and colleges. His publications include The Half-Inch
Himalayas (1987) andA Nostalgist 's Map of America ( 1990).
ANAND, Mulk Raj (b. 1905) Born in Peshawar, India (now in Pakistan) , he
was educated in Punjab and in London. He earned his PhD in Philosophy in
1929. Actively involved in India's struggle for independence, he served later as
cultural advisor to the government. Untouchable (1935) was the first of many
novels, stories, essays, and children's books.
ARASANAYAGAM, Jean (b. 1940) Born in Sri Lanka into a Dutch Burgher
family, she was educated there and in Scotland. She has published six volumes
of poetry, including Out of our Prisons We Emerge (1987) and Red Water Flows
Clear (1991), a collection of short stories, and a novel. She lectures at a
teachers' college in Sri Lanka.
BEGAMUDRE, Ven (b. 1956) Born in South India, he moved to Canada
when he was six years old. He studied in the USA, Paris, and Ottawa. His
publications include a collection of short stories, A Planet of Eccentrics (1990),
and a novel Van de Graff Days (1993).
BENNEIT, Louise (b. 1919) Born in Jamaica, she originally wrote poems in
Standard English but abandoned that for Jamaican creole. She went to England
on a drama scholarship and had a regular programme on the BBC. Now based
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES I 477
in
J maica, he h
(J
), and h
try tncludin Jamaica Labn h
eral pu lic;hed collec11 n .
rm1d d, he came to
Up
me
in al
ittle
h
rn1c.:n c
f) <nd h.1 k turc.:c.J m 111 1
\\
\\
r aun
ht f ·who in
r up
10
c,
rt- CO() wm r,
II te m Kin of rhe
).
478 I CONCERT OF VOICES
COWASJEE, Saras (b. 1931) Born in India, he studied at Agra University and the
University of Leeds and now teaches English at the University of Regina. He has
written two novels, including Goodbye to Elsa (1974), two collections of stories, and
several essays and commentaries, and has edited several volumes of Indian stories.
CRUSZ, Rienzi (b. 1925) Born in Sri Lanka of Portuguese ancestry, he was
educated at St. Joseph's College in Colombo and later taught there. In 1951 , he
studied library science in London. He immigrated to Canada in 1965 and has
worked as a librarian. His volumes of poetry include Flesh and Thorn (1974)
and A Time for Loving (1986).
D'AGUIAR, Fred (b. 1960) Born in London, he grew up in Guyana, but
returned to England, where he now resides. A poet and dramatist, his volumes
of poems include Mama Dot (1985) and Airy Hall (1989).
DABYDEEN, Cyril (b. 1945) Born in Guyana, he came to Canada in 1970
and attended Queen's University. He has published several volumes of poetry,
including Distances (1977) and Coast/and (1989), two volumes of short stories,
and two novellas.
DABYDEEN, David (b. 1955) Born in Berbice, Guyana, he immigrated to
England when he was thirteen years old. He attended the universities of
Cambridge and London. His publications include a scholarly work, Hogarth's
Blacks ((1987), several volumes of poetry, including Slave Song (1984) , and a
novel, The Intended (1991).
DAS, Kamala (b. 1934) Born and educated in India, she has written several
volumes of poetry, including The Descendants (1967), short stories, and an
autobiography, My St01y (1975) .
DAS, Manoj (b. 1934) Born in Orissa, India, he has written several volumes of
short stories, fables, and fantasies, including The Vengeance and Other Stories
(1980).
DAVIS, Jack (b. 1917) Born in Australia, he has been active as a poet,
dramatist, and critic since the 1960s. He was the editor of the Aboriginal
magazine Identity. His poetry collections include The First-Born and Other
Poems (1970).
DESAI, Anita (b. 1937) Born in India to a German mother and Bengali
father, she has written several novels, including Fire on the Mountain (1977)
and Baumgartner's Bombay (1988), children's books, and a volume of short
stories, Games at Twilight (1978). She currently teaches in the USA and Delhi.
