Further Resources

Learning more about Caribbean literature

Repositories and archives
Digital collections
Bibliographies
Publishers
Fairs and festivals
Journals
Blogs
Digital Projects

Repositories and literary archives

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Library, US

Collections include the Caryl Philips Papers, Claude McKay’s Papers.

Black Cultural Archives

Collections at the BCA include, and are organised under, the following subjects:

Periodicals: (The Voice, New Nation, Black Voice, The Alarm: Awakening Our Nation; Flamingo);  Runnymede Periodicals, The Papers of Hansib (Publications); The Papers of BASA (Association for the Study of African, Caribbean and Asian Culture and History in Britain).

The Black Women’s Movement: Olive Morris Collection; Oral Histories of the Black Women’s Movement: The Heart of the Race; The Papers of Ansel Wong; The Papers of Stella Dadzie; The Papers of Jan McKenley.

Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa, US

V. S. Naipaul archive, Jean Rhys archive.

George Padmore Institute, London, UK

Collections include the Caribbean Artists Movement; John La Rose Collection; Negro Theatre Workshop; Personal Papers of John La Rose; the International Book Fairs of Radical, Black and Third World Books.

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin, US

Holdings include Caribbean Plays Collection (creator Joseph Jones), Gabriel García Márquez Collection, Gabriel García Márquez Papers, Julia Alvarez Papers, Samuel Selvon Papers, Wilson Harris Collection.

London Metropolitan Archives

Collections include the Huntley Archives (archive of Eric and Jessica Huntley, founders of Bogle-L’Ouverture) and Jessica Huntley Archives (personal correspondence, the 2014 Huntley Conference and records regarding her role and contributions to archives).

Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa

Dionne Brand fonds

Lilly Library, Indiana University

C. L. R. James mss., ca. 1942-1974

McMaster University Library, Archives and Research Collections

Includes Austin Clarke’s fonds, Louise Bennett Coverley fonds

Special Collection, National Library of Jamaica, Kingston

Literary manuscripts in the National Library: Miss Lou Archives (Louise Bennett); Una Marson Collection; Walter Roberts Archives; Antony C. Winkler Archives.

The Caribbean Research Library (CRL), University of Guyana

Holdings of literary manuscripts:  A.J. Seymour; N.E. Cameron

The West Indies Collection, Sydney Martin Library, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados

Manuscripts in the Special Collections: Richard B. Moore Collection; George Lamming Collection; The Olga Lopes Seale Archive.

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto

The Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library is home to J. Edward Chamberlain Papers, Lorna Goodison Papers, Trinidad Theatre Workshop Papers and Derek Walcott Papers.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL

Some of the collections at the Schomburg Center include the Arthur Alfonso Schomburg Papers,  Alexis De Veaux/Audre Lorde Research Collection, Claude McKay Collection, Claude McKay Letters and Manuscripts, C.L.R. James Collection, C.L.R. James Letters, Eulalie Spence Papers, Marika Sherwood/Claudia Jones Research Material, Michael Anthony Papers, Letters, J.R. Casimer Papers, Piri Thomas Papers, Richard B. Moore Papers, The Claudia Jones Memorial Collection and Thomas Glave Papers (*closed until processed).

West Indiana and Special Collections, Alma Jordan Library, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

Literary manuscripts in the Special Collections: C.L.R. James Collection; Caribbean Voices Correspondence (copies acquired through the assistance of Professor Ken Ramchand, originals held at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham); Derek Walcott Collection; Earl Lovelace Manuscripts; Eric Roach Manuscripts; Irma Goldstraw Collection; Michael Anthony Papers; Monique Roffey Papers; Roger Mais Collection; Sam Selvon Collection; UWI Extra Mural Play Scripts.

West Indies and Special Collections, Mona Library, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

Literary manuscripts in this collection: Michael Anthony; Erna Brodber; Wilson Harris Collection; John Hearne Papers; Roger Mais Papers; Orlando Patterson; Victor Stafford Reid Collection; Anthony “Tony” McNeil Papers; Derek Walcott.

Film archives

Banyan Archives, Trinidad and Tobago

The material available through the archive includes “recordings of drama productions and dance performances in Trinidad & Tobago in 1979-1982 period and beyond. Including plays of Derek Walcott and the Trinidad Theatre Workshop” as well as interviews with a number of Caribbean authors (source: Banyan Archives website). There are 14,000 records registered in their database.

