This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books

by Kadija Sesay, Deirdre Osborne, Joan Anim-Addo

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529414592
Publisher:	Mobius
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Professor Joan Anim-Addo is an academic, poet, playwright and publisher. She is Professor Emerita of Caribbean Literature and Culture at Goldsmiths University, London, and the co-founder of the world-first MA in Black British Literature.

Dr Deirdre Osborne is Reader in English Literature and Drama at Goldsmiths University, London. She is committed to decolonising pedagogies and curriculum design and co-founded the world-first MA in Black British Literature. She is associate editor of Women's Writing.

Kadija Sesay MBE is a writer and editor, and the founder of SABLE LitMag and SABLE LitFest. She has edited several anthologies of work by writers of African and Asian descent including co-editing IC3:The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain. Kadija's poetry, stories and essays have been published in the UK, USA and Africa.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Decolonizing Your Bookshelf: Introducing This is the Canon 3

Decolonizing the Canon: Welcoming Diversity 16

The Canon

1 Love in a Fallen City and Other Stories Eileen Chang (1943) 31

2 All About H. Hatterr: A Gesture G V Desani (1948) 37

3 Thousand Cranes Yasunari Kawabata (1952) 43

4 The Lost Steps Alejo Carpentier (1953) 49

5 The Lonely Londoners Sam Selvon (1956) 55

6 Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe (1958) 61

7 Children of the New World: A Novel of the Algerian War Assia Djebar (1962) 67

8 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys (1966) 73

9 A Grain of Wheat Ngugi wa Thiong'o (1967) 79

10 The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born Ayi Kwei Armah (1968) 85

11 The Bridge of Beyond Simone Schwarz-Bart (1972) 91

12 A Question of Power Bessie Head (1974) 97

13 If Beak Street Could Talk James Baldwin (1974) 103

14 Between Two Worlds Miriam Tlali (1975) 109

15 Woman at Point Zero Nawal El Saadawi (1975) 115

16 Our Sister Killjoy: Or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint Ama Ata Aidoo (1977) 121

17 Territory of Light Yuko Tsushima (1979) 127

18 Kindred Octavia E. Butler (1979) 133

19 The Joys of Motherhood Buchi Emecheta (1979) 139

20 So Long a Letter Manama Bâ (1980) 145

21 The Color Purple Alice Walker (1982) 151

22 Segu Maryse Condé (1984) 157

23 Annie John Jamaica Kincaid (1985) 163

24 Beloved Tom Morrison (1987) 169

25 Nervous Conditions Tsitsi Dangarembga (1988) 175

26 Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories Sandra Cisneros (1991) 181

27 Texaco Patrick Chamoiseau (1992) 187

28 Breath, Eyes, Memory Edwidge Danticat (1994) 193

29 Discerner of Hearts and Other Stories Olive Senior (1995) 199

30 Salt Earl Lovelace (1996) 205

31 The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy (1997) 211

32 Trumpet Jackie Kay (1998) 217

33 The Years with Laura Díaz Carlos Fuentes (1999) 223

34 The Best of Albert Wendt's Short Stories Albert Wendt (1999) 229

35 Monkey Beach Eden Robinson (2000) 235

36 The Emperor's Babe: A Novel Bernardine Evaristo (2001) 241

37 Dogside Story Patricia Grace (2001) 247

38 Shell Shaker LeAnne Howe (2001) 253

39 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini (2003) 259

40 Small Island Andrea Levy (2004) 265

41 Dancing in the Dark Caryl Phillips (2005) 271

42 Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2006) 277

43 The White Tiger Aravind Adiga (2008) 283

44 In Other Rooms, Other Wonders Daniyal Mueenuddin (2009) 289

45 How to Read the Air Dinaw Mengestu (2010) 295

46 NW Zadie Smith (2012) 301

47 The Swan Book Alexis Wright (2013) 307

48 A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James (2014) 313

49 The Sellout Paul Beatty (2015) 319

50 The White Girl Tony Birch (2019) 325

Afterword

Decolonizing the Literary World 333

About the Authors 343

Acknowledgements 346