Concert of VOICES T Rd H U N O H O Hum Niz Mar In
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, Concert of VOICES T rd h u n o h o hum niz mar in (,e I rc.:y fl,rtm n, I - Concert of VOICEJ An Anthology of World Writing ih English edited by Victor J. Ramraj broadview anadian ataloguin in Publi ati< I ata Main entry un er itl c: n ert f In Jude ·11 r ' er n · ,in in e ·. I 1 - 1. n Ii h lit r tun: - ... 0th ntur.. '. r. dmr iJ, \ i l r mm n ' 1 1 - 14 .77 J< 0111 B 1- () .11nl I 1 tn I.. f r \I \\ p rt l lh n un ii, th nL rt u Ii hin ntr nd th RI T - Table of Contents Table of Contents: Genres x Table of Contents: Regions xv Acknowledgements XXll1 Introduction XXV1 Chinua Achebe (Nigeria) 1 Girls at War (st01y) Arna Ata Aidoo (Ghana) -:k- uJc»A.-~ 14 No Sweetness Here (st01y) Agha Shahid Ali (Pakistan) 29 Snowmen (poem) Mull< Raj Anand (India) 30 Duty (st01y) Jean Arasanayagam (Sri Lanka) 35 I Have No Country (poem) 36 We Have Our Genealogies (poem) Ven Begamudre (India-Canada) 38 Honestly, as in the Day (story) uise Bennett (Jamaica) 47 Anancy an Ticks (folk tale) Neil Bissoondath (Trinidad-Canada) 49 Man as Plaything, Life as Mocke1y (story) Gerry Bostock (Australia) 60 Here Comes the Nigger (play) ionne Brand (Trinidad-Canada) 68 Return I (poem) 69 . .. Seen (story) Edward Kamau Brathwaite (Barbados) 72 Red Rising (poem) Dennis Brutus (South Africa) 75 I Am Alien in Africa and Everywhere (poem) 75 I Am Out of Love with You For Now (poem) CONTENTS/ v Buhkwujjencne ( an·d ) Nanaboozlzoo reate<; the World (folk tfll J 77 Willi h n (Trinidad) As am '. Iron !test (story) 78 Au tin I r rke B d n· 1 n The Man {.Ho ) 2 10 1 I 1 p m 107 1 1 ') 11 111 11 J \i ( u Lrali.1 H 711/t f am" ) lJ/ack foacr r ')) ir p \' JJo k (.\IOI) ) LJ um d u1 In atholic fother (p •m J L Ret11m (po 'm) j_ 1 k. i I Indi 1 1 1 - n leer? ( rorr 1 J i a H g d rn Philippin - TI1e on of Bullet (poem) 1 vi I CONCERT OF VOICES Claire Harris (Trinidad-Canada) Framed (poem) 140 And So . .. Home (poem) 141 Backstage at the Glenbow Museum, Calgary (poem) ---------...... 142 ...__~&·&..,on Harris (Guyana-UK) naima (story) 145 Bessie Head (South Africa) The Collector of Treasures (story) 152 K i Hulme (New Zealand) Hooks and Feelers (st01y) 170 Witi Ihimaera (New Zealand) A Game of Cards (st01y) 181 Sally Ito (Canada) Sisters of the Modern Mind (poem) 186 Arnold Itwaru (Guyana-Canada) arrival (poem) 189 roomer (poem) 189 separate ways (poem) 190 Sunita Jain (India) Fly the Friendly Skies (st01y) 191 Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (India-USA) The Old Lady ( st01y) 194 Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua-USA) My Mother (st01y) 204 On Seeing England for the First Time (essay) 209 Thomas King (Canada) Coyote Goes to Toronto (poem) 214 Joy Kogawa (Canada) What Do I Remember of the Evacuation (poem) 216 When I Was a Little Girl (poem) 217 Shirley Geok-lin Lim (Malaysia-USA) Ah Mah (poem) 218 To Li Poh (poem) 219 Jayanta Mahapatra (India) The Abandoned British Cemete1y at Balasore (poem) 220 e Maracle (Canada) ......