Digital collections, libraries, and archives

Digital Library of the Caribbean, dLOC

An open access digital library offering resources from and about the Caribbean, across a variety of fields from literary and cultural studies to geography, history, politics and anthropology. The library is the product of a wide and collaborative network of partners and collaborators.

Digital Schomburg, New York Public Library, NYC

It offers a wide range of digital material: from live stream events and video archive, podcasts of events, oral histories, online exhibitions, library digital collections , images and illustrations.

The Caribbean Memory Project

From the CMP’s website: “The CMP functions as a public repository for texts—family archives, collections, found/discarded materials, and public databases—that begins to illustrate the range of documentary activity produced by (and about) Caribbean people and their descendants. Participants and the general public have direct and open access to this heritage database that may  be used for reflection, education, and research into the social histories of indigenous, native, and naturalized communities by local, regional, and transnational parties.”

The founders of The Caribbean Memory Project are Kevin Adonis Browne, PhD and Dawn Cumberbatch.

The Caribbean Studies Collection, ILAS, London, UK

From their website: “The Caribbean studies collections at the Institute of Historical Research, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and Senate House libraries are some of the largest and most varied in the UK. They are transdisciplinary in scope, covering anthropology, archaeology, history, law, literature, social policy, sociology and political theory. // This guide was created by Dr Adom Philogene Heron on behalf of the Centre for Integrated Caribbean Research and The Institute of Latin American Studies. ” The Caribbean Studies Collection includes the C.L.R James Papers.

The guide was created by Dr Adom Philogene Heron on behalf of the Centre for Integrated Caribbean Research and The Institute of Latin American Studies. 

The Early Caribbean Digital Archive

From website: “The Early Caribbean Digital Archive is an open access collection of pre-twentieth-century Caribbean texts, maps, and images. Texts include travel narratives, novels, poetry, natural histories, and diaries that have not been brought together before as a single collection focused on the Caribbean.”

Professor Nicole Aljoe and Professor Elizabeth Maddock Dillon are the co-directors of The Early Caribbean Digital Archive.

The Library of Glissant Studies

“This collaborative open access project aims to collect and make works by and on Martinican author Édouard Glissant (1928-2011) accessible to the public.” (The Library of Glissant Studies website)

Co-director and web designer: Jeanne Jégousso, co-director and archivist: Raphaël Lauro

Caribbean Writers Summer Institute digital archive

A series of digitised VHS videos available open access via The University of Miami Libraries Digital Collections. The videos offer readings and presentations by Caribbean writers and academics who participated in the Caribbean Writers Summer Institute at the University of Miami. “In 2002 the University of Miami Libraries, in collaboration with the Department of English, converted the tapes to web-based streaming media so that a wider audience might have the opportunity to enjoy the literary variety and cultural richness expressed in the writings of the participants.”

Bibliographies

A Bibliography of Caribbean Science Fiction and Fantasy

A Bibliographic resource of Caribbean science fiction and fantasy across literary genres, written by authors from the Caribbean. You can sign to their newsletter for updates on publications.

Bibliography of Antiguan and Barbudian Writing

This bibliography, compiled by Antiguan author and editor Joanne C. Hillhouse who started it in 2005 for the Independence literary arts exhibition at the national Museum, and has continued the work since. The bibliography includes “books by Antiguan and Barbudan writers, both born and ‘adopted’, as well books by Antiguan descendents born elsewhere” (from website).

Bibliographies of Caribbean drama, poetry and fiction by George Parfitt

This site offers three downloadable bibliographies compiled by Trinidadian writer George Parffit
From author’s website: “The BIBLIOGRAPHIES of West Indian Fiction and West Indian Poetry have been compiled over several years and are offered as free downloads. Details have been compiled from books in the author’s own collection, library catalogues and from on-line sources.”

“Bibliography of St. Lucian Creative Writing: poetry, prose, drama by St. Lucian writers 1948-2013.” Compiled and edited by John Robert Lee. Castries: Mahanaim Publishing & Cultural Development Foundation, 2013. 212 pgs. Illustrated. (Available online as an Ebook from Author House).

