UmitedNalions Educatíonal, Scienlific and National Commission for UNESCO CUltural Organization 15 Wainwright Street, SI. Clair, Trinidad, West Indies Telephone: (868) 622 0939/6280711 /622 8412 Fax: (868) 6228909 E-mail: [email protected]

Celebratin 50. Years o UNESÇQ ~n Trinidad.l!:IJ.4Toba o

12th September 2012

Mr. Vitor Manoel Marques da Fonseca President - MOWLAC Arquivo Nacional Praça da República, 173 - GABIN - Centro 20211-350 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ BRAZIL

Dear Mr. Marques:

Re: Collection - Nomination for the Regional Register, 2012

The Trinidad and Tobago Memory of the World Committee of the National Commission for UNESCO, is pleased to submit the attached nomination form, in English and Spanish, for the Sam Selvon Collection.

The collection provides documentary evidence of the work of an important writer, Samuel Selvon (1923-1994), who contributed to the development of . His collection is currently housed at the Alma Jordan Library of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus.

The National Commission for UNESCO thanks MOWLAC for this opportunity and looks forward to favourable consideration of the Sam Selvon Collection.

Sincerely,

Susan Shurland Secretary General c.c. Dr. Kris Rampersad, Chair, National Commission for UNESCO Mrs. Joan Osbome, Chairperson, TT Memory ofthe World Committee Ms. Winsome Hudson, 1st Vice-President, MOWLAC MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN APPLICATION FORM 2012

Title of item being proposed

,

Sam Selvon Collection

1.0 Summary (max 200 words)

Samuel Selvon (1923 -1994) was a leading writer of the Caribbean literary renaissance which began in the 1950s. Other writers of this renaissance included , V.S. Naipaul, and Oerek Walcott. Selvon's lasting contribution to this movement was the prominence he gave to the dialects of the Caribbean. He was one of the first writers to deviate from standard English and use extensively the languages of the Caribbean, particularly of Trinidad and Tobago.

The collection is significant to the region as it provides documentary evidence of the work of an important writer who contributed to the development of Caribbean literature. The collection contains correspondence inciuding those of writers from the literary renaissance, poems, plays, short stories, articles and non-fiction works of Selvon, reviews, photographs and newspaper clippings accumulated by the author. There are many unpublished items which scholars have already used to assess the scholarship of Selvon.

Oerek Walcott, whose collection is on the international Memory of the World register, paid tribute to this writer in 1969 by creating the production "The World of Samuel Selvon." Selvon continues to engage scholars as is evident by the recent publication The Poems of Samuel Selvon by Or. Roydon Salick in 2012.

2.1 Name of nominators (person or organization) Ms Jennifer Joseph Campus Librarian, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago

Ms Lorraine Nero Special Collections Librarian, The Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago

1 2.2 Relationship to the nominated documentary heritage Custodians of the Sam Selvon Collection

2.3 Contact person(s) (to provide information on nomination) Ms Jennifer Joseph, The Campus Librarian, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago

Ms Lorraine Nero, The Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago

2.4 Contact details

Name: Ms Lorraine Nero Address The Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago

Telephone: 868-662-2002 ext. Fax: 868 662-9238 Email: [email protected] 82132

2.5 Declaration of authority

I certify that I have the authority to nominate the documentary heritage described in this document to the Regional Memory of the World Register.

Full name (Please PRINT)

Institution(s), if appropriate

Date 12- - 09- j .L

3.0 Identity and description of the documentary heritage

3.1 Name and identification details of the items being nominated If inscribed, the exact title and institution(s) to appear on the certificate should be given

Sam Selvon Collection, 1948-1985 The Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago

The Sam Selvon Collection spans the period 1948-1985 and consists of manuscripts of Selvon's published works - poems, plays, short stories, articles and non-fiction. It also contains correspondence and manuscripts of many unpublished items. 3.2 Catalogue or registration details

The Sam Selvon Collection is registered as SC33 in the Alma Jordan Library Catalogue. It contains

2 2675 items, or 8 boxes,1 O linear ft. A guide to the collection "A Guide to the Samuel Selvon Collection: manuscripts, short stories and plays" was produced by Marilyn Geofroy in 1995.

