Voices of the Crossing. The impact of Britain on writers from Asia, the Caribbean and Africa PDF
Preview Voices of the Crossing. The impact of Britain on writers from Asia, the Caribbean and Africa
THE IMPACT OF BRITAIN ON WRITERS FROM ASIA, THE CARIBBEAN AND AFRICA Ferdinand Dennis and Naseem Khan have jointly edited Voices of the Crossing. Ferdinand Dennis was a child-immigrant from Jamaica. His first book, Behind the Frontlines: Journey into Afro-Britain, was based on a journey through six English and Welsh cities and won the 1988 Martin Luther King Memorial Prize. Much of his work has explored the expressions of Africanness among African descendants. His most recent novel, Duppy Conqueror, was described by the Guardian as 'a landmark in British fiction'. Naseem Khan co-edited The Hustler, one of the earliest Black community newspapers in the 1970s. She researched and wrote 'The Arts Britain Ignores' (1976), the report that heralded wide debate on diversity, the nature of British contemporary society and culture and helped to introduce a change in funding. She was the founding co-ordinator of MAAS, the national umbrella body for Black and Asian arts, has written regularly as a free¬ lance for the national press (including a weekly column for the New Statesman for three years in the 1980s on the arts, 'Work in Progress'), and is author of numerous reports - both as a pre¬ vious Senior Associate of Comedia and independently - on arts and public policy. She was awarded an OBE in 1999 for 'services to cultural diversity'. P - Voices of the Crossing ♦J» «$* **• The impact of Britain on writers from Asia, the Caribbean and Africa Edited by Ferdinand Dennis and Naseem Khan THE ARTS Funded by the ARTS COUNCIL OF ENGLAND ENGLAND Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-63336 A complete catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library on request The right of the individual contributors to be acknowledged as authors of their work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Copyright © 2000 of the individual contributions remains with the authors Compilation copyright © 2000 Ferdinand Dennis and Naseem Khan First published in 2000 by Serpent's Tail, 4 Blackstock Mews, London N4 2BT website: www.serpentstail.com Set in 10 pt Palatino by Intype London Ltd Printed in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham pic 10 987654321 Contents Ferdinand Dennis and Naseem Khan Preface ❖ vii Naseem Khan Introduction ❖ 1 E. A. Markham Taking the Drawing Room Through Customs ❖ 5 Attia Hosain Deep Roots, New Language ❖ 19 B. A. Gilroy Waltzing Across Four and a Half Decades ❖ 29 Ferdinand Dennis Journeys without Maps ♦:* 39 John Figueroa Becoming a Caribbean Man ❖ 51 David Dabydeen West Indian Writers in Britain ❖ 59 Mulk Raj Anand A Writer in Exile ❖ 77 Dom Moraes Changes of Scenery ❖ 83 Buchi Emecheta Crossing Boundaries ❖ 93 Rukhsana Ahmad In Search of a Talisman ❖ 101 G. V. Desani Liars, Hypocrites, Imperialists and Sages ❖ 117 Homi Bhabha The Vernacular Cosmopolitan ❖ 233 James Berry Ancestors I Carry ❖ 143 Farrukh Dhondy Speaking in Tongues ❖ 163 Nirad Chaudhuri Afterword ❖ 175 Biographical Notes ❖ 277 Preface Voices of the Crossing is an original collection of essays by - mostly - British-based writers who started life in the Caribbean, India and Africa. As editors we were interested in the features of their backgrounds in those then British colonies - all now independent nations and members of the Commonwealth - that inspired them to write, and how the journey to, and residence in, Britain impacted on them as writers. The idea for this collection of essays was bom in the early nineties among a group of writers who recognised the very real danger of the uniqueness of their contribution to English letters being at best under-appreciated, at worst, lost. After several unsuccessful efforts to find a willing publisher, James Berry - the original progenitor of the project - entrusted it to us. Needless to say, James Berry cannot be held responsible for any digression from the original conception. Several people have been of invaluable assistance in making this book happen. Our thanks to Dr Alastair Niven who, as the then director of literature at the Arts Council of England, agreed to fund the project. A special thanks to Alastair also for collating and editing Mulk Raj Anand's contribution into a single essay. Stephen Greenberg was extremely helpful in facilitating the con¬ tribution from G. V. Desani. Thanks are also due to Gary MacKeone, current director of literature at the Arts Council, and Pete Ayrton of Serpent's Tail for their editorial advice, tireless patience and cooperation. Finally, we would like to thank our contributors for accepting and rising to the challenge of excava¬ ting their memories with enthusiasm and panache. FD NK 1999 ❖ VII . .
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