Discovering Caribbean Literature in English: Selected Bibliography, by John R. Lee (via Wadadli Pen)

This bibliography has been compiled and updated by Saint Lucian writer and librarian John Robert Lee, and provides a breadth of selected texts  by writers across the anglophone Caribbean region and the diaspora, including some texts in English by authors originally from other linguistic areas, such as Edwidge Danticat and Simone Schwarz-Bart.

Saint Lucian Writers and Writing, edited by John Robert Lee

Ed. by John Robert Lee, and published by Papillote Press, 2019.

“This superb author index of poetry, prose and drama explores the writing landscape of Saint Lucia. Everyone — from the internationally acclaimed Derek Walcott to self-published unknowns — are there. But this bibliography is not just about literature, it also features the social, political and cultural dimensions of Saint Lucia, from scholarly essays to the ephemera of funeral pamphlets and recipe books. It turns a list into the life of a nation.”

The Caryl Phillips Bibliography, Bénédicte Ledent

This extensive and comprehensive bibliography of works by Caryl Phillips and publications on his writing, compiled by scholar Dr. Bénédicte Ledent, offers a unique insight and valuable resource for scholars of Phillips’ work, and Caribbean and Black British literature, film and theatre.

The Kamau Brathwaite Bibliography, Kelly Baker Josephs and Teanu Reid

The Bibliography prepared by Kelly Baker Josephs and Teanu Reid is “a reworking and expansion of the “Kamau Brathwaite SX Bibliography” begun as a collective effort at the Caribbean Digital Researchathon in December 2014.It represents a snapshot of the bibliography’s progress up to the end of February 2018. The full collection exists as a living library on Zotero, and members may continue to add to and update it. Nonmembers may view and search the library; they may also use the tag function to reorganize entries according to various criteria (specific works, years, language, etc.)” SX Salon

Publishing houses

Book fairs and literary festivals

Source: You can read more about literary festivals in the Caribbean in this article by Joanne C. Hillhouse, on Wadadlipen

Journals and magazines

Interdisciplinary and literary blogs

Digital Projects

Create Caribbean 

Founded by Schuyler K. Esprit, Create Caribbean Inc. facilitates digital practice and scholarship whilst developing interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary projects. Its mission is to make knowledge available to all people and to “preserve and disseminate Caribbean heritage and culture (…) Create Caribbean Inc. aims to develop the creative capacity of youth in Dominica and the Eastern Caribbean through a focus on education and research in the arts, humanities and social sciences.” (from Create Caribbean) 

Puerto Rican Literature Project 

A project formed by Puerto Rican scholars and artists based in Puerto Rico and the United States that digitises, archives, and makes available, through an open access site, Puerto Rican literature for the public. It holds “a bilingual digital database of approximately 50,000 digital assets (photographs, manuscripts, poems, videos, and other archival materials), a digital archive, and additional resources that document the material existence and experiences of key Puerto Rican writers in the archipelago and the diaspora.” (from project’s website). The project has been funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. 

The Caribbean Digital 

An annual conference gathering scholars, artists and archivists exploring critical Caribbean digital scholarship and arts, initiated in 2014 and held in the Caribbean, and the US. Its team is formed by Alex Gil, Kaiama L. Glover, and Kelly Baker Josephs. Many digital projects have emerged from the conference including a research-a-thon that led to the collective bibliography of Kamau Brathwaite; a collective translation of Aimé Césaire’s Notes of a Return to My Birthplace by Alex Gil and Kaiama Glover; a project on keywords for Caribbean Studies, and a directory of Caribbean digital scholarship. 

In the Same Boats 

As stated in the project’s website: “In the Same Boats is a work of multimodal scholarship designed to encourage the collaborative production of humanistic knowledge within scholarly communities. The platform comprises two interactive visualizations that trace the movements of significant cultural actors from the Caribbean and wider Americas, Africa, and Europe within the 20th century Afro-Atlantic world.” The project is led by Alex Gil and Kaiama L. Glover. Contributors include Marina Bilbija, Kelly Baker Josephs, Clara Pomi, Alex Gil, Kora Verón Leblé, Soyara Limare, Kaiama L. Glover, Roopika Risam, Joanna Dee Das, Laurent Dubois, Amanda Perry, Tao Goffe, Amanda Perry, Raphael Dalleo, Annette Joseph Gabriel. Designers: Buck Wanner, Emily Fuhrman, Alyssa Van, Dean Irvine, Bill Kennedy.

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