Susheila Nasta

Beyond the millennium: Black women's writing

Nastas piece forms part of an oral contribution to the plenary session of the conference in which a variety of speakers discussed the many questions that the conference had raised. It focuses specifically on the location and history of black womens writing in Britain and attempts to address issues that have dominated critical and theoretical discussion for some years. The question as to how far we have moved on in our reading and assessment of these literatures is discussed; also the fact that perhaps debates we now see as being contemporary were also current in the experiences of earlier representations of Britain from a black or Asian perspective. Nasta makes some tentative suggestions in terms of how we might move forward.

Sealing a Friendship: George Orwell and Mulk Raj Anand at the BBC (1941–43)

Exploration of the relationship between Mulk Raj Anand and George Orwell whilst they were working at the BBC Eastern Service during World War 2.

Between Bloomsbury and Gandhi? The Background to the Publication and Reception of Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable

Untouchable, Mulk Raj Anand’s first and perhaps best-known novel, was published in 1935 by the small left wing British publisher, Wishart Books Ltd. Now a prestigious Penguin Modern Classic, it is frequently heralded as one of the most significant milestones in the history of modern Indian writing in English, and has been republished and translated several times since its first appearance. The novel’s route to publication, however, was not an easy one; even though Anand at the time was well connected both in Britain (amongst the Bloomsbury group), and the subcontinent (as a Founder of the Indian Progressive Writer’s Association). Following rejections from nineteen publishers, Anand was grateful in the end for the patronage of his friend and fellow-novelist, E. M. Forster, who, in writing an influential preface to the first edition, provided some much-needed early legitimization for the book among a sceptical British reading public. To many, the central focus of this novel, concerning a day in the life of Bakha, one of India’s untouchables (a sweeper and latrine cleaner) seemed to be too ‘vulgar’, even too ‘dirty’; too inappropriate a subject to be admitted easily into the ‘supposedly’ respectable world of 1930s’ British fiction. In colonial India furthermore, the book’s reception and circulation was thwarted soon after publication, though for different reasons.

African, Caribbean, Australian, Canadian, and Indian Literatures in English

This chapter has the following sections: 1. Africa, by Phyllis Pollard; 2. The Caribbean, by Susheila Nasta; 3. Australia, by John Thieme; 4. Canada, by Charles R. Steele; 5. India, by Prabhu S. Guptara.

XVIII African, Caribbean, Indian, Australian, and Canadian Literature in English

This chapter has the following sections: 1. Africa: (a) General, (b) West Africa, (c) East and Central Africa, (d) Southern Africa, by Phyllis Pollard; 2. The Caribbean: (a) General, (b) The Novel/Prose, (c) Poetry, (d) Drama, by Susheila Nasta; 3. India: (a) General, (b) Poetry, (c) Fiction, by Prabhu Guptara; 4. Australia: (a) General, (b) Individual Authors: 1789-1920, (c) Individual Authors: Post-1920, by John Thieme; 5. Canada: (a) General, (b) Fiction, (c) Poetry, (d) Drama, by Kenneth Hoeppner.

Samuel Selvon: a preliminary bibliography

The following bibliography works towards providing a comprehensive register of the work of Samuel Selvon. It does not claim to be exhaustive and for the bibliography to be included in my forthcoming book Critical Perspectives on Samuel Selvon (Three Continents Press, Washington, D.C.) I would welcome any additional references and corrections ; these can be sent to me at First Floor Flat, 107 Regents Park Road, London NW 1. I am grateful to Dr. Kenneth Ramchand of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad, for providing me with a number of references to the Trinidad Guardian.