The collection is organized as follows: Galley proofs record numbers 1-5 Journal articles record numbers 6-23 Journals record numbers 24-48 Manuscripts, Handwritten record numbers 49-61 Manuscripts, typed record numbers 62-249 Music scores record numbers 250-259 Newspaper clippings record numbers 260-602 Correspondence arranged according to folders Personal material (including passport, diaries, certificates, diplomas) Photographs Sample entry in the guide: 239 Selvon, Samuel. Zeppi's machine. 1976. England, . 19 pages; foolscap onionskin. Note: 2 copies. Second of 3 versions. Attached to first copy is a complimentary slip from the British Broadcasting Corporation. On the second copy is written 'Original Radio Drama - for production 1976. "tn Tacarigua, a smal/ vil/age, Jaldo a middle aged sugar-cane worker, has not been wel/ for sometime. "

3.3 Visual documentation if appropriate (for example, photographs, or a OVO of the documentary heritage)

No visual documentation is attached.

3.4 History/provenance The material was amassed by the author and donated to The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, in 1987 and transferred via Deed of Gift, s" September 1988.

3.5 Bibliography Selected items 1. Catalan, Linnea Maureen. Queerly straight, racial/y queer: Constructions ot masculinity in Samuel Selvon's "The Lanely Londoners." Diss. Trent University, . 2012. 2. Looker, Mark,1952- Attentic passages : history, community, and /anguage in the fiction of Sam Se/von. New York : P. Lang, c1996.

3. Nasta, Sushelia, ed. Critica/ perspectives on Sam Se/van. Washington, D.C. : Three Continent Press, c 1988.

4. Salick, Roydon. The Nove/s af Samue/ Se/von. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2001.

5. Zehnder, Martin. Something rich and strange: se/ected essays on Samue/ Se/von. Leeds: Peepal Tree, 2003.

6. Forthcoming: Salick, Roydon. Samuel Selvon (Writers & Their Work Series, 2012)

3 3.6 Names, qualifications and contact details of up to three independent people or organizations with expert knowledge about the values and provenance of the documentary heritage Name Qualifications Contact details

Stephanie Decouvelaere Ph.D. 22 Rue Creuzet 69007 Lyon France [email protected] Land line 0033482318292 Mobile 0033621786210

Roydon Salick Ph.D. 31 Caiman Rd. Elizabeth Gardens Maracas St. Joseph Trinidad and Tobago [email protected] 868 663-4156

The referees you cite will be asked for their opinions. UNESCO may also contact other authoritative referees so that a good spectrum of opinion is available for assessment purposes .

.0 Legal information

4.1 Owner of the documentary heritage (name and contact details)

Name: The Alma Address: The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Jordan Library Tobago

Telephone: 868-662- Facsimile: 868 662- Email: [email protected] 2002 ext. 82132 9238

4.2 Custodian of the documentary heritage (name and cor.tact details if different from the owner)

Name Contact details Address Same as above.

Telephone Facsimile Email

4.3 Legal status

4 lhe Collection was donated to the Alma Jordan Library in 1987 and transferred via Oeed of Gift 8 September 1988.

4.4 Accessibility

lhe collection is available to scholars and researchers inside the West Indiana and Special Collections Unit of the Alma Jordan Library. Access is guided by the policies of the institution. Researchers are able to use the collection in a secure environment. lhe Collection has not been digitised and it is intended that this would be done in the future.

4.5 Copyright status

Ali rights to the materiais were transferred by Deed of Gift, s" September 1988.

5.0 Assessment against the selection criteria

5.1 Authenticity.

lhe material was amassed by the author and donated to lhe University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, in 1987.

lhe collection was used by Dr. Roydon Salick to verify and prepare work for his new publication. "lhe poems of Sam Selvon" lhe pre-publication release states: "This is the first collection of Sam Selvon's poems, thus rounding off the publication of the writer's works; his radio dramas, ballads, short stories, non-fiction pieces, and novels have been in print for a long time. Roydon Salick has compiled the collection from records at UWI, lrinidad, the Trinidad Guardian and the BBC's . His comprehensive introduction and notes provide an invaluable context for the work and a fascinating glimpse into Selvon as a poet."

5.2 Regional significance

lhe collection is significant to the region as it provides documentary evidence of the work of an important writer who contributed to the development of Caribbean literature. In the renowned trilogy Lone/y Londoners, Moses Ascending, and Moses Migra ting , Selvon captures class struggles; and the sociological and psychological experiences of the West Indian immigrant in Britain in the 1950s. His novels inclusive of A Brighter Sun have been on the syllabi of the Caribbean Examination Council and the reading lists of several Universities.