-- Charlie (st01y) 222 Dambudzo Marechera (Zimbabwe) Black Skin What Mask (st01y) 229 CONTENTS I vii Pauline Mel illc ( }u • na U ) The Tmth H tn th ' lntlt '\ (5tm} J 2 ude h Mi hra ( iji) The Black Pa oda. onarnk (pn 'Jn J 21 Mt. Abu . • t. av1er'.\ C/111rch (poem J 2 R In i· - na , .. I nz-rn1.1 - rna a T _7 K tendra R. Mudr hn n: / u trali _,..., j bul It: ( 111/t one/ ,tronc.m 11t u r: u l r Ii 1 _.:/' n ) r nu rl) K th\\ I ·r; u tr fr Gooboora, the dent Pool (poem) 71e Pa t (po w1) _-.J viii I CONCERT OF VOICES Gabriel Okara (Nigeria) The Snowflakes Sail Gently Down (poem) 355 Michael Ondaatje (Sri Lanka-Canada) Light (poem) 357 Sasenarine Persaud (Guyana-Canada) Tiger Swami (poem) 360 M. Nourbese Philip (Trinidad-Canada) She Tries Her Tongue; Her Silence Softly Breaks (poem) 362 Transfiguration (poem) 362 Jean Rhys (Dominica-UK) I Used to Live Here Once (story) 364 Salman Rushdie (India-UK) "Commonwealth Literature" Does Not Exist (essay) 366 Samuel Selvon (Trinidad-UK-Canada) Bracldey and the Bed (story) 374 Turning Christian (story) 378 Olive Senior (Jamaica) The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream (story) 385 Vikram Seth (India) from The Golden Gate 12.1-12.8 (poem) 397 Philip Sherlock (Jamaica) The Warau People Discover the Earth (folk tale) 401 Leslie Marmon Silko (USA) Yellow Woman (story) · 405 Wole Soyinka (Nigeria) The Trials of Brother Jero (play) 414 Subramani (Fiji) Sautu (story) 438 Mary TallMountain (USA) There is No Word for Goodbye (poem) 447 Edwin Thumboo (Singapore) mysses by the Merlion (poem) 448 M. G. Vassanji (Tanzania-Canada) The London-Returned (story) 450 Alafina Yuki (Fiji) Four-Year Wisdom (poem) 459 Fred Wah (Canada) from Brea thin ' my name with a sigh (poem) 461 CONTENTS I ix Derek Wale tt ( t. ucia) Ruins of a reatl fome (po m J A Letter from Brook/ •n (poem ) Midsummer !JI poem ) Al rt W n<lt W stern m 7 I· n rocodile (5/ory) I Ma W n ( in re I Th e. hm ud (po •m ) Arthur m111d ( 111 I I t e:-1 7 nnc r' nd t!t:ll uhk\ uij n •nc anabo hoo 77 7 n 1 n ) x I CONCERT OF VOICES - Saros Cowasjee (India-Canada) His Father's Medals 98 Manoj Das (India) Encounters 113 Jack Davis (Australia) White Fantasy-Black Fact 115 Pay Back Anita Desai (India) Swface Textures 124 Nadine Gordimer (South Africa) Is There Nowhere Else Where We Can Meet? 133 Wilson Harris (Guyana-UK) 145 Kanai ma Bessie Head (South Africa) The Collector of Treasures 152 Keri Hulme (New Zealand) Hooks and Feelers 170 Witi Ihimaera (New Zealand) 181 A Game of Cards Sunita Jain (India) Fly the Friendly Skies 191 Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (India-USA) 194 The Old Lady Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua-USA) 204 My Mother Lee Maracle (Canada) 222 Charlie Dambudzo Marechera (Zimbabwe) 229 Black Skin What Mask Pauline Melville (Guyana-UK) 235 The Truth is in the Clothes Rohinton Mistry (India-Canada) 248 Swimming Lessons Tololwa Marti Mollel (Tanzania-Canada) 273 A Night Out Toshio Mori (USA) 277 Slant-Eyed Americans CONTENTS I xi Es'kia Mphahlcle ( u h fri c Tiie offee-Cart ·;r1 2 Bharati Mukherjee (rn i - 2!1 J!indw V. ip ul ( rinid ' d- B. WordHmrtll R. K. ra , n (In 1a Motlier ond an Mu<lr r , r in f rmcrl lin c hn on- Au tr iii· f H.