DE SOUZA, Eunice (b. 1940) Born in Poona, India , she was educated in the
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES I 479
and in
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480 I CONCERT OF VOICES
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IHIMAERA, Witi (b. 1944) Born in New Zealand of Maori and Scottish ancestry,
he has published several novels and stories, including Tangi (1973), The Whale
Rider (1987), and Dear Miss Mansfield (1989). He has written an opera, Waituhi:
The Life of the Village (1985), and a cultural history, Maori (1975).
ITO, Sally (b. 1965) Born in Alberta, Canada, of Japanese ancestry ("my
mother having come from Japan and my father being a third generation
Japanese Canadian"), she studied in Japan and at the University of British
Columbia. Her poems have appeared in Canadian magazines.
ITWARU, Arnold (b. 1942) Born in Guyana, he immigrated to Canada in 1969.
He has written three collections of poetry, including Entombed Survivals (1987), a
novel, Slumti (1988), and three non-fiction works, the most recent being The
Invention of Canada: Litermy Texts and the Immigrant Imagination (1990).
JAIN, Sunita (b. 1941) Born in India, she has studied in the USA and India.
She writes in both Hindi and English and has published two volumes of stories,
including Eunuch of Time and Other Stories (1982).
JHABVALA, Ruth Prawer (b. 1927) Born in Germany to a Polish/Jewish
family, she immigrated to Britain in 1939. Educated in England, she lived in
India for 25 years after her marriage. Her novels include The Householder
(1960) and Heat and Dust (1975). She has written several collections of short
stories and screenplays. She has been living in the USA since 1976.
KINCAID, Jamaica (b. 1949) Born in Antigua , she now lives and writes in the
USA Her fiction includes At the Bottom of the River (short stories, 1984) and
Annie John (novel, 1985). She has written many critical essays.
KING, Thomas (b. 1943) Born in Canada of a Cherokee fa ther and a
Greek-German mother, he was Chair of Native American studies at the
University of Minnesota. He also teaches at the University of Guelph, Canada.
His publications include Green Grass, Running Water (novel, 1993), a number
of short stories, poems, and a children's book.
KOGAWA, Joy (b. 1935) Born in Vancouver, Canada, of Japanese ancestry,
she grew up in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. She and her
family were interned during the Second World War. Her volumes of poetry
include A Choice of Dreams (1974). She has written a novel , Obasan (1981),
based on her experiences during the war.
LAM, Dominic Man-Kit Raised in Hong Kong, he attended the University of
British Columbia, and now divides his time between Hong Kong and Texas; he
is a scientist as well as an internationally recognised artist.
LIM , Shirley Geok-Lin (b. 1843) Born in Malaysia, she immigra ted to the
USA and is a poet , critic, and academic. Her poetry collections include
Crossing the Peninszda, which won the 1980 Commonwealth Poetry Prize. She is
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES I 481
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482 I CONCERT OF VOICES
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MORRIS, Mervyn (b. 1937) Born in Jamaica, he was educated there and at
Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. He has published several
collections of poetry, including The Pond (1973), has edited a number of
anthologies, and is a journalist and theatre critic. He teaches at the University
of the West Indies in Jamaica.
MPHAHLELE, Es'kia (b. 1919) Born in Pretoria, South Africa, he has taught
at universities in the USA and in South Africa, where he currently lives. His
publications include The Wanderers (novel, 1971 ), Man Must Live (stories,
1946), and The African Image (essays, 1962, rev. 1974).
MUKHERJEE, Bharati (b. 1940) Born and educated in Calcutta, India, she
attended universities in India and the USA She spent some years in Canada
before returning to the USA in 1981. Her publications include Wife (novel,
1975), Darkness (stories, 1985), and The Sorrow and the Terror: The Haunting
Legacy of the Air India Tragedy (1987), with Clark Blaise.
NAIPAUL, V. S. (b. 1932) Born in Trinidad and educated at Queen's Royal
College, Trinidad, he left for Oxford University in 1950, and has lived in
England since then. His novels include The Mystic Masseur (1957), A House for
Mr Biswas (1961), The Enigma of An·ival (1987), and A Way in the World
(1994). He has published several collections of essays and travel books,
including Among the Believers (1981) and India: A Million Mutinies Now
(1990).