5 5.3 Comparative criteria:

Does the heritage meet any of the fo/lowing tests? (lt must meet at least one of them.) 1 Time Selvon wrote in an era which was described as the literary renaissance of the Caribbean and included writers such as CLR James, George Lamming, V.S. Naipaul and Derek Walcott. The manuscripts and notes are significant because these add to the documentary heritage of an important era of the Region's literary history.

2 Place Does not apply.

3 People The close relationship among several prominent Caribbean Writers is reflected in the collection. Correspondence from some of the stalwarts of Caribbean literature include: George Lamming, , MP Alladin, Edward Braithwaite, Errol Hill, Frank Collymore, Errol John, Ron Ramdin, Victor Reid, Wilson Harris, Cyril Dabydeen, and Garth St. Omer.

4 Subject and theme Similar to V.S. Naipaul, the early fiction of Selvon, reviews the life and culture of the East Indians in Trinidad and Tobago society while the later novels explore the lives of Caribbean immigrants resident in Great Britain. Some of the themes evident in his writings are the displacement of individuais, class and racial interaction and the search for identity. M. Looker writes that "His writing gave voice to a people just stepping over the threshold of political independence" (Atlantic passages, Preface)

5 Form and style Selvon was one of the first writers to experiment with the use of the Caribbean 'dialect' in his literature, and used it to shape the form of his work. Much critical works have been written on the style and form of Selvon; and Salick states that through the "use of the vernacular in new ways, Selvon liberates the West Indian novel from the strictures of standard English, the language of the colonial master. "(Nove/s ot Samuel Seivon, Introductían). While many writers use the dialect in the dialogue of characters, Selvon used the dialect in the voices of the narrator to write the stories.

M. Looker also suggests that "Selvon invented a literary language at once playful and engaged, moving to the rhythms of literary modernism as well as the Caribbean folktale and calypso." (Atlantic passages, Preface)

6 Sociall spirituall community significance: Does not apply.

6.0 Contextual information

6 6.1 Rarity The collection at the University of the West Indies provides substantial information on the work of the author including manuscripts and a number of unpublished items. It is to be noted that The Harry Ransome Research Center at the University of Texas also has a small collection of Samuel Selvon papers. This collection is 1.04 linear feet and is described in the finding aid as: "These papers consist of holograph manuscripts, typescripts, book proofs, manuscript notebooks, and correspondence."

6.2 Integrity The collection at the University of the West Indies has remained intact since the acquisition; no materiais have been separated or destroyed.

7.0 Consultation with stakeholders

7.1 Provide details of consultation about this nomination with the stakeholders in its significance and preservation.

The Trinidad and Tobago Memory of the World Committee was consulted and supports the nomination of this collection.

8.0 Assessment of risk

Detail the nature and scope of threats to thís documentary heritage.

In addition to the collection being subject to deterioration over time, the library is located in the Caribbean which is subject to storms and hurricanes.

9.0 Preservation and Access Management Plan

9.1 Is there a management plan in existence for this documentary heritage?

YES NO

The collection has been processed and is currently stored in acid free folders and boxes in regulated environmental conditions. In 2008 à preservation review was conducted on this collection to examine fragile items, to document yellowing and to account for ali items.

10.0 Any other information

7 Selvon was born in San Fernando, Trinidad on 20th May 1923 and died in 1994. He worked as a journalist with the Trinidad Guardian and later editor of the weekly literary magazine, The Guardian Weekly. He migrated to England in 1950 and worked on his writing career. As a writer Selvon produced works of fiction, plays, poems, and drama for radio. He published 10 novels including: A Brighter Sun (1952), An Island is a World (1955), (1956), Turn Again Tiger (1958), I Hear Thunder (1963), The Housing Lark (1965), The Plains of Caroni (1970), Those Who Eat the Cascadura (1972), Moses Ascending (1975) and Moses Migrating (1983). These have generated much scholarship including articles, books and post graduate theses.

Selvon also sold several of his stories to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Caribbean and these were aired in the popular Caribbean Voices Series. The series was an influential forum for Caribbean writers and helped define the genre of Caribbean literature. He also co-authored the filmscript, Pressure with Horace Ové, which is described as one of the first black feature films in Britain. He has been the recipient of several awards including two Guggenheim Fellowships (1955, 1968), Trinidad and Tobago Hummingbird Gold Medal for Literature (1969), Best Novel Award from the Writers Guild of (1983), an honorary doctorate from the University of the West Indies (1985) and (1989). In 1995 the Trinidad and Tobago government gave him another national award posthumously, the Chaconia Gold Medal for Literature.

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