Contemporary Literature on Tape: Grace Nicols and Samuel Selvon

Synopsis: A National Sound Archive recording of two Afro-Caribbean writers, Grace Nichols and Samuel Selvon. Both writers explore different aspects of Black experience through a wide range of language-forms, including Creole, NationLanguage and Standard English. In extending the oral traditions of Black writing, their readings are exciting, humorous and highly expressive. Grace Nicols reads from ‘I is a long memoried woman’ and ‘The fat black woman’s poems’. Samuel Selvon also reads excerpts from: ‘Ways of sunlight’ and ‘Moses ascending’.

An excerpt from Grace Nichols reading from ‘I is a long memoried woman’, recorded at the Sixth National ATCAL conference at the University of Kent (Cantebury) in 1983, is available to listen to free on the BL website. Titles include ‘From dih pout of mih mouth’ ‘One continent to another’, ‘Waterpot’, ‘Without song’, ‘Sugar cane’, ‘I coming back’, ‘Night is her robe’, ‘This kingdom’, and ‘Hlding my beads’. 1CA0003252 S1 BD1 NSA (online recording)
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Year of release: 1995
Year of production: 1987
Subjects: English language and literature
Keywords: Nichols, Grace; poetry - 20th century; Selvon, Samuel

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