THE OXFORD BOOK OF CARIBBEAN SHORT STORIES
Edited by Stewart Brown ana Jolin Wickham
SUB Gottingen 7 210 132 280
99 A 10145
Oxford New York OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1999 Contents
Introduction xiii
FRANK COLLYMORE (1893-I980) Barbados Some People are Meant to Live Alone 1
JEAN RHYS (1894-1979) Dominica Pioneers, On, Pioneers 9
ALFRED MENDES (1897-I971) Trinidad Pablo's Fanaangfo 18
ERIC WALROND (1898-I966) Guyana Drougkt 26
C. L. R. JAMES (19OI-I989) Trinidad Triumph 35
ALEJO CARPENTIER (1904-1983) Cuba Journey to the Seed. 50 Contents ROGER MAIS (1905-1955) Jamaica Red Dirt Don't Wash 62
JUAN BOSCH (b. 1910) Dominican Republic Encamacion Mendoza's Christmas Eve 7°
G. CABRERA INFANTE (t>. 1922) Cuba The Doors Open at Three 80
SAM SELVON (1923-I994) Trinidad The Cricket Match 91
JOHN WICKHAM (t>. I923) Barbados The Li^ht on the Sea 96
JAN CAREW (b. 1925) Guyana Tilson Ezekiel Alias Ti-Zek 101
ISMITH KHAN (b.1925) Trinidad Shadows Move in the Britannia Bar no '
RENE DEPESTRE (b. 1926) Haiti Rosena on the Mountain 119
VI Contents ROY HEATH (b. I926) Guyana The Master Tailor and the Teacher's Skirt 138
GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ (b. 1928) Colombia The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship 148
ANDREW SALKEY (1928-1995) Jamaica A Proper Anno Domini Feeling 153
PAULE MARSHALL (b. I929) Barbados To Da-Duh, in Memoriam 159
KAMAU BRATHWAITE (b. 1930) Barbados Dream Haiti 169
ANTONIO BENITEZ ROJO (b. 193l) Cuba Buried Statues 187 c MICHAEL ANTHONY (b. 1932) ' Trinidad They Better Don't Stop the Carnival 200
V. S. NAIPAUL (b. 1932) Trinidad The Night Watchman's Occurrence Book 208
Vll Contents
JOHN STEWART (b. I933) Trinidad The Old Men Used to Dance 215
AUSTIN CLARKE (b. 1934) Barbados Leaving this Island Place 220
EARL LOVELACE (b. 1935) Trinidad Victory and the Blight 228
MARYSE CONDE (b. 1937) Guadeloupe The Breadnut and the Breadfruit 235
VELMA POLLARD (b. I937) Jamaica Altamont Jones 245
THEA DOELWIJT (b. 1938) Surinam In Foreign Parts 249
ROSARIO FERRE (b. I938) Puerto Rico Wnen Women Love Men 257
E. A. MARKHAM (b. I939) Montserrat Mammies Form at the Post Office 270 viii Contents MYRIAM WARNER-VIEYRA (b. 1939) Guadeloupe Passport to Paradise 274
CLYDE HOSEIN (b. 1940) Trinidad Morris, Bnaiya 277 -
WILLI CHEN (b. 194l) Trinidad Trotters 288
PAULINE MELVILLE (b. 1941) Guyana The Conversion of Millicent Vernon 292
OLIVE SENIOR (b. I941) Jamaica Do Angels Wear Brassieres? 304
REINALDO ARENAS (l943-199o) Cuba Goodbye Mother 314
LAWRENCE SCOTT (b. I943) Trinidad Ballad for the New World 326
ANA LYDIA VEGA (b. 1946) Puerto Rico Eye-Openers 333 Contents
JEAN 'BINTA' BREEZE (b. I947) Jamaica Sunday Cricket 344
ASTRID ROEMER (b. 1947) Surinam The Inheritance of my Father: A Story for Listening 348
JAMAICA KINCAID (b. I949) Antigua Blackness 362
MERLE COLLINS (b. I950) Grenada The Walk 366
EDGARDO SANABRIA SANTALIZ (l§J/95l) Puerto Rico After the Hurricane 372
PATRICK CHAMOISEAU (b. 1953) Martinique Red Hot Peppers 382
LIONEL SEEPAUL (b. 1955) Trinidad Pan tor Pockot 391
MAKEDA SILVERA (b. I955) Jamaica Caribbean Chameleon 399 Contents ROBERT ANTONI (b. 1957) Trinidad/Bahamas A World of Canes 403
ZOILA ELLIS (b. 1957) Belize The Waiting Room 416
SASENARINE PERSAUD (b. I957) Guyana Canada Geese and Apple Chatney 424
GEOFFREY PHILP (b. 1958) Jamaica ALECIA MCKENZIE (b. i960). Jamaica Private School 442 EDWIDGE DANTICAT (b. I969) Haiti Nineteen Thirty-Seven 447 Biographical Notes 457 Suggestions for Wider Reading 467 Publisher's Acknowledgements 473 XI