NANDAN, Satendra (b. 1939) Born in Fiji, he was educated the in UK and
Australia. He moved to Australia after the Fijian coups in 1987. He has
published several volumes of poems, including Voices in the River (1985), and a
novel The Wounded Sea (1991). His autobiography, Relics of a Rainbow: A
Fijian Story, is due in 1995.
NARAYAN, R. K. (b. 1906) Born in Madras, India, he has spent most of his
life in Mysore. He has published fourteen novels including Swami and Friends
(1935) and The World of Nagaraj (1990) , and ·numerous collections of stories,
essays, and memoirs. He has travelled and lectured in the USA, and has
received India's highest literary award, the Padma Bhushan award.
NAROGIN, Mudrooroo / Colin Johnson (b. 1938) Born in Narogin, Western
Australia, he changed his name to reaffirm his tribal identity. He writes poetry,
fiction, and literary criticism. His publications include Wild Cat Falling (novel,
1965) and The Song Circle of Jacky and Selected Poems (1986). He has taught
Aboriginal Literature at Murdoch University and at the University of
Queensland.
NDEBELE, Njabulo S. (b. 1948) Born in Johannesburg, South Africa , he was
educated there, at Cambridge University, and the University of Denver. His
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES I 483
pu ltca t1 n<i mclu d Fool ~ ond
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at Rugby and Cambridge, England, graduating with a degree in History. His
novels include Grimus (1975), Midnight 's Children (1981), and the
controversial The Satanic Verses (1988), which led to death threats against him.
He has published also Jmaginmy Homelands: Essays and Criticism (1991 ).
SELVON, Sam (1923-94) Born in Trinidad, the son of an East Indian father
and half-Scottish mother, he immigrated to England in 1954 and moved to
Calgary in 1978. He wrote ten novels, including An Island ls a World (1955),
The Lonely Londoners (1956), and Moses Migrating (1983), numerous short
stories, essays, screenplays, and plays for radio and television.
SENIOR, Olive (b. 1941) Born in Jamaica, she was educated there , in
Canada, and in Britain. An editor and journalist , her publications· include
Talki.ng of Trees (poems, 1985), Summer Lightning (stories, 1986), and The
Arrival of the Snake Woman (stories, 1989).
SETH, Vikram (b. 1952) Born in Calcutta, India, he left India at the age of
eleven to study in England. A graduate of Oxford and of Stanford, his
publications include Mappings (poetry, 1982), From Heaven Lake: Travels
Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983), The Golden Gate (a novel in verse , 1986),
andA Suitable Boy (novel, 1993).
SHERLOCK, Philip (b. 1902) Born in Jamaica, he became Vice-Chancellor
of the University of the West Indies. He is the author and editor of more than
fifteen volumes of poetry, history, and folk tales, including Anansi the Spider
Man (1954).
SILKO, Leslie Marmon (b. 1948) Born in New Mexico, she is of mixed
ancestry, part Laguna, part Mexican, and part white. She is the author of the
novel Ceremony (1977), and several collections of stories, including Laguna
Woman (1974). Storyteller (1981) is a selection of her poems and stories.
SOYINKA, Wole (b. 1934) Born in Nigeria and educated at universities in
Ibadan and Leeds, he has published several novels and volumes of essays, plays,
and poetry, including A Dance of the Forests (play, 1963), T71e Interpreters
(novel, 1965), Poems from Prison ( 1969), The Man Died: Prison Notes of Wole
Soyinka (1972), and Mandela 's Earth and Other Poems (1988). He was
awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.
SUBRAMANI (b. 1943) Born in Fiji, he has studied in Suva, New Zealand,
and Canada. His publications include The Fantasy Eaters (1988) a collection of
stories and a number of critical essays. He now teaches at the University of the
South Pacific in Suva.
TALLMOUNTAIN, Mary I Mary Randle (1918-94) Born in Alaska, the
daughter of a Koyukon-Athabascan Indian mother and Scottish-Irish father,
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES I 485
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