Joan Anim-Addo

Deirdre Osborne

Kadija Sesay

Kadija Sesay George

These are the books you should read. This is the canon. Upending our traditionally white-dominated 'to be read' piles, Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne and Kadija Sesay push to the fore the voices and cultural perspectives that demand a place on everyone's shelves. From literary giants such as Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie and Chinua Achebe to recent Man Booker Prize winners Paul Beatty and Bernardine Evaristo, the novels recommended here are in turn haunting and lyrical; innovative and inspiring; edgy and poignant. They are books that reflect the wide and diverse experiences of people from around the world, of all backgrounds and all races. They are books that represent voices that have for too long been silenced or side-lined.

Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books

The Is the Canon

'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.

This is the Canon

"Longest Journey is essentially a local history, the story of three continents and the journeys which brought them together. The pirates and adventurers, who crossed the oceans in search of gold and slaves, returned to build the manor houses of Kentish London. Surviving the horrors of the 'Middle Passage' were characters like Cornelius the Blackamore, buried at Lee, the activist Equiano who forgot he was a slave until he was resold at Deptford and young Sancho who learned his letters in a duke's library on Blackheath. In the post-war years a new generation of African-Carribbeans made the crossing, coming in hope, facing a new challenge and putting down the roots of a local black community."--Back cover of book.

A History of Black Lewisham

Longest Journey

These poems from a Grenadian poet reconstruct, comment upon, and interpret history that is at times personal, regional, universal, and haunting. This is an engrossing exploration of large and crucial themes today and ever-present history as it shapes and remakes individuals. English as well as Creole are different points of the language continuum employed in the collection.

Poetry

Haunted by History

Suzanne Scafe

Cultural Writing. Literary Criticism. African Studies. This book engages with ways in which knowledge representing the black body, whether through film, ethnography, fashion, history, anthropological study or indeed literature, might be both encountered and countered. This landmark collection shifts spatially through a range of countries in present day westernEurope to interrogate the widespread assumption that the black body is already known, whether as primitive or neo-primitive, silenced or riotous The volume constructs a dialogue that is at once interracial as well as international, and which speaks at times consciously from the figuratively `black/white/yellow' body/bodies highlighted in the title. Collaborativelyresearched and strongly argued, this collection will interest a wide readership of historians, anthropologists, and scholars working on new literatures, film, feminism, translation studies, cultural studies and European studies. Contributors include: Tomi Adeaga, Anyaa Anim-Addo, Joan Anim-Addo, Heidi Bojsen, Christine Checinska, Giovanna Covi, Raimi Gbadamosi, Viv Golding, Serena Guarracino, Gloria Maestripieri Laurie McIntosh, Midori Saito, and Suzanne Scafe. Joan Anim-Addo is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literature and Director of the Caribbean Studies Centre, Goldsmiths, University ofLondon. Suzanne Scafe is Senior lecturer in English Studies at London South Bank University.

Joan Anim-Addo

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