African & Caribbean Literature

When looking for literature by or about a specific African or Caribbean author, check the Library Catalog under the author's name to find the Library's holdings. You may also look under such subject headings as African Literature, Caribbean Literature or West Indian Literature. Most of the material is on the 3rd floor, except for fiction located on the 1st floor.

In general, nonfiction books written in English by West Indian authors are listed under call numbers in the 810s (for example, Derek Walcott's poetry is under 811 Walcott). Nonfiction works by African or Caribbean authors written in French or translated from it are in the 840s (e.g., Leopold Senghor's poetry is under 841 Senghor). Works by African writers written in English are in the 820s (e.g., Wole Soyinka's plays are under 822 Soyinka). LL does not have works in the original African languages but works translated into English are in the 896s.

Selected Biographies and Bibliographies

Jeannette Allis. West Indian Literature: An Index to Criticism, 1930-1975 016.8109 A
C. Brian Cox, ed., African Writers (Ready Reference- Please ask the Librarian for these books)
Daryl Cumber Dance, ed., Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook (RR)
Donald Herdeck, ed., African Authors: A Companion to Black African Writing, 1300-1973 (RR)
Donald Herdeck, ed., Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical-Critical Encyclopedia (RR)
Janheinz Jahn, Who's Who in African Literature: Biographies, Works, Commentaries 809.896 J
B. Lindfors, Black African Literature in English (RR)
B. Lindfors, Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers (RR)
James Page and Jae Min Roh, eds., Selected Black American, African and Caribbean Authors: A Bio-bibliography (RR)
Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert, Caribbean Women Novelists: An Annotated Critical Bibliography 016.8098 P
Michael Popkin, ed., Modern Black Writers (RR)
Hans Zell, A New Reader's Guide to African Literature (RR)

Selected Anthologies

Chinua Achebe, ed., African Short Stories 808.831 A
Paula Burnett, The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse in English811.008 P
Charlotte H. Brunner, ed., Unwinding Threads: Writing by Women in Africa 808.83 U
Chinweizu, ed., Voices from Twentieth-Century Africa 808.8989 V
Carmen Esteves, ed., Green Cane and Juicy Flotsam: Short Stories by Caribbean Women 808.831 G
E.A. Markham, ed., Hinterland: Caribbean Poetry from the West Indies and Britain 821.008 H
Gerald Moore and Ulli Beier, eds., The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry 896.1008 P
Pamela Mordecai and Betty Wilson, eds., Her True-True Name: An Anthology of Women's Writing from the Caribbean 808.83 H
Mervyn Morris, ed., The Faber Book of Contemporary Caribbean Short Stories 808.831 F
Duma Ndlovu, ed,. Woza Afrika! An Anthology of South African Plays 822.008 W
Nadezda Obradovic, ed., African Rhapsody: Short Stories of the Contemporary African Experience 808.831 A
Norman Shapiro, ed., Negritude: Black Poetry from Africa and the Caribbean 841.008 S

Selected Critical Works

Kofi Awoonor, Breast of the Earth: A Survey of the History, Culture and Literature of Africa South of the Sahara 896 A
Dorothy Blair, African Literature in French: A History of Creative Writing in French from West and Equatorial Africa 840.9 F
Lloyd Brown, Women Writers in Black Africa 820.9009 B
Lloyd Brown, West Indian Poetry 811.009 B
Wilfred Cartey, Whispers from the Caribbean: I Going Away, I Going Home 813.009 C
Selwyn R. Cudjoe, ed., Caribbean Women Writers: Essays from the First International Conference 810.9928 C
Carole Boyce Davies, ed., Ngambika: Studies of Women in African Literature 809.933 N
Simon Gikandi, Reading the African Novel  809.3 G
Michael Gilkes, The West Indian Novel 813.009 G
Adeola James, ed., In Their Own Voices: African Women Writers Talk820.996 I
Eldred .D. Jones, ed., Women in African Literature Today 809.896 W
Susheila Nasta, ed., Motherlands: Black Women's Writing from Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia 820.9 M
Beverley Ormerod, An Introduction to the French Caribbean Novel 843.009 O
Oyekan Owomoyela, A History of Twentieth Century African Literatures 809.896 H
Eustace Palmer, The Growth of the African Novel 809.33 P
Kenneth Ramchand, The West Indian Novel and Its Background 813.009 R

Relevant periodicals include African Literature Today, Callaloo, English Studies in Africa, Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Journal of West Indian Literature, Obsidian, Research in African Literatures, and World Literature Written in English, indexed in the bibliography of the Modern Language Association (MLA). The periodicals are on the 4th floor.

African Languages

Books and cassettes on learning African languages are generally under the call number 496. If you want information (for example, on learning Swahili), check the catalog under the subject heading Swahili Language.

Ask about the staff-compiled index for critical material on Black African and Caribbean literatures.

Web Sites

African Literature at Stanford University

• An extensive, annotated, hot-linked site from the west coast university.