\lonnn Wn1tld I I I 1· • IJ n I J an Rh ·un h ;• hili hul r 1/1 I rth u raman1 1_11 (1111/l , \ c.1 .rnji 1n :rrni .1- an.1 1 1/1 L ondvn-Rt111m I rt\\ ndl \\ L LLrn m a- c ,. ro odtl .: p '(11 J m n anka Di nn Br n n <l Renun I Ed\ rd K rn u Br thw it R d Ri in xii I CONCERT OF VOICES - Dennis Brutus (South Africa) I Am Alien in Africa and Everywhere 75 I Am Out of Love with You For Now 75 Rienzi Crusz (Sri Lanka-Canada) Roots 103 Fred D'Aguiar (Guyana-UK) Home 104 Cyril Dabydeen (Guyana-Canada) Senorita 106 Elephants Make Good Stepladders 107 David Dabydeen (Guyana-UK) Catching Crabs 108 The New Poetry 109 Kamala Das (India) An Introduction 110 The Looking Glass 111 Eunice de Souza (India) Catholic Mother Return 129 Nissim Ezekiel (India) Case Study 131 Lorna Goodison (Jamaica) Survivor 132 Jessica Hagedorn (Philippines-USA) 17-ze Song of Bullets 137 Claire Harris (Trinidad-Canada) Framed 140 And So ... Home 141 Backstage at the Glenbow Museum, Calgary 142 Sally Ito (Canada) Sisters of the Modem Mind 186 Arnold Itwaru (Guyana-Canada) 189 arrival 189 roomer separate ways 190 Thomas King (Canada) Coyote Goes to Toronto 214 Joy Kogawa (Canada) What Do I Remember of the Evacuation 216 When I Was a. Little Girl 217 CONTENTS I xiii hirley e k-lin im ( ) 21 Ah Mah 21 To Li Poh Jay nta Mah tr (India The Abandon d !Jnfl~h m •/'I}' nt flrrla r • 2 217 M rvyn rri ( m- i To an f-pntriat !-ri 'nd 2 I Famil • P1ct11rc\ Kath Vii ·er; / u tr tlia \II ri I ·ink.1 - 1n 1 I 1 n irinL crsau I 1u, in 1- ·1n ·1 ) 1. iknm / . ] ,- ) ,- 1b\ -. I d\\ in hum ( in , .1 r Ht: /rm.!. b\ 1 the.• ,\I rl1u1 4.J I fin Vuki ljl four-) c 1r H ,,cf om cln d Bnmr/1111' m\ name \'itli (I I i/r :/ 1 xiv I CONCERT OF VOICES Arthur Yap (Singapore) 2 Mothers in a HDB Playground 474 Drama Gerry Bostock (Australia) Here Comes the Nigger 60 Wole Soyinka (Nigeria) The Trials of Brother Jero Essays Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua-USA) On Seeing England for the First Time 2()f) Timothy Mo (Hong Kong-UK) One of Billy's Boys: A Memoir 268 V. S. Naipaul (Trinidad-UK) Jasmine 306 Satendra N andan (Fiji) Return to a Certain Darkness 312 Njabulo S. Ndebele (South Africa) Guilt and Atonement: Unmasking History for the Future 336 Salman Rushdie (India-UK) "Commonwealth Literature" Does Not Exist 366 Table of Contents: Regions Africa Chinua Achebe (Nigeria) Girls At War (story) 1 Arna Ata Aidoo (Ghana) No Sweetness Here (story) 14 Dennis Brutus (South Africa) I Am Alien in Africa and Everywhere (poem) 75 I Am Out of Love with You For Now (poem) 75 Nadine Gordimer (South Africa) Is There Nowhere Else Where We Can Meet? (story) ~ 133 Bessie Head (South Africa) The Collector of Treasures (story) / 152 Dambudzo Marechera (Zimbabwe) Black Skin What Mask (story) 229 CONTENTS I XV T l lwa Marti M ll el ( n7 ni · , n ) A Night ut (s·tory 2 E 'kia Mphahlclc ( uth Afri • The offee- art 1rl (story Nja ul de Jc fri ·) uilt and Atoncm nt nmn ·in I Ii t ry nr th haur Ii I \II p 111 W l e I ll •' .